Sky Movies is a group of subscription television movie channels in New Zealand operated by Sky. Sky Movies was started in 1990 as one of the original channels on the Sky UHF Service. Sky Movies has progressed from the original channel (now known as Sky Movies Premiere) in 1990 to six separate movie channels screening special interest movies, today. All Sky Movies channels are broadcast in high definition.
Sky Movies logo used from 2007–2013Sky Movies logo used from 2013–2019
The original Sky Movies channel was started on 18 May 1990 when Sky Television first launched. When Sky Movies began it initially screened two hours of 'general entertainment' programming from noon until 2pm (such as Ask Dr. Ruth, Loving, The Beachcombers, America's Top 10, Wild World of Animals, Fun in the Sun and The Ewoks).
These programmes were followed by movies from 2pm until around midnight. By September, general entertainment programming was dropped and movies ran from noon until around midnight, with an extra midnight movie on Friday and Saturday nights. From mid-December 1990 until January 1992, Sky Movies aired from noon until around 2am daily.
Sky Movies commenced 24-hour programming in February 1992, initially on weekends and during public holidays, then expanded to 24-hour, seven-day-a-week programming on 1 January 1997. In 1993, Sky Television sold the channel to HBO Asia. It became known as HBO, but later reverted to its former name Sky Movies, after HBO Asia re-sold the channel to Sky Television. NICAM stereo broadcasting was available on the UHF channel until around 1998 when Sky launched their digital service. All current Sky Movie channels broadcast in at least stereo sound.
A second movie channel Sky Movie Max was released in 1999 after Sky launched their digital satellite service. All future Sky Movie channels that were launched were available on the Sky Digital platform only, the original movie channel was the only channel to ever broadcast on the now discontinued UHF analogue service.
Sky Movies Max broadcast in widescreen 16:9 format from 2002 onwards. Sky Movies also broadcast in widescreen 16:9 format on Sky Digital from 1 January 2005 onwards however continued to broadcast in 4:3 on the UHF service.
Sky Movies was renamed to Sky Movies 1 in 2004 and Sky Movies Max was renamed to Sky Movies 2. Sky Movies 1 reverted to the Sky Movies name in 2007 following the launch of Sky Movies Greats. The same time, Sky Movies 2 became a time shift channel, screening the same movies as Sky Movies just 2 hours behind. Sky Movies 2 remained a time shift channel until 2013.
In 2008 Sky launched the HD service called My Sky HDi, as a result some Sky Movie channels became available in High Definition. To receive Sky Movies channels in HD the Sky subscriber is required to upgrade his or her Sky decoder to a My Sky HDi decoder, the subscriber must also pay a monthly fee for an HD access ticket which allows the subscriber to receive selected Sky channels in High Definition. All Sky Movies channels are currently broadcast in HD.
On 1 November 2013 Sky rebranded their movie channel line-up with new logos. The original Sky Movies channel became Sky Movies Premiere and Sky Movies 2 became Sky Movies Extra, an additional channel Sky Movies Action was also introduced.[1]
On 7 May 2015 Sky and the Walt Disney Company announced the launch of Sky Movies Disney, dedicated to Disney family movies launching 1 July 2015.[2]
On 23 June 2021 Sky's movie channels and schedules were updated, resulting in more variety and fewer repeats. Sky Movies Vintage ceased to operate from 2 August 2021, with vintage films (from the 1940s to the mid-1970s) moving to Sky Movies Classics. Sky Movies Extra was rebranded as Sky Movies Comedy on 9 August 2021, and on the same date a new channel, Sky Movies Collection, was launched to screen films to fit a regularly updated theme (replacing Sky Movies Pop-Up).[3]
Sky Movie Channels
Sky Movies Premiere
Sky Movies Premiere (formally known as Sky Movies) is Sky's original movie channel in New Zealand. Sky Movies Premiere plays a schedule of movies back to back 24 hours a day. This schedule is updated each month. New movies are added weekly with the Blockbuster Premiere on Sunday nights and the Thursday Premiere on Thursday nights. The range of movies includes bona fide blockbusters, comedies, action titles, dramas, thrillers, science-fiction, horrors, westerns, romances, festival cinema and family features.[4]
Sky Movies Comedy
Sky Movies Comedy is Sky's second movie channel, screening comedy films.
Sky's second movie channel was launched with their digital service originally known as Sky MovieMax. The name was changed around 2004 to Sky Movies 2. The channel has always broadcast in widescreen with the original Sky Movies channel originally maintaining a standard 4:3 format to give viewers a choice of viewing a movie in widescreen or standard format.
From 2007 until 2013 Sky Movies 2 was a time shift channel screening the same movies as the original Sky Movies channel but 2 hours delayed.
Sky Movies 2 became Sky Movies Extra in November 2013 and began running its own schedule of drama, romance and thriller movies.
On 9 August 2021, Sky Movies Extra was rebranded as Sky Movies Comedy.
Sky Movies Action
Sky Movies Action is a channel that was introduced in 2013. The channel screens action films.
Sky Movies Greats
Sky Movies Greats screens a collection of modern classic movies.[5] The channel first launched in 2007 as a third Sky Movies channel.
Sky Movies Classics
Sky Movies Classics plays classic films from the 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s.[6] The channel first launched on 1 June 2013 replacing the MGM Channel which began on 3 June 2001. The channel screens an array of films from the MGM library and movies from other studios too.
Sky Movies Collection
Sky Movies Collection launched on 9 August 2021 replacing Sky Movies Pop-Up. The channel screens films to fit a regularly updated theme such as franchises, local, romance, war, or Christmas movies.
Sky Movies Family
Sky Movies Family plays a mix of animated and live-action family films. The channel began in September 2013 as a pop-up channel during the school holidays. It became a 24-hour channel on 1 November 2019.
Former Channels
Sky Movies Disney
Sky Movies Disney launched on 1 July 2015. The channel aired a mix of classic and premiere animated and live-action family films 24 hours a day. The channel closed on 31 October 2019.
Sky Movies Vintage
Sky Movies Vintage launched on 1 December 2018 replacing the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel. The channel played classic movies from the golden age of Hollywood. Movies screened were from the 1940s to mid 1970s.[7]
On 2 August 2021, Sky Movies Vintage ceased broadcasting and all classic film content was transferred to Sky Movies Classics on 1 August 2021.
Sky Movies Pop-Up
Additional Sky Movies Pop-Up channels were frequently broadcast for a certain period with certain themes. Some that have been broadcast in the past include Clint Eastwood, Star Wars, Christmas & Harry Potter Pop-Up channels. Sky Movies Pop-Up was be replaced by Sky Movies Collection on 9 August 2021.
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group. In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on demand content are available through these as well as via Now TV, BT TV and TalkTalk TV.
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group. Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, it became Sky One and broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom and Ireland as British Sky Broadcasting's flagship channel, being the most watched television service in history. It existed until 1 September 2021, when it closed down as part of a restructuring with its EPG position taken by Sky Showcase and much of its content library moved to Sky Max.
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was established as a joint venture between News Corporation and Telstra, with News Corp and Telstra holding 65% and 35% ownership shares respectively.
Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite, media streaming services and broadband internet services. It is also a wholesale channel provider to New Zealand IPTV provider Vodafone. As at 30 June 2021, Sky had 955,168 subscribers consisting of 561,989 satellite subscribers and 393,179 streaming subscribers. Despite the similarity of name, branding and services, such as Sky Go and MySky shared with its European equivalent, Sky, there is no connection between the companies.
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network operated by the Kids, Young Adults and Classics division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of AT&T's WarnerMedia. Launched in 1994, TCM is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atlanta, Georgia.
Sky Italia S.r.l. is a British satellite television platform operating in Italy by Sky, itself owned by Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an agreement with Mediaset, Sky Italia also operates a series of subscription-based terrestrial channels offering sports, entertainment and movies. Sky Italia is also the major sports broadcaster in Italy.
Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US version of the channel. The channel started as The Paramount Channel in 1995, before rebranding as the Paramount Comedy Channel in 1997 and again as Paramount Comedy 1 in 2004 before finally becoming Comedy Central on 6 April 2009.
Celestial Movies (天映频道) is an Asian 24-hour Chinese movie channel. The channel also screens films from and shows interviews with movie stars and directors, entertainment news and film award ceremonies. The channel is available in 11 territories across Asia Pacific, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other to HD in Malaysia, Jakarta.
V Film is a group of premium movie channels broadcasting in the Nordic countries owned by Nordic Entertainment Group.
MBC Group is a media conglomerate owned by the Saudi government. It is based in the Middle East and North Africa region, and operates in various locations around the world. It was launched in London in 1991 and later moved to its headquarters to Dubai in 2002.
TCM Movies is a British pay television channel featuring classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. film libraries, which include many MGM titles.
Movies4Men was a free-to-air film channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was available on Freeview, Freesat and Sky. The channel was aimed at the middle to old aged male viewer, with a look at the classics in cinema history, focusing mainly on western and war film genres. The channel closed on 10 September 2019 and was replaced with Sony Movies Action.
Sky Cinema is a German set of movie channels owned by Sky Deutschland.
Sky Cinema is an Italian set of premium movie channels owned by Sky Italia.
Movie Network Channels was an Australian premium television movie service that consisted of five original channels, two SD timeshifts and three HD simulcasts. 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.
Foxtel Movies is a suite of 11 pay television film channels in Australia which began broadcasting on 1 January 2013. Owned by Foxtel, the channels replaced the now-defunct Movie Network and Showtime suites.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky Cinema.
This is a timeline of UK children's programming on non-BBC and ITV channels.
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