| Encore | |
|---|---|
| Launched | April 1, 1991 |
| Owned by | Liberty Starz |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Slogan | The Place For Movies, 24 Hours a Day (primary) Playing Favorites (secondary) |
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Meridian, Colorado |
| Sister channel(s) | Starz MoviePlex |
| Website | Encore official site |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 535 Encore (east) (SD/HD) 536 Encore (west) 537 Encore Love 538 Encore Westerns 539 Encore Suspense 540 Encore Drama 541 Encore Action 542 Encore Family 1535 Encore On Demand |
| Dish Network | 340 Encore East (SD/HD) 341 Encore (west) 342 Encore Westerns 343 Encore Action 344 Encore Suspense 345 Encore Drama 346 Encore Love 347 Encore Family |
| Cable | |
| Available on most cable systems | Check local listings for channels |
| IPTV | |
| Verizon FiOS | See List of Verizon FiOS channels |
| AT&T U-verse | See AT&T U-verse channel lineup |
Encore is an American premium television channel featuring mainly older and recent blockbuster motion pictures. It is owned by Liberty Starz. The headquarters of Encore and its sister channels Starz and MoviePlex are located on the Meridian International Business Center complex in Meridian, Colorado.[1]
As of December 2011, Encore's programming is available to 32.8 million subscribers in the United States,[2] which is larger than HBO's subscriber base of 28.2 million subscribers, due to Encore's penetration via subscribers of Starz and digital cable and satellite providers that offer Encore and its multiplex channels under a separate package from Starz. As such, satellite and some cable providers will sell Encore to non-Starz subscribers, though the two channels are typically sold as a package.
Contents |
Encore launched on April 1, 1991 at 9 p.m. ET on four TCI cable systems (both it and Liberty Media were controlled by John Malone); the channel debuted with an introduction by founder John Sie, who served as the president of the network from its launch until 1999 and CEO until his retirement in 2004,[3] which was then followed by Encore's first film telecast, the 1980 film 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin.[4] Initially, the channel's focus was on movies made primarily in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and was formatted similarly to American Movie Classics, with hosted introductions to the movies.
Breaks between films on Encore in its early days were quite lively, consisting less of promotions and more trivia and nostalgia, fitting in with Encore's motto "The Movies of Your Life." There was even a segment that informing viewers about the movies and other programming that were scheduled to air on other premium channels in prime time. The channel had initially broadcast films from Warner Bros. Pictures (owned by Time Warner, the parent company of rival pay service HBO), Columbia Pictures, Orion Pictures, 20th Century Fox, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, TriStar Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Turner Entertainment Co. and MGM/UA.[5] The channel was formatted as a "mini-pay" service, available to subscribers for a $1 monthly fee,[6] with TCI initially offering the channel as a "negative option", in which customers must notify TCI that they do not wish to have the channel after an introductory offer, or the company would automatically add on a $1 monthly charge to their cable bill, which would have then increased to $4.95 a month by May 1992; the negative option fee led to lawsuits filed against TCI by ten states, eventually causing TCI not to use the negative option plan for the channel.[7][8]
Many cable providers outside of TCI, however, were reluctant to offer Encore on their systems in its early years due to the fear that it would cannibalize subscriptions of other premium channel services.[9] However John Sie positioned the channel as such that would bolster the growth of what had been a lagging pay TV industry, as premium channels overall had been seeing a steady decline in subscribers since the late 1980s.[4]
Around the time of its launch, there was some debate as to whether Viacom or TCI originally conceived the idea for Encore; with Viacom executives insisting TCI lifted part of the plan from Viacom-owned Showtime Networks. Then-Encore president John Sie said in an 1991 interview with Multichannel News that TCI brought up the concept of the Encore network as a way to revitalize Showtime, either by launching a new service from scratch or overhauling the format of Showtime sister network The Movie Channel. Incidentally, TCI made a failed attempt to acquired a 50 percent stake in Showtime in 1989.[10] Showtime Networks would launch a mini-pay service formatted similar to Encore, called Flix in 1992.[11] Encore had increased its subscriber base to an estimated 7 million subscribers nationwide by 1996.[12]
On June 2, 1997, TCI announced a deal in which it would transfer majority ownership of its Encore Media Group subsidiary to sister company Liberty Media, with TCI retaining a minority 20% ownership.[13] By May 1998, Encore had a subscriber base of 11.4 million cable homes.[14] As the channel aged, it adopted a more conventional presentation style: first in 1998, the channel began to incorporate two first-run feature film exclusives each month,[15] and on May 24, 1999 as part of a major rebrand of the channel, Encore shifted its focus to hit movies, primarily recent ones but with notable classics mixed in as well.[16][17] Encore used to identify itself as guaranteeing to air a great movie every night, even setting up a special 1-800-number in which Encore would give a $2.50 refund to unsatisfied subscribers.[18][19] Encore eventually began to be sold as either premium channel or a digital basic network, retaining the uncut/commercial-free nature of its programming, and by September 2005, was available in 25 million homes nationwide.[20] On November 19, 2009, Liberty Media spun off Starz and Encore into a new company called Liberty Starz.[21]
Encore operates eight multiplex channels, an additional channel carrying programming from the Encore multiplex channels, a video-on-demand service, and a high definition simulcast channel:
On February 1, 1994, Encore launched the industry's first "themed" extension—seven additional channels that each focused on a specific genre. Initially, this was to be six channels,[26] but Encore decided to launch its own competitor to HBO and Showtime, dubbed Starz!, acquiring the rights to first-run Universal Studios films.[27] Starz was the first of the multiplex channels to be launched, having debuted on February 1, 1994. The first of Encore's other multiplex channels, Love Stories, Mystery and Westerns, launched on July 1, 1994, having being chosen to launch earlier than the True Stories & Drama, Action and WAM! channels;[28] while True Stories & Drama (later shortened to True Stories), Action and WAM!: America's Kidz Network did not launch until September 12 of that year.[29] Each multiplex channel also used a numbering system: Love Stories was designated as "Encore 2", Westerns was "Encore 3", Mystery was "Encore 4", Action was "Encore 5", True Stories was "Encore 6", WAM! was "Encore 7" and Starz! was designated "Encore 8".
In 1996, Encore abandoned the numbering system for most of its channels, using the tagline "an encore network" instead until the early 2000s; the notable exception was Starz!, which continued to use "Encore 8" branding in its main idents and movie openers until 2002, even as Starz! was long-since separated entirely from the Encore brand and by that time, given its own family of channels. On March 28, 2005, the entire Multiplex was revamped to bring the individual channels back in line with the overall Encore brand, due to focus tests that revealed that viewers did not know the themed channels were part of the Encore channel.[30] Three Encore channels changed their names as well: True Stories became Encore Drama, Love Stories became Encore Love, and WAM!: America's Kidz Network became simply Encore Wam.[31] Additional changes to the Encore multiplex came on August 1, 2011 with launch of Encore Español, a Spanish-language simulcast of the main Encore channel, and the rebrand and refocus of Encore Mystery and the teen-targeted Encore Wam into Encore Suspense and Encore Family, leaving Encore Westerns and Encore Action as the only Encore multiplex channels to contain the titles in use since the original 1994 launch of the Encore themed multiplex (though as mentioned, the "Encore" name was not included in the multiplexes' titles until 2005).[22]
The Multiplex has been given several names over the years, including "Encore Multiplex", "Encore Movie Networks", "Starz Encore Super Pak", and "Starz Super Pak". It now has no "official" name, and viewers are simply told they are watching "one of the seven Encore channels", though some affiliates brand it the "Encore Movie Pak".
An unofficial name for the entire collection of Starz and Encore channels is the Starz Moviepack, a name used for the package by Dish Network and "Starz Super Pak" still remains in use by some others including DirecTV.
Encore, Encore Action and Encore Drama are available in 1080i high definition. The main Encore channel was originally launched in HD on March 22, 2003[32] but was shut down after the channel's 2006 rebrand, and was relaunched in 2008.[33] The main Encore HD channel is currently carried nationally by DirecTV and Dish Network and regionally by Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-Verse, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Insight Communications. Encore Action and Encore Drama began broadcasting in high definition on August 1, 2011, becoming the first Encore multiplex channels to launch their own HD simulcast feeds.[22] It is unknown when the others will follow suit.
As of 2011, Encore (through Starz) has exclusive first-run premium cable rights to films from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[34] (including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures), Sony Pictures Entertainment (including Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Screen Gems, TriStar), Overture Films (also owned by Starz' parent, Liberty Media), Anchor Bay Entertainment, Yari Film Group, and Warren Miller Films, among other leading distributors.
Encore also airs older titles from Time Warner subsidiaries (Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Turner Entertainment), 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Miramax Films, Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios.
Generally, Encore will air older titles, primarily film titles from the 1960s to the 1990s, with some newer titles (usually broadcast about 6–12 months after premiering on the Starz networks) interspersed throughout the day.
Encore has announced it will air three original programs during 2011, two of them miniseries: Moby Dick,[35] The Take[35] and Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis.[36]
Encore's signature logo is a starburst mark. In the original logo, the mark was contained within the "O" of the channel's name—it was then revamped into a box design for the channel's 1994 rebrand. The logo was simplified for the 1999 rebrand, removing the box design and turning the starburst into a line artwork above the "encore" text; the basic design was carried over in the 2005 revamp.
Fred Harrison, who announced for USA Network from 1996 to 2003, is the lead announcer for the Encore channels. Other announcers include Jim Brennan and Shannon Hill. The current Feature Presentation bumpers for the Encore channels have an announcer. Rarely, these bumpers are announcerless, just like the Starz channels.
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||