The Movie Channel

This article is about the sister premium channel of Showtime. For the unrelated, defunct television channel in the United Kingdom, see The Movie Channel (UK). For the programming format of television channels specializing in movies, see movie channel. Not to be confused with the Canadian premium television service The Movie Network.

The Movie Channel
Launched	April 1, 1973 (1973-04-01) (original launch, as Star Channel) December 1, 1979 (1979-12-01) (relaunch, as The Movie Channel)
Owned by	Showtime Networks, Inc. (CBS Corporation)
Picture format	1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV)
Slogan	Movies for Movie Lovers (primary) Nobody Has it Better than The Movie Channel (secondary)
Country	United States
Language	English Spanish (via SAP audio track; some films may be broadcast in their native language and subtitled into English)
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	New York City, New York
Formerly called	Star Channel (1973–1979)
Sister channel(s)	Showtime, Flix, Smithsonian Channel
Timeshift service	The Movie Channel East, The Movie Channel West, The Movie Channel Xtra East, The Movie Channel Xtra West
Website	www.themoviechannel.com (redirects to www.sho.com/tmc)
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	The Movie Channel: 553 (east; HD/SD) 554 (west; SD) TMC Xtra: 555 (HD) TMC On Demand: 1553
Dish Network	The Movie Channel: 327 (east; HD/SD) 329 (west; SD) The Movie Channel Xtra: 328 (east; SD) 330 (west; SD)
Cable
Available on most U.S. cable systems	Consult your local cable provider for channel availability
IPTV
Verizon FIOS	The Movie Channel: East: 385 (SD), 885 (HD) West: 386 (SD) The Movie Channel Xtra: East: 387 (SD), 887 (HD) West: 388 (SD)
AT&T U-verse	The Movie Channel: East: 882 (SD), 1882 (HD) West: 884 (SD), 1884 (HD) The Movie Channel Xtra: East: 883 (SD), 1883 (HD) West: 885 (SD), 1885 (HD)

The Movie Channel is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by the Showtime Networks subsidiary of CBS Corporation. Its programming features mainly first-run theatrically released and independently produced motion pictures, along with softcore adult erotica, special behind-the-scenes features and movie trivia. The channel's name is occasionally abbreviated as "TMC", which remains a common informal name and is therefore intermittently used below for brevity.

History

Early history (1973–1979)

The Movie Channel traces its history back to April 1, 1973, when Gridtronics launched Star Channel, a pay movie service that delivered videotaped movies to cable television systems around the United States.^[1] Cable providers sometimes experienced technical problems trying to broadcast the delivered tapes to viewers, especially when the tapes jammed during playback. Star Channel was acquired by Warner Communications later in the decade, and was eventually brought into the company's joint venture with American Express, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment. The channel was initially offered on systems operated by Warner Cable Communications, and later on Warner-Amex's experimental QUBE interactive service.

National expansion as The Movie Channel and transfer to Viacom (1979–2005)

In January 1979, Star Channel became a nationally distributed service after it was uplinked to satellite, eventually sharing channel space with Nickelodeon. On December 1, 1979, the network was relaunched as The Movie Channel; the first feature film to be broadcast on the relaunched service was the 1953 comedy Roman Holiday. Following its launch, TMC became the first premium channel to show R-rated films during the daytime hours (HBO continues to not air any R-rated films on its primary channel before 8 p.m. ET/PT As of 2014, except for occasional day-behind repeats of its Saturday movie premieres airing on Sunday late afternoons; TMC sister network Showtime, Cinemax, and now-defunct rival Spotlight did not run R-rated films during the daytime hours at the time with the former two not incorporating them onto their morning and afternoon lineups until the late 1980s/early 1990s, while another now-defunct rival Home Theater Network never ran any R-rated films as it was formatted as a family-oriented service).

In 1981, The Movie Channel became one of the first television channels to broadcast movies in stereo. As the standard for television broadcasts in stereo was a few years away, cable operators simulcast the stereo sound as an FM radio signal. Breaks between films during the 1980s featured segments such as Behind the Scenes and The Heart of Hollywood (the latter running from 1985 to 1988, and borrowing its name from TMC's slogan at the time), both featuring interviews of film stars; Reel Shorts, showcasing live action and animated short films, and Reel Hits, featuring music videos for songs featured in films of that period.

Former logo used from 1988 to 1997; several variants of the "eye and profile" design, using different facial expressions, were used during this period.

In 1983, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment formed a joint venture with Viacom to jointly operate The Movie Channel and Viacom's competing pay service Showtime as part of a new holding company called Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. In 1985, Viacom acquired Warner-Amex's ownership interest in Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc., making the former company the sole owner of both networks (Viacom owned Showtime alone or jointly with other companies from the time it launched in July 1976). The subsidiary was renamed Showtime Networks, Inc. in 1988. Ironically, Warner-Amex co-owner Warner Communications would eventually acquire rivals HBO and Cinemax, when the company merged with Time Inc. in 1989 to form Time Warner. In 1986, TMC began incorporating on-air hosts (both regular hosts and celebrity guests) to present the channel's afternoon and evening films and provide backstory on its production; hosts appearing on the channel during the late 1980s through the mid-1990s included Robert Osborne (then a columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, and also host of The Heart of Hollywood interstitials), Michelle Russell, Lauren Graham and Joe Bob Briggs (the pseudonym of actor and film critic John Irving Bloom, and host of the popular Drive-In Theater on Saturday evenings).

From 1988 to 1997, The Movie Channel featured trailers for current and upcoming theatrically released feature films during promo breaks in-between films;^[2] it also produced a 15-second daily entertainment news interstitial focusing on the film industry called The Movie Channel News that ran until 1992, featuring stories read by a voice-over alongside a segment title graphic. In August 1993, The Movie Channel began limiting breaks between films (which sometimes ran as long as 20 minutes) to a length of five minutes or less, this followed an on-air test of the strategy during February and March of that year that saw an increase in audience retention for other films with the strategy; TMC abandoned the break limits in 1997.^[3]

Although TMC was carried by most cable providers, there were some systems that did not have agreements to carry the channel, even if a provider already carried Showtime; for example, now-defunct satellite provider Primestar never carried TMC, although it announced plans to add the channel in January 1999 before Primestar's assets were sold to Hughes Communications (then-owners of competitor DirecTV) shortly thereafter.^[4] In May 1994, Tele-Communications Inc. dropped The Movie Channel from more than 30 of the cable provider's service areas. The removal of the channel occurred following an antitrust lawsuit against TCI that was filed by Viacom, accusing the provider of a "conspiracy to eliminate" Showtime and its sister channels, including TMC; Viacom accused TCI of using the issue of a carriage contract that expired in January 1993, into pressuring Viacom to settle its lawsuit; Viacom reportedly stated that TCI threatened to hurt both Showtime and TMC unless Viacom agreed to purchase an ownership stake in Encore, which Viacom claimed to have been first conceived by them four years earlier during failed negotiations that would have had TCI purchase 50% of Showtime Networks.^[5] The local TCI systems said that the decision to remove The Movie Channel from their channel lineups were made at the local level and was not a company-wide decision.^[6]

In 1997, TMC underwent an extensive rebranding effort that resulted in the channel briefly premiering its own original movies (which were produced through Showtime),^[7] along with the addition of daily movie marathons set around a specific theme and a companion block known as the Double Vision Weekend, a monthly weekend-long marathon of movies. In addition, TMC also started running movie and celebrity trivia segments during breaks between films (originally known as TMC Fun Facts and later TMC Reel Stuff), along with inserting trivia during promos for movies that were scheduled to air on the channel. In October of that year, The Movie Channel launched The Movie Channel 2 as its sole multiplex service^[8] (it was later renamed The Movie Channel Xtra in 2001).

In 2001, The Movie Channel began premiering movies that did not previously receive a theatrical, home video or DVD release (branded as "TMC First-Run Movies"). It also began airing softcore pornographic films during the late night hours. The channel also produced a series of two-minute sketches called The Pitch, starring character actor Sean Smith as a movie executive who listens as people pitch him ideas for films (the segment was tongue-in-cheek in nature as the pitches were for well-known existing feature films such as Cliffhanger and The Terminator).

Under CBS Corporation ownership (2005–present)

On June 14, 2005, Viacom decided to separate itself into two companies (only six years after the company's acquisition of CBS), both of which would be controlled by Viacom parent National Amusements, amid stagnation of the company's stock price. The original Viacom was renamed CBS Corporation and acquired Showtime Networks along with CBS' broadcasting assets, Paramount Television (now the separate arms CBS Television Studios for network and cable production, and CBS Television Distribution for production of first-run syndicated programs and off-network series distribution), advertising firm Viacom Outdoor (renamed CBS Outdoor), Simon & Schuster and Paramount Parks, which was later sold; the new Viacom kept Paramount Pictures, the MTV Networks and BET Networks cable divisions, and Famous Music (the latter was sold off in 2007).^[9][10]

On May 3, 2006, The Movie Channel adopted a new on-air look including a new logo and slogan (Movies For Movie Lovers).^[11] Bumpers that introduced films were dropped entirely (instead starting the film with a ratings bumper). The channel's website – which only featured a programming schedule for the next month – was also revamped with the addition of special features including an online store, a streaming video player and previews of films set to air on the channel (TMC still features movie trivia interstitials between films on the linear channels and on its video-on-demand service, though it directs viewers to the channel's website for answers to the trivia questions).

Channels

List of channels

Depending on the service provider, The Movie Channel provides up to four multiplex channels – two 24-hour multiplex channels, both of which are simulcast in both standard definition and high definition – as well as a subscription video-on-demand service (The Movie Channel On Demand). The Movie Channel broadcasts its primary channel and multiplex service The Movie Channel Xtra on both Eastern and Pacific Time Zone schedules. The respective coastal feeds of each channel are usually packaged together (though most cable providers only offer the east and west coast feeds of TMC's main channel), resulting in the difference in local airtimes for a particular movie or program between two geographic locations being three hours at most.

Showtime and Flix, which are also owned by CBS Corporation, operate as separate services – although The Movie Channel is frequently sold together in a package with Showtime, subscribers to The Movie Channel do not necessarily have to subscribe to the other two services. Prior to the advent of digital cable, many providers often sold The Movie Channel separately from Showtime. Showtime began offering all of its channels, including TMC, Flix and Sundance Channel (now owned by AMC Networks), in a single package by the early 2000s; this resulted in most providers (with the exception of Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network) ceasing to sell or promote The Movie Channel separately from Showtime (Dish Network and DirecTV offers both TMC and TMC Xtra, either with the other Showtime channels or as part of a separate movie tier to subscribers that do not already have Showtime; both The Movie Channel and Encore are the only U.S. premium channels to be offered to subscribers that do not subscribe to their co-owned premium services).

Related services

The Movie Channel HD

The Movie Channel HD is a high definition simulcast feed of The Movie Channel that broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format. In addition to its main channel, TMC also operates a high definition simulcast feed of The Movie Channel Xtra; both services broadcast a moderate-to-large schedule of programming in HD, with films being broadcast in their native aspect ratio.^[12] The Movie Channel HD is carried by most of the major American pay television providers: including Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Xfinity by Comcast, Cablevision, AT&T U-verse, DirecTV, Dish Network and Verizon FiOS.

The Movie Channel On Demand

The Movie Channel operates a subscription video-on-demand television service called The Movie Channel on Demand, which is available at no additional charge to new and existing subscribers of The Movie Channel. The service launched on December 1, 2003,^[13][14] with a subscriber base of two million homes.^[15] The Movie Channel On Demand offers program content available in standard or high definition based on the following genres: action and adventure films, dramas, comedies and softcore pornographic films. It also offers special feature content consisting of film trivia and behind-the-scenes features including interviews. The Movie Channel on Demand's rotating program selection incorporates select new titles that are added each Friday, alongside existing program titles held over from the previous one to two weeks.

Programming

Movie library

As of August 2013, The Movie Channel – through Showtime – maintains exclusive first-run film licensing agreements with network sister company CBS Films since 2007,^[16] The Weinstein Company since 2009 (including Dimension Films),^[17][18] DreamWorks (through Touchstone Pictures, as part of a distribution agreement with Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group),^[19] IFC Films,^[20] Miramax Films (including films released by Dimension Films), WWE Films, Summit Entertainment (for films released prior to 2013), Magnolia Pictures, First Look Studios, THINKFilm and Anchor Bay Entertainment.

The Movie Channel also shows sub-runs – runs of films that have already received broadcast or syndicated television airings – of theatrical films from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (including content from subsidiaries Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, and former subsidiary and current independently operated studio Miramax), Samuel Goldwyn Films, Universal Studios (including content from subsidiary Focus Features), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (including content from subsidiaries United Artists, Orion Pictures, and The Samuel Goldwyn Company), Paramount Pictures and Lions Gate Entertainment (sub-run rights with the latter three studios are for films released prior to 2008). Although it does not hold the pay television rights to telecast recent films from 20th Century Fox – which are held by HBO, as of 2014 – The Movie Channel does run independent films to which that studio owns the home video rights, regardless as to if they were not released theatrically. In 2006, Showtime Networks entered into a partial deal with Rogue Pictures to broadcast select films released by the studio (especially those originally produced for home video release).

Many lesser-known film titles (particularly those released as independent films) that have either not received a theatrical release or were released on DVD or home video are also commonly broadcast on TMC. The window between a film's initial release in theaters and its initial screening on Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix is wider than the grace period leading to a film's initial broadcast on HBO, Cinemax or Starz. Films that Showtime has pay cable rights to will usually also run on The Movie Channel and sister channel Flix during the period of its term of licensing.

Future licensing agreements

In October 2013, Showtime announced that it entered into a four-year film licensing agreement with Open Road Films to broadcast feature films released by the studio between 2017 and 2020.^[21]

Programming blocks

Current

• Splatterday: In 2006, The Movie Channel introduced a weekly block called Splatterday on Saturday (also known as simply "Splatterday"). The block, which airs on Saturday nights starting at 9:00 p.m. ET, is a double feature of horror movies (however until late 2008, the now-defunct Showtime series Masters of Horror aired within the block, as the only television series to ever air on The Movie Channel). Both films airing in that week's initial late evening block are rebroadcast on TMC's primary channel following the conclusion of the second film, the entire block is also rebroadcast on The Movie Channel Xtra the following Friday evening – the night prior to that week's block on The Movie Channel – at 10:00 p.m. ET.
• The Good Stuff: The Movie Channel introduced a weeknight block called "The Good Stuff" in 2006, showcasing critically acclaimed theatrical and independent films as part of its late night schedule, usually airing around 12:00 a.m. ET.

Former

• Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Featuring cult films and B movies, this block was hosted by Joe Bob Briggs (the pseudonym of actor and film critic John Irving Bloom), who was known for wearing cowboy attire and a ten-gallon hat. Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater aired Saturday nights on TMC beginning in 1986, though the Drive-In Theater presentation on the channel dated back to 1984, when it debuted without a regular host. Among the many recurring gags featured in the wraparound segments seen prior to and following the films within the block include Briggs' unique way of introducing movies (including referencing exactly how much violence and nudity was included in each movie) and his signoff "this is Joe Bob Briggs, reminding you that the drive-in will never die". Bloom's work as the Joe Bob character also extended as host of The Movie Channel's Moonlight Madness block during the second half of the 1980s. Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater ended its ten-year run on TMC on February 24, 1996, with Bloom reprising the Joe Bob Briggs character as host of TNT's MonsterVision horror film block from 1997 to 2000.
• TMC Top Attraction: This block ran from 1988 to 1991, with a featured movie title being broadcast each Friday night at 11 p.m. ET. Encore rebroadcasts of the films were then aired two hours earlier from the prior primetime telecast on Saturday (at 9 p.m. ET) and Sunday evenings (at 7 p.m. ET).
• The Movie Channel Challenge: This block ran from 1990 to 1997, in which The Movie Channel ran approximately 400 movies during the course of one month without any repeat broadcasts.^[22] Airing during the summer, "The Movie Channel Challenge" was developed with the intent to set TMC apart from the scheduling format of most premium channels (including that of The Movie Channel itself) that typically feature repeat airings of most films several times during the calendar month. A set of movies starring a particular actor or focusing on a certain film genre would be aired during at various points during the period.
• Salute to the Academy Awards: The Movie Channel aired the "Salute to the Academy Awards" (a month-long block similar to Turner Classic Movies' present-day 31 Days of Oscar) from 1984 to 1997, which ran during the month proceeding the Academy Awards. It featured movies that have won or earned nominations for Academy Awards in various film and acting categories, with one Oscar winning or nominated film airing each evening.
• VCR Theater/VCR Overnite/TMC Overnight: The channel launched a weekly feature called "The Movie Channel's VCR Theater" in the spring of 1986, which aired early Wednesday mornings at 3:00 a.m. ET. The block was created in response to the rise in consumer ownership of VCRs (particularly among the channel's subscriber base) during the 1980s. Films featured in the block were selections that the channel's programming department believed were worth recording for their subscribers to watch at a time of their choosing.^[23] This block was renamed in 1988 as "VCR Overnite" and again in 1997 as "TMC Overnight", until it was discontinued in 2004.
• Daily marathons: Following a major on-air rebrand of TMC in the fall of 1997, the channel started airing movie marathons seven days a week, featuring three (or sometimes four) films that were tied to a specific subject (such as "Ouch" for crime dramas, or "The Eyes Have It" for films with the word "eyes" in their title such as Night Eyes 3) or actor (such as "Omar Goodness" for movies starring Omar Epps). These themed marathons which were discontinued in 2006.
• TMC Double Vision Weekends: In conjunction with the daily marathons, The Movie Channel ran "Double Vision Weekends" on a bi-monthly basis beginning in the fall of 1997. These three-day long blocks featured three different movies starring a particular actor or actress with a different marathon block being shown following the previous block's conclusion. The "Double Vision Weekend" lineup typically lasted for longer than one of the network's typical movie marathons (the daily marathon lineups ran during the afternoon and/or evening hours). The "Double Vision Weekends" blocks were discontinued in 2006, along with the daily film marathons.

Branding

Over the years, TMC has used a myriad of unique, and sometimes bizarre logos and promotions. The channel's original logo under The Movie Channel name incorporated a star outline made up of film strips with folded sides, indirectly referencing its previous identity as Star Channel. In 1981, the text for the network's name changed from the Broadway typeface to a stylized all-uppercase font (with a slightly enlarged letter "M") augmented to the left and underside of the star. From 1983 to 1985, the network alternately used a script logo (which varied slightly in style, depending on the promo or ID it was displayed in), sometimes more often than its "star" logo. Between 1985 and 1988, TMC began airing somewhat clever graphics for their time such as a "tour of Hollywood" movie open which closed with a shot of the Hollywood skyline with a faintly visible heart in the middle of the sky.^[24]

In the spring of 1988, The Movie Channel debuted its "eye and profile" logo, which utilized various designs incorporating facial expressions, with the channel's name rendered in Helvetica Extended on tilted black bars at the top and bottom of the logo; some viewers have commented on online blogs and video websites such as YouTube that this logo, due to the eyes being prominently displayed, had frightened them as young children (this logo was replicated somewhat when WGN America used a logo featuring a set of female eyes rimmed with green mascara from 2008 to 2009). The channel ran different computer-animated 10 second feature presentation opens and network IDs (among which included the logo changing facial expressions at the open of a curtain set to a bouncy keyboard tune,^[25] a grayscale version of the logo – which then winked – rotating to face the screen in front of a gray background accompanied by a steady drumbeat^[25] and a relatively longer movie opener (which mixed in live-action) set in a living room to Indiana Jones-style adventure music that begins with the strike of a match after which the eyes of the logo – which is printed on a newspaper that is being set afire as kindling in a fireplace – shoots lasers and escapes from the paper on a calamity-filled journey through a family's living room from the logo's point of view as it heads toward the safety of a TV set).^[26]

Alternate version of current logo.

TMC adopted a very slick on-air look that predominantly used CGI graphics, with the debut of a new logo in 1997, a 3D computer-animated green sphere with a tilted and lowercase "TMC" emblazened on it, usually shown either to the right of the channel's full name or above the name (also rendered in lowercase type). Jeff Bottoms (who has since become The Movie Channel's longest-serving promo announcer, and also does promotions for sister channel Showtime) promoted upcoming programs between films with humorous, and tongue-in-cheek voiceovers. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, The Movie Channel started running a wide variety of network promotions from those akin to a movie trailer to typical promos that feature behind-the-scenes trivia relating to the film. The latter technique is still used by the channel today, often in a more hybrid way.

An extensively modified logo was introduced in 2001, featuring a one-dimensional circle with a lowercase "tmc" in Knockout type on it, surrounded with two lines on the corners framing the circle; the "movie" in the channel's name was rendered in bold. The Movie Channel's current logo was introduced in 2006, featuring three colored crescent-like sections in a circle framing the channel's name, rendered in the same Helvetica typeface variant used in the 1988-1997 logo. Online film reviewers were incorporated into promos for films to provide backstory on the movie at this point. On April 1, 2010, The Movie Channel and TMC Xtra began displaying digital on-screen graphic logos of the respective channels during its programming; the bug seen is an alternate version of the channel's logo with each segment of the channel's name appearing in a vertically stacked fashion.

Network slogans

• 1979–1983: "All Movies, 24 Hours a Day" (alternately "All Movies, Only Movies, 24 Hours a Day"; used as alternate slogan from 1985–1988)
• 1981–1983: "We're Taking the Movies to America"^[27]
• 1981–1983: "You've Got The Movie Channel, The Movies You Want to See"^[27]
• 1983–1984: "Anytime You Gotta Have a Movie" (commercial slogan)
• 1984–1988: "The Heart of Hollywood"
• 1988–1993: "A Movie Anytime You Want One"^[28]
• 1993–1997: "The Movie Channel, Where You're Never More Than Five Minutes Away from a Movie"^[29]
• 1997–2001: "100% Pure Movies, 100% Pure Fun"
• 2001–2006: "The Stuff Movies Are Made Of"
• 2006–present: "Movies for Movie Lovers"^[30]
• 2014–present: Nobody Has it Better than The Movie Channel (secondary slogan)

References

External links

• Official website