Movie Central
Encyclopedia
Movie Central is a Canadian
English language
Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario
-Manitoba
border, including the territories. Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment
.
Movie Central is carried by various Canadian cable
, IPTV
, and satellite television
providers in Western Canada
including Bell TV, Shaw Direct, Shaw
, Access Communications
, TELUS TV
, Westman Communications Group
and more. It is the equivalent of The Movie Network
(TMN), which is marketed to eastern Canada.
, although often Encore Avenue is sold together in a package with Movie Central.
Movie Central offers an extensive variety of first-run films and television series, most of which come from the American services HBO and Showtime, as well as critically acclaimed original Canadian series as well, most of which are co-produced in partnership with The Movie Network. Selected time block branded Metro, airs independent
, short, festival
, foreign, and subtitled
films, documentaries and original programming.
Films air on Movie Central approximately 10-12 months after they were in theatres, three-to-six months after pay-per-view and over 1½ years before regular television. Sports coverage is permitted, but in such limited amounts that it is rarely seen, in contrast to HBO and Showtime.
In December 2004, Movie Central launched its first high definition
channel called Movie Central HD which delivers simulcasted content from Movie Centrals various multiplex channels excluding EA and EA2. In 2006 MC launched its second HD service called Movie Central 2 HD which delivered an alternative schedule of HD content from Movie Central HD.
On September 22, 2008, The Movie Network and Movie Central announced they would jointly begin offering a dedicated HBO multiplex channel, HBO Canada
, on October 30.
Movie Central introduced a video on demand
service; Movie Central On Demand, to digital cable
subscribers. Content includes films and television series from Movie Central and its four multiplex channels excluding the two Encore Avenue channels.
and Movie Central announced they would jointly begin offering a dedicated HBO multiplex channel (in both standard definition and high definition formats), called HBO Canada, on October 30. For Movie Central subscribers, HBO Canada replaced Movie Central 4 and Movie Central 1 HD. For TMN subscribers, HBO Canada replaced MMore and MMore HD. The channel remains available at no additional charge to TMN / Movie Central subscribers and, moreover, is not available on a stand-alone basis.
The channel focuses on programming from the U.S. premium service Home Box Office
, including several HBO series, specials and sporting events not previously available in Canada; however, some programs that have aired on HBO Canada have aired in the United States on HBO's rival Showtime. A selection of Canadian films and series also airs to satisfy Canadian content
requirements. HBO programming eventually airs solely on HBO Canada, as opposed to any of the other TMN / Movie Central multiplex channels.
The HBO Canada schedule is common to both services, with the exception of Eastern (TMN) / Mountain (MC) timeshifting. Although essentially operating as a joint venture of Corus and TMN's parent company Astral Media
, the east and west feeds are technically separate channels wholly owned by the parent company of the applicable regional service. In any event, HBO/Time Warner
is not a shareholder. and only licenses the name
to Corus and Astral. Unlike the other multiplex channels offered by MC and TMN, both the standard-definition and high-definition HBO Canada feeds (East/West) are available nationally to those television providers who wish to carry them.
Allarcom Pay Television, owned by Charles Allard, was initially granted the regional concession for Alberta
. However, by the time Allarcom's service, Superchannel, launched on February 1, 1983, Allarcom had apparently also gained control of a second regional channel, Ontario
Independent Pay Television.
By January 1984, Superchannel had received approval to extend its signal to Saskatchewan
(replacing Teletheatre, a province-wide pay-cable network that had been operating since the late 1970s), Manitoba
, and what is now the Northwest Territories
and Nunavut
. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/DB84-1.htm Allarcom also took control of Aim Satellite Broadcasting
(British Columbia
and Yukon
) and provided the Superchannel signal in those markets on an "interim" basis while Aim could establish its own service. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/DB84-2.htm
By the spring of 1984, it became clear that the remaining pay operators were continuing to post substantial losses. In August, AIM and OIPT were merged into Allarcom's operations, and the resulting channel exited the Ontario market. Meanwhile, the formerly national service First Choice agreed to serve only Ontario, Quebec
and Atlantic Canada
. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/DB84-654.HTM As part of their agreement, Allarcom and First Choice agreed to jointly market their services under the name First Choice Superchannel, in which the Superchannel "star" branding was predominant. This practice continued until 1989, at which point the "First Choice" name remained in the east and "Superchannel" was restricted to the west
.
With the introduction of TSN
and MuchMusic
in September 1984, Superchannel converted to a predominantly movie
-based service, as did First Choice.
Allarcom was later acquired by Western International Communications
, which launched a parallel classic-movie service, MovieMax!, in the Superchannel service area in 1994. Originally featuring movies from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the channel later expanded to earlier movies (its licence actually allows the channel to air movies that are older than five years). When digital cable and satellite TV became available, Superchannel 2 and 3 were introduced (which were Superchannel 1 on two and four hour delays, respectively), plus MovieMax! 2 on satellite only (a two hour delay of MovieMax!). During the WIC years, there was a noticeable difference in quality between the WIC services and their eastern counterparts, due largely to a 1996 lawsuit against HBO
for allegedly promoting the grey-market availability of U.S.-based satellite television
providers. WIC was at the time also a significant shareholder in Bell TV. In retaliation HBO refused to licence any of its programmes to Superchannel. http://print.google.com/print/doc?articleid=iNEERuzZfMB
The duelling takeover bids for, and eventual split of, WIC resulted in Superchannel and MovieMax! being transferred to Corus Entertainment
, which settled the HBO lawsuit and began to licence programmes such as The Sopranos
. On April 1, 2001, Superchannel and MovieMax! were rebranded under the umbrella brand Movie Central, which consisted of six diverse channels: Movie Central
, Adrenaline Drive (Action), Heartland Road (romance films), Shadow Lane (horror/suspense films), Encore Avenue
(classic movies), and Comic Strip
(comedy films). On March 1, 2006, the sub-brands were dropped (as customers did not understanding their meanings and found the names confusing), changing into four channels called Movie Central, and two channels called Encore Avenue, each of which are still diverse in their schedules. On the Encore Avenue stations, the films that are aired are now only from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, possibly due to the introduction of Turner Classic Movies
in Canada.
of Movie Central and The Movie Network has been subject to criticism. At the time, no other similar premium services broadcasted within Canada. Critics argued that this limits competition and consumer choice, while proponents say there is very little in content or functionality that it is not already offered by the existing services.
In July 2005, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Canadian federal broadcast regulator, announced that public hearings would begin on October 24, 2005 on four broadcast group applications for new national pay TV licences. Each applicant said they would commit towards the creation of more Canadian program content.
On May 18, 2006, it was announced that the Allarco Entertainment application was accepted, while the other three were rejected. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2006/db2006-193.htm This approved application effectively ended Movie Central/The Movie Network duopoly in Canada. While on November 2, 2007, the new service launched as Super Channel.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
-Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
border, including the territories. Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
.
Movie Central is carried by various Canadian cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
, and satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
providers in Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
including Bell TV, Shaw Direct, Shaw
Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
, Access Communications
Access Communications
Access Communications Co-operative Ltd. is a Canadian cable television provider, operating in Regina, Saskatchewan and several other communities in Saskatchewan...
, TELUS TV
Telus TV
Telus TV is a product of Telus that provides IPTV and Satellite service across the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Telus launched its IPTV based service in November 2005 to Telus customers in select communities of Alberta but is now available in several communities throughout...
, Westman Communications Group
Westman Communications Group
Westman Communications Group is the operating name of Westman Media Co-operative. Formerly referred to as Westman Cable, it is the main cable television company for the city of Brandon, Manitoba and the surrounding towns and villages of southwestern Manitoba.WCG was established in 1977 and...
and more. It is the equivalent of The Movie Network
The Movie Network
The Movie Network is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories...
(TMN), which is marketed to eastern Canada.
Channels and content
Movie Central consists of a total of six multiplex channels: four standard definition and two high definition channels. MC operates as a separate service with a separate license then its sister network, Encore AvenueEncore Avenue
Encore Avenue is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Encore Avenue is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories. Encore Avenue is owned by Corus Entertainment...
, although often Encore Avenue is sold together in a package with Movie Central.
- Movie Central: The main "flagship" channel that offers films, documentaries and TV series including content from the American pay service Showtime, along with Canadian programming.
- Movie Central 2 - Films and TV series with a focus on action, thriller, horror and comedy genres.
- Movie Central 3 - Films and TV series with a focus on drama and romance, including independent and foreign films.
- HBO Canada - Primarily original programming sourced from American premium service HBO.
- HBO Canada HD: A high definitionHigh-definition televisionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
simulcast of HBO Canada. - Movie Central 1 & 2 HD: Two high definitionHigh-definition televisionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
channel feeds, alternating between simulcasts of the three Movie Central-branded multiplex channels. - Movie Central On Demand: a video on demandVideo on demandVideo on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
service delivering content from Movie Central and its multiplex channels. - HBO Canada On Demand: a video on demandVideo on demandVideo on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
service delivering content from American premium service HBO.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
, short, festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
, foreign, and subtitled
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
films, documentaries and original programming.
Films air on Movie Central approximately 10-12 months after they were in theatres, three-to-six months after pay-per-view and over 1½ years before regular television. Sports coverage is permitted, but in such limited amounts that it is rarely seen, in contrast to HBO and Showtime.
In December 2004, Movie Central launched its first high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
channel called Movie Central HD which delivers simulcasted content from Movie Centrals various multiplex channels excluding EA and EA2. In 2006 MC launched its second HD service called Movie Central 2 HD which delivered an alternative schedule of HD content from Movie Central HD.
On September 22, 2008, The Movie Network and Movie Central announced they would jointly begin offering a dedicated HBO multiplex channel, HBO Canada
HBO Canada
HBO Canada is a Canadian television channel, which airs programming sourced from the HBO subscription service in the United States. HBO Canada is not available as a standalone channel, but as one channel within the TMN and Movie Central multiplexes....
, on October 30.
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
service; Movie Central On Demand, to digital cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
subscribers. Content includes films and television series from Movie Central and its four multiplex channels excluding the two Encore Avenue channels.
Noted series
- Big LoveBig LoveBig Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
- Brotherhood
- CalifornicationCalifornication (TV series)Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody , is a troubled novelist whose move to California, coupled with his writer's block, complicates his relationships with his longtime girlfriend...
- CarnivàleCarnivàleCarnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes...
- DexterDexter (TV series)Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
- Durham CountyDurham County (TV series)Durham County is a one-hour Canadian dramatic television series produced by Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. and Muse Entertainment Enterprises...
- EntourageEntourage (TV series)Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
- In TreatmentIn TreatmentIn Treatment is an American HBO drama, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychologist, 50-something Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with patients, as well as those with his own therapist at the end of the week. The program, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Paul, debuted on...
- The Line
- Living in Your CarLiving in Your CarLiving in Your Car is a Canadian television comedy-drama series that debuted on May 7, 2010 on HBO Canada.The series stars John Ralston as Steve Unger, a former high-flying corporate executive struggling to rebuild his life after being indicted on fraud, obstruction and racketeering charges...
- ReGenesisReGenesisReGenesis is a Canadian television program produced by The Movie Network and Movie Central in conjunction with Shaftesbury Films. The series, which ran for four seasons, revolves around the scientists of NorBAC , a fictional organization with a lab based in Toronto...
- RomeRome (TV series)Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
- Stargate AtlantisStargate AtlantisStargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
- Sleeper CellSleeper Cell (TV series)Sleeper Cell is a one-hour drama on the Showtime network that began airing on December 4, 2005. The tagline for the first season was "Friends. Neighbors. Husbands. Terrorists." and the tagline for the second season was "Cities. Suburbs. Airports. Targets." The series was nominated for an Emmy award...
- Tell Me You Love MeTell Me You Love MeTell Me You Love Me is an American cable television drama series that premiered on HBO and on The Movie Network on September 9, 2007.The series was created by Cynthia Mort and originally conceived as sexlife. The pilot episode was produced and directed by Patricia Rozema and shot in Winnipeg,...
HBO Canada
On September 22, 2008, both The Movie NetworkThe Movie Network
The Movie Network is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories...
and Movie Central announced they would jointly begin offering a dedicated HBO multiplex channel (in both standard definition and high definition formats), called HBO Canada, on October 30. For Movie Central subscribers, HBO Canada replaced Movie Central 4 and Movie Central 1 HD. For TMN subscribers, HBO Canada replaced MMore and MMore HD. The channel remains available at no additional charge to TMN / Movie Central subscribers and, moreover, is not available on a stand-alone basis.
The channel focuses on programming from the U.S. premium service Home Box Office
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
, including several HBO series, specials and sporting events not previously available in Canada; however, some programs that have aired on HBO Canada have aired in the United States on HBO's rival Showtime. A selection of Canadian films and series also airs to satisfy Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
requirements. HBO programming eventually airs solely on HBO Canada, as opposed to any of the other TMN / Movie Central multiplex channels.
The HBO Canada schedule is common to both services, with the exception of Eastern (TMN) / Mountain (MC) timeshifting. Although essentially operating as a joint venture of Corus and TMN's parent company Astral Media
Astral Media
Astral Media Inc. is a Canadian media corporation. It is Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 83 radio stations in eight provinces, and is a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Teletoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV,...
, the east and west feeds are technically separate channels wholly owned by the parent company of the applicable regional service. In any event, HBO/Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
is not a shareholder. and only licenses the name
Brand licensing
Licensing means renting or leasing of an intangible asset. Examples of intangible assets include a song , a character , a name or a brand . An arrangement to license a brand requires a licensing agreement...
to Corus and Astral. Unlike the other multiplex channels offered by MC and TMN, both the standard-definition and high-definition HBO Canada feeds (East/West) are available nationally to those television providers who wish to carry them.
History
In 1982, the CRTC licensed Canada's first national pay television services. The commission licensed one national general-interest service – First Choice – as well as a number of short-lived niche channels, and several regional general-interest channels.Allarcom Pay Television, owned by Charles Allard, was initially granted the regional concession for Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. However, by the time Allarcom's service, Superchannel, launched on February 1, 1983, Allarcom had apparently also gained control of a second regional channel, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
Independent Pay Television.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
(replacing Teletheatre, a province-wide pay-cable network that had been operating since the late 1970s), Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, and what is now the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
and Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/DB84-1.htm Allarcom also took control of Aim Satellite Broadcasting
AIM Pay-Tv Corp.
AIM Pay-Tv also AIM Satellite Broadcasting, licensed as World View is a now defunct Canadian regional premium television service based in British Columbia.AIM was launched on February 1 1983 like the rest of the Canadian pay-tv channels....
(British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
) and provided the Superchannel signal in those markets on an "interim" basis while Aim could establish its own service. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/DB84-2.htm
By the spring of 1984, it became clear that the remaining pay operators were continuing to post substantial losses. In August, AIM and OIPT were merged into Allarcom's operations, and the resulting channel exited the Ontario market. Meanwhile, the formerly national service First Choice agreed to serve only Ontario, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/DB84-654.HTM As part of their agreement, Allarcom and First Choice agreed to jointly market their services under the name First Choice Superchannel, in which the Superchannel "star" branding was predominant. This practice continued until 1989, at which point the "First Choice" name remained in the east and "Superchannel" was restricted to the west
Dividing territories
Dividing territories is an agreement by two companies to stay out of each other's way and reduce competition in the agreed-upon territories. It is one of several anti-competitive practices outlawed in the United States. The term is generally understood to include dividing customers as well.For...
.
With the introduction of TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
and MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
in September 1984, Superchannel converted to a predominantly movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
-based service, as did First Choice.
Allarcom was later acquired by Western International Communications
Western International Communications
WIC Western International Communications Ltd.The apparent occurrence of "RAS syndrome" here was in fact part of the company's legal name. was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via...
, which launched a parallel classic-movie service, MovieMax!, in the Superchannel service area in 1994. Originally featuring movies from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the channel later expanded to earlier movies (its licence actually allows the channel to air movies that are older than five years). When digital cable and satellite TV became available, Superchannel 2 and 3 were introduced (which were Superchannel 1 on two and four hour delays, respectively), plus MovieMax! 2 on satellite only (a two hour delay of MovieMax!). During the WIC years, there was a noticeable difference in quality between the WIC services and their eastern counterparts, due largely to a 1996 lawsuit against HBO
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
for allegedly promoting the grey-market availability of U.S.-based satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
providers. WIC was at the time also a significant shareholder in Bell TV. In retaliation HBO refused to licence any of its programmes to Superchannel. http://print.google.com/print/doc?articleid=iNEERuzZfMB
The duelling takeover bids for, and eventual split of, WIC resulted in Superchannel and MovieMax! being transferred to Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
, which settled the HBO lawsuit and began to licence programmes such as The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
. On April 1, 2001, Superchannel and MovieMax! were rebranded under the umbrella brand Movie Central, which consisted of six diverse channels: Movie Central
Movie Central
Movie Central is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories...
, Adrenaline Drive (Action), Heartland Road (romance films), Shadow Lane (horror/suspense films), Encore Avenue
Encore Avenue
Encore Avenue is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Encore Avenue is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories. Encore Avenue is owned by Corus Entertainment...
(classic movies), and Comic Strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
(comedy films). On March 1, 2006, the sub-brands were dropped (as customers did not understanding their meanings and found the names confusing), changing into four channels called Movie Central, and two channels called Encore Avenue, each of which are still diverse in their schedules. On the Encore Avenue stations, the films that are aired are now only from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, possibly due to the introduction of Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
in Canada.
Duopoly issue
For many years, the de facto pair of regional monopoliesMonopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
of Movie Central and The Movie Network has been subject to criticism. At the time, no other similar premium services broadcasted within Canada. Critics argued that this limits competition and consumer choice, while proponents say there is very little in content or functionality that it is not already offered by the existing services.
In July 2005, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Canadian federal broadcast regulator, announced that public hearings would begin on October 24, 2005 on four broadcast group applications for new national pay TV licences. Each applicant said they would commit towards the creation of more Canadian program content.
On May 18, 2006, it was announced that the Allarco Entertainment application was accepted, while the other three were rejected. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2006/db2006-193.htm This approved application effectively ended Movie Central/The Movie Network duopoly in Canada. While on November 2, 2007, the new service launched as Super Channel.