The Encore Movie channel is part of Starz Entertainment and is owned and operated by Liberty Media.
About Liberty Media
Liberty Media is a huge American media conglomerate with large and small holdings in various corporations such as:
- The DirecTV Group
- Sprint
- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
- Expedia
- Sirius XM
- News Corporation
The Liberty Media family includes:
- Liberty Capital
- Liberty Entertainment
- Liberty Interactive
Though the company is publicly traded, Dr. John Malone and his family own controlling shares in the company.
About The Encore Movie Channel
Encore debuted in 1991 in a similar format to the Turner Classic Movie channel, offering older movies. Unlike the Turner Classic Movie channel, which originally focused on films made before the 1960's, Encore focused on films made from the 1960's to the 1980's. Executives at Encore used this format for eight years, but in 1999, decided to change things up a bit.
In 1999, network executive decided to shift the focus of Encore from movies made from the 1960's to 1980's, to current hit films. The channel didn't abandon the older films completely as they still slide a few older movies, along with the newer movies, into their line up.
Expanding Encore
In 1994, Starz Entertainment executives made the decision to expand the Encore channel and created genre specific channels. The new channels debuted as:
- Encore - This is the parent Encore channel and features movies from many different genres.
- Encore Action - This channel includes your typical action films filled with car chases, explosions and conspiracies but also includes martial arts and a few anime films.
- Encore Drama - This channel focuses on films that are based on true stories and shows historical docu-dramas.
- Encore Westerns - Showing classic westerns like For a Few Dollars More as well as newer films such as 3:10 to Yuma.
- Encore Love - From tear jerkers to romantic comedies, the Encore Love channel features all love stories, all the time.
- Encore WAM - This is a children's and family film focused channel in the Encore lineup.
- Encore Mystery - This channel features mysteries and psychological thrillers.
- The Encore Movie channel - Remains the parent channel to the entire Encore family line up as is referred to simply as Encore.
Encore Films
Currently, Encore gets first showing rights, meaning it has the right to show a film just released to video before any of the other channels, on films released and/or distributed by the following studios and their affiliates:
- Sony
- Disney
- Columbia
- Revolution Studios
- Universal Studios
Of course, the deals with the movie studios are always subject to change or expire, making it necessary for Liberty Media to renegotiate their contracts with major film studios. Also, not all the films released by Disney automatically get offered to Encore for first showing. Some of them go to The Disney Channel first and are then offered to Encore.
Encore MoviePlex
If you love a lot of the movies on some of the Encore channels, but don't want to subscribe to all of them, you may want to consider Encore's MoviePlex offering. This channel features different films from one of the Encore channels every day. Though the schedule is subject to change, the line up generally looks a little something like this:
- Monday - Films featured from Encore Love.
- Tuesday and Saturday - Check out some films from Encore Drama.
- Wednesday - If you're a western film fanatic, Wednesdays are for westerns on Encore's MoviePlex.
- Thursday - All action films all day long.
- Friday - Encore Mystery films are featured on Fridays.
- Sunday - Dedicated to kid and family friendly films.
Subscribing to The Encore Movie Channel
Subscriber prices for Encore vary depending on your cable package and cable company, but it is generally offered for less than ten dollars a month.
Finally, though the parent channel Encore is offered in high-definition, none of the other channels in the Encore line up currently are.
