By Andrew Wallenstein and Steven Zeitchik

26 November 2007, By Andrew Wallenstein and Steven Zeitchik , The Hollywood Reporter

The loss of Tony Soprano didn’t put a hit on HBO this summer.

The network is looking as Teflon as a Mafia don according to the latest subscriber numbers, which actually rose slightly in the first full quarter since the most-watched series in HBO’s history cut to black.

New data from SNL Kagan indicates that HBO’s subscriber base ticked up in the third quarter by 80,000 to 28.94 million despite concerns that the series’ departure would lead some portion of customers to drop their subscriptions.

While a 0.3% increase might be nothing for incoming Time Warner CEO and former HBO chief Jeff Bewkes to crow about, it still is fairly consistent with the flat subscriber levels HBO has been registering during the past several years… [more]