Cinema One (also called C1 and stylized as C1NEMAONE) is a Philippine
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
channel targeted to the
Filipino diaspora. It is owned by
Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of Philippine media conglomerate
ABS-CBN Corporation
ABS-CBN Corporation is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino Media conglomerate, media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment television and film production, Broadcast syndication, progra ...
. Its programming includes a lineup of mainstream and independent local and foreign films distributed by
ABS-CBN Studios/
Star Cinema,
GMA Pictures,
Cignal Entertainment,
Unitel Pictures,
Solar Pictures,
APT Entertainment,
The IdeaFirst Company,
Brightlight Productions,
Regal Entertainment (Regal Films) and rarely,
OctoArts Films (films solely produced by
Viva Films air on
PBO and
Viva Cinema), film-related programming, and original
made-for-television films.
An international feed called ''Cinema One Global'' is also available worldwide as part of
TFC premium channels via cable, satellite,
iWantTFC and
TFC IPTV.
History
The channel was launched on June 12, 1994, when i-Channel merged with Classic 21 to form Sky 1, launching morning schedules containing public affairs, business, music and mostly Philippine movies. Later, public affairs and business programs were removed from Sky 1 programming and, from there, would form cable news channel Sarimanok News Network (now
ABS-CBN News Channel
The ABS-CBN News Channel, commonly known as ANC, is a 24/7 Philippine pay television news channel. It was launched in 1996 as the first all-news network in English language. The majority of its programs are produced by ABS-CBN News and Curre ...
); and Sky 1 was rebranded as the Pinoy Blockbuster Channel on April 18, 1998, with its programming now focused solely on locally-produced films.
On May 20, 2001, Pinoy Blockbuster Channel was rebranded again as Cinema One and added foreign movies to its schedule.
In this move, Cinema One got its current name as suggested by former ABS-CBN president and COO Federico M. Garcia.
The rebrand to Cinema One also reflected the channel’s repositioning to cater to other markets, such as the premium A and B social classes.
As part of the relaunch, the movie channel also launched weekly original programs to complement the movie blocks.
Some of these were ‘''Cinema News'',’ ‘''Persona'',’ ‘''Cover Story'',’ and ‘''Review Night'',’ among others.
In 2015, the channel took it up a notch when it embraced the scripted content genre and aired the mini-series ‘''Single/Single''’ starring Shaina Magdayao and Matteo Guidicelli.
For a time, through its innovations and strong content library, Cinema One became the undisputed leading cable channel in the Philippines.
In 2005, Cinema One ventured into original movie production under its annual
Cinema One Originals film festival which showcase and grants funding to independent film makers in the country. Among the films that has been produced by the channel were ''Confessional'' (2007), ''
Huling Balyan ng Buhi'', ''Rome & Juliet'', ''Tambolista'' (2007), ''Mater Dolorosa'' (2012), ''Yanggaw'', ''Sa North Diversion Road'' (2005), ''Imburnal'' (2008), ''Dose'', ''Altar'', ''Baybayin'' (2012), ''
That Thing Called Tadhana'' (2014), ''
Ang Babaeng Humayo'', ''
2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'', and ''
Baka Bukas''.
In May 2004, as part of ABS-CBN's global marketing strategy, Cinema One was launched internationally focused towards the Philippine diaspora in North America, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
In July 2021, through a strong partnership between ABS-CBN and
TV5/
Cignal, Cinema One was added to
Cignal's channel lineup with its sister channel
Myx as free trial channels and later as "add-ons" for lower plans.
Cinema One Premium HD
Cinema One Premium HD was a short-lived
premium channel which showed local films in
full high-definition.
See also
*
Cine Mo! (sister channel)
*
Pinoy Box Office - channel that airs movies by
Viva Films with no involvement from
Star Cinema
*
I Heart Movies
*
Viva Cinema
*
SolarFlix
* Global Pinoy Cinema (defunct)
References
External links
*
{{ABS-CBN Corporation
Television networks in the Philippines
Movie channels in the Philippines
Television channels and stations established in 1994
Creative Programs
1994 establishments in the Philippines
ABS-CBN Corporation channels