Many other cable providers were reluctant to offer Encore in its early years due to concerns that it would cannibalize subscriptions of other premium services. The negative option fee led to lawsuits filed against TCI by ten states, eventually causing the company to back away from utilizing the billing method for the channel. TCI initially offered Encore as a negative option, in which customers were required to notify TCI if they declined to subscribe to the channel full-time after an introductory offer, or TCI would automatically add on a $1 charge to their monthly bill, which would have then increased to $4.95 per month by May 1992. The channel was formatted as a "mini-pay" service, available to subscribers for a $1 monthly fee. Pictures (owned by Time Warner, which ironically is the parent company of rival pay services HBO and Cinemax), Columbia Pictures/ TriStar Pictures, Orion Pictures, 20th Century Fox, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Paramount Pictures (which also ironically came under ownership of Showtime and The Movie Channel's then-parent company Viacom in 1994), Turner Entertainment, and MGM/ United Artists. The channel had initially broadcast films from Warner Bros. Breaks between films on Encore during its early years were quite lively, consisting less of promotions and more of trivia and nostalgia, fitting in with Encore's motto "The Movies of Your Life." The channel even ran an interstitial during breaks within its daytime schedule that informed viewers about programs that were scheduled to air on competing premium channels that evening in prime time. Initially, Encore focused on movies released primarily during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with some releases from the 1950s mixed in the channel was formatted similarly to American Movie Classics at the time, with hosted introductions leading into the movie presentations. premium channel to debut in almost 11 years, since Cinemax launched on Aug– at the time of Encore's launch, Cinemax, HBO, Showtime and The Movie Channel were its only competitors (Encore was the only upstart premium channel that managed to gain any headway with those services other premium channels that debuted prior to Encore's launch, such as Spotlight and Home Theater Network, were unable to compete with those four channels and would eventually shut down during the prior decade). The channel debuted with an introduction by founder John Sie, who served as the president of the network from its launch until 1999 and CEO until his retirement in 2004, which was then followed by Encore's first movie telecast, the 1980 comedy film 9 to 5. (both TCI and Liberty Media, both of which jointly owned Encore initially, were controlled by John Malone). Eastern Time on April 1, 1991, on four cable systems that were operated by Tele-Communications Inc. History Early focus on 1960s, 1970s and 1980s movies Įncore launched at 9:00 p.m. Therefore, Starz Encore subscribers do not necessarily have to subscribe to Starz in order to receive the channel. Starz Encore has a higher subscriber base than its competitors and sister channels because, although Starz and Starz Encore are often sold together in a singular package, some digital cable, telco and satellite providers offer the Starz Encore multiplex separately from Starz as part of an a la carte tier in which it is packaged with other commercial-free and advertiser-supported film-oriented channels (such as Epix, FX Movie Channel and LMN). (According to February 2015 Nielsen estimates, Starz Encore had 40.54 million pay subscribers vs. Prior to 2018, Starz Encore outpaced HBO for the largest subscriber reach of any American premium channel. households that had a subscription to a multichannel television provider (30.918 million of which receive Starz Encore's primary channel at minimum). It is the sister channel of Starz and MoviePlex.Īs of September 2018, Starz Encore's programming was available to approximately 34.026 million U.S. Launched as Encore on 1 April 1991, its programming features mainly older and recent theatrically released feature films, although some of its multiplex channels also carry acquired television series. a subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment and headquartered at the Meridian International Business Center complex in Meridian, Colorado, United States. Starz Encore is an American premium television channel owned by Starz Inc.
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