A New Movie Channel: Genius Move, or Epix Fail?
I had forgotten that the new cable movie channel from Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate was coming, but it still is, and it reportedly now has a name: Epix. But the New York Times reports that it's having a hard time finding a cable distributor.
How could that possibly be? Could it have anything to do with the fact that there is not a single subscriber in the cableverse who actually wants another movie channel? That you can now get movies on demand, from Netflix, from Amazon, from iTunes, on your iPod, on your computer—that in fact it may now be more difficult to avoid movies than to get them? That the single common characteristic of most major cable "movie" channels—HBO, Showtime, Starz, AMC, IFC, Sundance—is that they have wisely decided to focus on original programming to generate viewership? (Epix says it will do original series as well, but does not seem to have laid out much in the way of specific plans.)
I could maybe see an audience for another movie channel if, like Turner Classic Movies, it served a specific niche, but I have a hard time imagining now what that niche would be. Of course, I watch TV for a living and thus don't have as much time as I otherwise would to watch movie-on-video anyway, but you tell me: does anyone out there subscribe to movie channels for the movies?
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1
I get Starz for the movies. Then again, I have a close relative who works for Comcast and can usually re-up promotional deals (usually free HBO or Starz) every six months or so. For me, the only reason to subscribe to Showtime is for its original programming. They have a horrible selection of movies (In fact their contracts with MGM and Lionsgate are coming to an end because of the Epix channel.)
Clearly most people subscribe to movie channels for the movies. HBO has 30 million subscribers. But the audiences for their scripted shows are relatively small.
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2
I personally wouldn't mind a cable channel that only showed comedies older than, say, 15 or 20 years, since Comedy Central has... wisely decided to focus on original programming to generate viewership.
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Which seems to prove the point - given the vast quantity of entertainment material already in existence, on demand services with ever more clever suggestion algorithms will always result in far better customer satisfaction than non-interactive cable scheduling, regardless of how niche that network is.
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(I'd argue why Turner Classic Movies is successful - was it due to the slow pace of those classic movies being put on current media, or because the introductory commentary by Robert Osborne (et al.), theme nights, etc. essentially are the suggestion processes Netflix use.) -
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As long as there movies that people can watch there be viewers no matter the advancement.
- poniewozik @LaurelSnyder that falls under the "stuffing is not dessert" rule for me. - 8 hours ago
- poniewozik No spoilers, but next #fnl is the best ep yet of the new season and Zach Gilford's best work on the show. - 14 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Not so fast, Carr. That means you owe us a substitute windy blog post. Chop chop! - 16 hours ago
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