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Movie Network Channels was an Australian
premium television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, bu ...
movie service that consisted of five original channels (Movie One, Movie Extra, Movie Greats, Family Movie Channel, Starpics 1), two SD timeshifts (Movie Two, Starpics 2) and three HD simulcasts (Movie One HD, Starpics 1 HD, Starpics 2 HD). Its main competitor was Showtime. Movie Network channels were originally only available through Optus TV, who produced and part-owned the channels prior to 1 January 2000. Through content sharing agreements, Movie Network Channels became available through
Austar Austar was an Australian telecommunications company founded in 1995 as Community Entertainment Television (CETV). Its main business activity was subscription television. It was also involved with internet access and mobile phones. Austar's tel ...
in January 1999 and
Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...
in December 2002. Movie Network is also available on Neighbourhood Cable, SelecTV and
TransACT TransACT is the trading name of TransACT Capital Communications, an Australian telecommunications company based in Canberra which provides broadband internet access, fixed telephony, cable television services, and mobile phone services in Canb ...
. The channels were owned, operated and programmed by
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
,
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
and
Village Roadshow Village Roadshow is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange a ...
. In addition to films from these studios, the network also had access to films from DreamWorks and Australian distributor Hopscotch Films. On 15 November 2009, the network expanded with three additional (including 1 timeshift) channels and 3 HD simulcasts (including 1 timeshift). In addition, a new website was launched and a unified slogan for the overall network - "All Together Better!". From 2009 until 2012, ''Movie Extra'' was the naming rights sponsor for the
Tropfest Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It has also become known as the world's first global film festival. Founded by actor/director John Polson, Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people at the 'Tropicana Caffe' in ...
short film festival. On 6 December 2012, an announcement was made that Movie Network would cease broadcasting from 31 December 2012. This came in the wake of
Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...
purchasing the
Showtime Movie Channels Showtime Movie Channels was a group of Australian pay-TV movie channels, available on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar TV platforms. The service consisted of five original channels (showtime premiere, showcase, showtime action, showtime comedy, showt ...
from the Premium Movie Partnership to take movies in-house to save on costs. Negotiations were taking place between Foxtel and Movie Network, but it is believed that one or more of the Movie Network owners began negotiations with Foxtel for their movie rights, causing the acquisition of Movie Network to fall through. On 9 December 2012, it was announced that Movie Network and Showtime (with the exception of Showcase) would be replaced with a new line-up of Foxtel branded movie channels to be named Foxtel Movies


Channels

Movies were typically shown for a year, and made appearances on at least one or more of the network's channels during their run.


Movie One

Movie One was the network's premiere channel for blockbusters from studios such as
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
,
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...
,
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, Becker Entertainment,
Village Roadshow Village Roadshow is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange a ...
and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks plus an array of independent studios and launched 20 September 1995. Prior to 7 September 1997 this channel was named The Movie Network. Movie One (along with timeshift service, Movie Two) also offers a free interactive movie service called Redspace. Every month Redspace allows digital viewers to play a quiz, read facts about the movie or watch video packages such as behind-the-scenes, interviews and other features. Movies that air on this channel are released 2005-onwards. An HD simulcast launched on 15 November 2009.


Movie Two

Movie Two was the timeshift service of Movie One where it broadcasts Movie One with a two-hour delay and launched 2004.


Movie Extra

Movie Extra launched on 7 September 1997. The channel showed a mix of international and Australian films along with premieres of edgier films and documentaries. More recently the channel had started screening American or British television series such as: '' Five Days'', ''
Dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...
'', ''
The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...
'' and ''
Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
''. Movies that aired on this channel were mainly from the late 90s and early 2000s.


Movie Extra Webfest

The Movie Extra Webfest was an annual trailer-making event. The winners of the inaugural 2011 Webfest were Henry and Aaron with their series ''Henry & Aaron’s 7 Steps to Superstardom''. The winner of the 2012 Webfest competition, ''Event Zero'' premiered on 22 May 2012. ''Event Zero'' stars actors
Zoe Carides Zoe Carides (; born 19 February 1962) is an Australian actress of film and television, who is best known for her roles in '' Death in Brunswick'' as Sophie, '' G. P.'' as Dr. Sonia Kapek and '' Grass Roots'' as Liz Murray. Family Carides was ...
, Valentino Del Toro, Harry Pavlidis and
Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...
.


Movie Greats

Movie Greats showed films from the back catalogues of the studios. Often there were themed months, or marathons of movies. Classic movies are shown on this channel, which ranges from between the 1930s up until the mid-1990s and launched 20 September 1995. The channel adopted the slogans "Movies that move you" and "Movies for me" from 15 November 2009.


Family Movie Channel (FMC)

Family Movie Channel was dedicated to Family Movies and was launched on 15 November 2009. The channel shows movie rated G and PG, along with "light" M rated movies. Premieres were on Saturday evenings.


STARPICS

Starpics was dedicated to double features of movies starring the same person. It has the slogan "Movies you know, actors you love", and launched on 15 November 2009. The channel has a timeshift channel, with both having HD simulcasts.


Download Channels for Foxtel subscribers

Foxtel subscribers to Movie Network channels are able to download movies to their Windows PC from 3 download channels. The 3 channels are Movie Action, Movie Comedy, and Movie Drama. Content is often changed and is exclusive to the Foxtel download service.


MovieBox on FetchTV

In June 2010, the Movie Network channels launched MovieBox, a subscription on-demand movie service for
Fetch TV Fetch TV is an Australian IPTV provider that offers a subscription television service over a user's regular internet connection. It is majority owned by Telstra, who acquired a 51.4% stake in the company on the 2nd of August 2022. Fetch TV was ...
with movies from the Movie Network's partner studios. The service offers a new movie each day, with instant access to 30 movies at any given time and the ability to pause, re-wind, fast forward and repeat view for up to 30 days. The movies are included as part of the FetchTV basic subscription package, and show on a customer's TV via the FetchTV set top box. Even though Movie Network Channels ceased broadcasting their channels, MovieBox is still being updated with new movies every day.


References

{{Authority control Defunct television channels in Australia Movie channels in Australia Television channels and stations established in 1995 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2012 English-language television stations in Australia