Foxtel Movies

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Foxtel Movies
Foxtel Movies Logo.png
Launched 1 January 2013
Owned by Foxtel Networks
Picture format 576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Country Australia
Language English
Replaced Movie Network
Showtime
Sister channel(s) Foxtel Box Office
Showcase
Timeshift service Premiere +2
Family +2
Action +2
Disney Movies +2
Website foxtelmovies.com.au
Availability
Satellite
Foxtel Premiere (HD/SD): 401
Masterpiece (HD/SD): 402
Disney (HD/SD): 404
Family (HD/SD): 405
Action (HD/SD): 406
Comedy (HD/SD): 407
Romance (HD/SD): 408
Thriller (HD/SD): 409
Premiere +2 (SD): 411
Action +2 (SD): 412
Family +2 (SD): 414
Disney Movies +2 (SD): 415
Premiere (SD): 1401
Masterpiece (SD): 1402
Disney (SD): 1404
Family (SD): 1405
Action (SD): 1406
Comedy (SD): 1407
Romance (SD): 1408
Thriller (SD): 1409
Cable
Foxtel Premiere (HD/SD): 401
Masterpiece (HD/SD): 402
Disney (HD/SD): 404
Family (HD/SD): 405
Action (HD/SD): 406
Comedy (HD/SD): 407
Romance (HD/SD): 408
Thriller (HD/SD): 409
Premiere +2 (SD): 411
Action +2 (SD): 412
Family +2 (SD): 414
Disney Movies +2 (SD): 415
Premiere (SD): 1401
Masterpiece (SD): 1402
Disney (SD): 1404
Family (SD): 1405
Action (SD): 1406
Comedy (SD): 1407
Romance (SD): 1408
Thriller (SD): 1409

Foxtel Movies is a suite of eight pay television film channels in Australia which began broadcasting on 1 January 2013. Owned by Foxtel, the channels replaced the now-defunct Movie Network and Showtime suites.

History

In June 2012, speculation arose that Foxtel would be looking at taking movies in-house at the end of 2012 when their contracts with Showtime and Movie Network expired.[1] This would allow Foxtel to make cost savings of a predicted 40% by making movie deals directly with the Hollywood studios.[2]

On 11 October 2012, it was announced that Foxtel had acquired "certain assets" from the Premium Movie Partnership (PMP) shareholders, taking over managing and producing the Showtime channels from 31 October 2012.[3]

Foxtel were in negotiations with Movie Network to acquire it, but it was believed that two of the Movie Network shareholders (Warner Bros. & Village Roadshow) broke ranks and began negotiations with Foxtel for their movie rights.[4] On 6 December 2012, it was announced that Movie Network would fold on 1 January 2013, being not permitted to sell the company to Foxtel or renew their contract.[5]

On 9 December 2012, Foxtel announced they would launch a new line up of channels branded Foxtel Movies.[6] The channels would offer films from four major film companies – 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, & NBCUniversal (rights acquired from Foxtel's acquisition of Showtime).

On 20 December 2012, Foxtel announced a movie deal with Village Roadshow.[7] On 21 December 2012, Foxtel announced a movie deal with Warner Bros..[8]

Over 600 posts were made on Foxtel's Facebook page within 3 days after Foxtel Movies' launch, all criticising Foxtel's changes in that the total amount of channels was reduced from 15 to 11 yet the price remained the same.[9] On 17 January 2013, in response to the outrage by subscribers, Foxtel launched an additional 2 timeshift channels (Family + 2 and Action/Adventure + 2).[10]

On 21 February 2013, Foxtel announced they had finalised agreements with The Walt Disney Company and MGM, resulting in Foxtel having agreements with all the major studios and distributors.[11]

On 15 October 2013, it was announced that Foxtel had reached distribution agreements with StudioCanal, Hopscotch Entertainment One, Icon, and Transmission Films – four of Australia's key independent movie distributors.[12]

On 1 January 2014, Action/Adventure, Drama/Romance and Thriller/Crime were renamed Action, Romance and Thriller respectively.[13] Despite these changes, the programming of each channel remained constant.[14] In addition to the name change of three channels, all channels launched new logos and themes.

On 10 April 2014, Foxtel Movies launched Foxtel Movies Disney, a channel dedicated to Disney films.[15]

On 28 March 2015, a timeshift channel for Foxtel Movies Disney launched, coinciding with its first birthday.[16]

Channels

Foxtel Movies consists of 8 channels, all with a HD simulcast, and 4 channels with a 2-hour SD timeshift channel:[6]

  • Premiere: Main channel of the suite, featuring mainly newer Hollywood films and some domestic content.
  • Action: Channel consists mainly of action-adventure, and science fiction films.
  • Comedy: Channel consists mainly of comedy films.
  • Romance: Channel consists of drama and romantic films, and romantic comedies films.
  • Thriller: Channel consists of thriller, crime and horror films.
  • Family: The suite's 'all-ages' channel, mainly featuring family and children's films.
  • Masterpiece: Channel consists of acclaimed independent films, Australian films or films featuring known Australian actors, and older commercial movies with award acclaim.
  • Disney: The channel will feature a range of classic titles and contemporary movies including recent releases, its timeless live-action and animated library films, as well as Disney-Pixar box office hits. In promotion, Foxtel uses the slogan The Home Of Disney.

Pop-up channels

In the Summer of 2015/16, Foxtel Movies offered two pop-up channels:[17]

  • Best of 2015: available 19-31 December 2015, the channel featured the best movies of 2015.
  • Heroes: available 1-10 January 2016, the channel featured hero and action themed films. The face of the channel was actor Chris Hemsworth.

In February 2016, Foxtel Director of Television Brian Walsh announced the two Summer channels were ratings successes and as a result more pop-up channels would launch in the future.[18]

Over the 2016 Easter long weekend, Foxtel Movies launched a Harry Potter themed pop-up channel, airing the series of 8 movies back-to-back.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ http://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/foxtel-insider/new-disney-channels-227159.htm
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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