The Silver Screen Oasis

There's been much discussion going over at the TCM boards regarding upcoming changes at FMC. Basically, they'll be running 12 hours a day of more recent movies, from several studios, with "limited" commercials and 12 hours of Fox classics without commercials.

Here's a link to a story in one of the trade magazines:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/articl ... _Block.php

My guess is somebody at Fox has seen the big bucks AMC is raking and wants get a piece of it. Going commercial will probably mean that, like AMC, they'll will run heavily edited versions so as not "offend" sponsors or viewers. I don't doubt for a minute that commercials will eventually show up in the classic films too. The day that happens is the day that I stop watching FMC. I stopped watching AMC the day it happened there and I still don't.

The one thing I don't see the new FMC/FXMovies to do in their quest to be more like AMC is in the realm of Original Series. Fox already has a channel for that, FX. FX airs Justified, Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story and other more adult dramas while the Fox network is home to more viewer friendly shows like Glee, Bones, The Simpson, etc.

The Original series that AMC has done - Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and possibly now Hell on Wheels have done more to bring viewers to the channel than the majority of commercial ridden modern films that they air. Even one hit wonder series like Rubicon and the mini-series remake of The Prisoner have done more to put eyes on the channel than the movies they air.

If FMC is going down this route, how do they plan to succeed with half classic/half modern and no Original Series? AMC didn't become a pop culture destination without the Original Series they have now. Will the new FMC/FX Movies brand become another outlet for modern movies and original series baring the Fox brand?

Thanks for the heads up. This also happened to IFC in the last year or so. Just another reminder to record what you want while you still can.

I wished Fox Movie Channel builds a better web-site that reflects the time zone you are in. That's one big advantage that Turner Classic Movies has over Fox. I rarely watch movies at Fox Movie Channel because TCM has better programming and that's why I turn away Fox. Even, my Encore Channels (I have 7 of them) is far more superior than FOX.

Fox Movie Channel is a distant third to TCM and ENCORE. I have other movie channels as well and I do watch them time after time ... but very rarely I watch movies or specials on FOX because its doesn't offer much to me.

Lzcutter wrote:The one thing I don't see the new FMC/FXMovies to do in their quest to be more like AMC is in the realm of Original Series....If FMC is going down this route, how do they plan to succeed with half classic/half modern and no Original Series? AMC didn't become a pop culture destination without the Original Series they have now. Will the new FMC/FX Movies brand become another outlet for modern movies and original series baring the Fox brand?

Lynn, you bring up a very good point. The only other thing I could see them doing to attract new and younger viewers, at least for the short term, is loading up on high profile first-run films and pay the premium prices to have those films exclusively. But unless, News Corp. is going to give them a massive infusion of cash to outbid deep-pocketed channels like TNT and USA. they don't stand a chance of getting those films.

The other problem is that they don't have that big of a viewer base to begin with. There are many cable systems that don't carry FMC and a lot of those that do have been moving it to higher priced digital movie packages which many subscribers don't get. When AMC made the switch they were a basic channel that was carried on most systems.

Another thing is will they go HD? That younger audience, which Fox execs are no doubt lusting for, expects HD. Without HD it will be harder to find cable systems willing to add that channel to their lineups.

As for me, I don't watch FMC nearly as much as I use to unless some little seen classic happens to get added to the program mix, The other films have been repeated so many times that I've either had my fill or have recorded them already. I said on another forum that for me the ideal situation would be if TCM could make a long-term deal with Fox for all the classics in the Fox library and not just the few dozen they've been able to get so far.

If nothing else, it's going to be pretty interesting to see how this will play out.

markfp wrote:

Lzcutter wrote:The one thing I don't see the new FMC/FXMovies to do in their quest to be more like AMC is in the realm of Original Series....If FMC is going down this route, how do they plan to succeed with half classic/half modern and no Original Series? AMC didn't become a pop culture destination without the Original Series they have now. Will the new FMC/FX Movies brand become another outlet for modern movies and original series baring the Fox brand?

Lynn, you bring up a very good point. The only other thing I could see them doing to attract new and younger viewers, at least for the short term, is loading up on high profile first-run films and pay the premium prices to have those films exclusively. But unless, News Corp. is going to give them a massive infusion of cash to outbid deep-pocketed channels like TNT and USA. they don't stand a chance of getting those films.

The other problem is that they don't have that big of a viewer base to begin with. There are many cable systems that don't carry FMC and a lot of those that do have been moving it to higher priced digital movie packages which many subscribers don't get. When AMC made the switch they were a basic channel that was carried on most systems.

Another thing is will they go HD? That younger audience, which Fox execs are no doubt lusting for, expects HD. Without HD it will be harder to find cable systems willing to add that channel to their lineups.

As for me, I don't watch FMC nearly as much as I use to unless some little seen classic happens to get added to the program mix, The other films have been repeated so many times that I've either had my fill or have recorded them already. I said on another forum that for me the ideal situation would be if TCM could make a long-term deal with Fox for all the classics in the Fox library and not just the few dozen they've been able to get so far.

If nothing else, it's going to be pretty interesting to see how this will play out.

Markfp: You are right on the nose! You written beautifully ... I would add one more comment thing to your post here.

I would like TCM to buy out Fox Movie Channel and the classics in the Fox library to be incorporated into TCM and TCM would be the most premier cable movie channel of all time.