FX Movie Channel
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Network | FX Networks |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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FX Movie Channel (FXM) is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. The channel's programming consists largely of movies, primarily those from the 20th Century Fox, Twentieth Century Pictures, and Fox Film Corporation library. Its primary competitors are Time Warner's Turner Classic Movies, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's MGM HD and Sony Pictures Entertainment's Sony Movie Channel, each of which likewise features films from its respective owner's inventory. Since 2012, FXM has separated its film content into two distinct blocks, with its main programming focusing more on recent films and its early-morning and daytime schedule (branded as "FXM Retro") focusing on classic films, Minus the movies on TimeWarner's Turner Classic Movies.
As of February 2015, FXM is available to approximately 52,607,000 pay television households (45.2% of households with television) in the United States.[1]
History
Focus on classic films (1994–2012)
Originally intended to be titled "Fox Movie Studio" during the planning stages,[2] the channel first launched at midnight on October 31, 1994 as fXM: Movies from Fox, a name derived from its sister cable channel FX, which debuted five months earlier on June 1.[3] The first movie to air on fXM was the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".
Its original format focused solely on classic movies from the 20th Century Fox film library, which were presented commercial-free and (in regard to films originally released in black-and-white) uncolorized, and were generally shown without editing for content and time; the films that were broadcast were mainly releases from the 1920s to the 1980s. The channel officially changed to its name to Fox Movie Channel on March 1, 2000.
Format change and incorporation of recent films (2012–present)
On January 1, 2012, Fox Movie Channel adopted a hybrid programming format, with the debut of the time-shared service FX Movie Channel (FXM), effectively reviving the channel's original name. With the change, the channel shifted from being mainly a classic movie channel and broadened its focus by incorporating movies from the 1990s to present (the most recent films which are shown on a roughly two-year lag after their initial release) within the block, many of which were culled from existing licensing agreements between FX and various film studios, in an effort to refocus it towards adults between the ages of 25 and 54 years old.[4]
The channel, which only ran promos for its programming as well as interstitials relating to its films, also began running traditional advertisements during the 12-hour block, which runs from the late afternoon to the early overnight hours (from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time). As a result, films broadcast on the FXM block are edited to allow for commercial time, and for content. Fox Movie Channel still retained uncut and commercial-free broadcasts of its films.[4]
On March 27, 2013, Fox Entertainment Group announced that FXM would go from being a programming block on Fox Movie Channel to being a full scale network within the FX Networks family, which also includes FX and FXX. On June 9, 2014, the Fox Movie Channel name was dropped entirely from the channel's early-morning and daytime lineup, which was renamed "FXM Retro", although programming featured as part of the block continues to air without content edits or commercial interruption. On January 1, 2015, FXM deviated from its movie-focused format for the first time, running a marathon of the first season of the FX original series Fargo (itself based on the 1996 film of the same name).[5]
Programming
Movie library
FXM – through FX – maintains movie licensing rights agreements with sister company 20th Century Fox (including content from subsidiaries 20th Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios, New Regency Productions and Fox Searchlight Pictures), Warner Bros. Entertainment (including content from subsidiaries Warner Bros. Animation, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment), Universal Studios (including content from subsidiaries Universal Animation Studios, Working Title Films, Illumination Entertainment and Focus Features), Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks and Sony Pictures Entertainment (including Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Screen Gems and Triumph Films).
Since the 2012 separation of the channel's film content into two distinct blocks, FXM's film telecasts usually are "television" cuts meant for basic cable, which feature content edits, dubbing of profanities and some time edits by removing some superfluous plotting or toning down scenes with adult content inappropriate for basic cable broadcast to fit within a set timeslot with commercials added.
High definition
FXM provides a high definition simulcast feed that broadcasts the channel's film content in the 720p resolution format, the company's default transmission format.
See also
References
- ^ Robert Seidman (February 22, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of February 2015". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it (Tribune Digital Ventures). Retrieved March 14, 2015.
- ^ Richard Katz (July 11, 1994). "fX the sequel: Fox Movie Studio coming soon". Multichannel News. Fairchild Publications. Retrieved January 18, 2013 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ Richard Katz (October 3, 1994). "Fox flicks: second fX net sets program model". Multichannel News. Fairchild Publications. Retrieved January 18, 2013 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ a b Andrea Morabito (September 19, 2011). "Fox Movie Channel to Rebrand with 'FXM' Block". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ Sara Bibel (December 23, 2014). "FXM to Air 'Fargo' Marathon on New Year's Day". TV by the Numbers. Zap2It (Tribune Digital Ventures). Retrieved July 2, 2015.
