The Movie Channel was a British television service which only aired movies. Launched on British Satellite Broadcasting, The Movie Channel was a predecessor of some of the Sky Movies channels, having survived the 1990 merger with Sky Television, another satellite service launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International.
 ident during BSB era | |
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | British Satellite Broadcasting (1990) British Sky Broadcasting (1990–1997) |
| History | |
| Launched | 25 March 1990 |
| Closed | 31 October 1997 |
| Replaced by | Sky Movies Screen 2, now part of Sky Cinema |
History
editThe Movie Channel was one of the five services of British Satellite Broadcasting, a consortium consisting of Granada Television, Pearson, Virgin, Anglia Television and Amstrad.
Known as Screen during the bidding process, the channel launched as The Movie Channel on 25 March 1990.[1] Prior to its launch, BSB signed an exclusive first-run deal with United International Pictures (which distributed Paramount, Universal and MGM/UA releases). One of its first premieres was the 1987 James Bond film, The Living Daylights.[2] It operated as BSB's only subscription service.[1]
Both BSB and Sky Television suffered heavy losses and within a year of launching, BSB and Sky merged, and began operating as British Sky Broadcasting.[3] The Movie Channel, along with The Sports Channel remained on air, and it launched on the Astra 1B satellite on 15 April 1991, launching a 24-hour service the following month.[4]
The Movie Channel continued to broadcast until 31 October 1997, when it closed by playing the ident, fading to a black screen, and after a while, cutting to the test card. The Sky Movies channels were then rebranded, and the channel was relaunched as Sky Movies Screen 2.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "This is BSB (Launch Promo)". YouTube. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ^ "BSB TV Month" (1). April 1990.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Maggie Brown on the early years of Sky Television". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "TWO EURO SATELLITE CHANNELS FALL FROM GRACE". Screen Digest. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ "Sky Channels To Be Rebranded". Mediatel. 10 October 1997.
