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The good and bad of getting a horror channel

post #1 of 8
5/8/05 at 2:39pm
Thread Starter 
I'm all for a 24/7 horror channel but all is not good. First I must give credit where credit is due. I truely believe that if THC hadn't started the ball rolling that no one would be trying to start a horror channel. They may be one of the main reasons that horror is back.

However it seems that their web-sites, that includes Fangoria, don't really want fans to talk about all things horror. If you go to THC and try and talk about Monsters HD or Fangoria TV the threads get locked, the samething happens at Fangoria's site. How can this be good for the fans? Both stations claim to have the fans at heart but neither acts like it.

I think it's time for both "channels" to grow up. We've heard nothing new from THC, and we're into May and no word about any new shows from Fango TV, not even a new "Ghost Stories". This whole thing is betting really old.
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post #2 of 8
5/8/05 at 5:32pm
Everybody was excited to see a 24/7 science fiction channel too, and look how that turned out. Crossing Over with John Edward, that's how that turned out.
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post #3 of 8
5/9/05 at 11:58am
Thread Starter 
A 24/7 horror channel may suck but if it does we won't have to watch it. All of the new channels claim to want what we the fans want. If that were true it seems that they would want to know what our opinions are of what each channel is doing. Instead it seems that they don't want to know. I know if I was starting a channel I would want to know everything that you like and dislike about the other channels. What better way to gage what to put on my new channel?

In the end I really don't think any of them really care about what the fans want. And that could cause us to end up with another Sci-fi Channel.
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post #4 of 8
5/9/05 at 2:16pm
I would think it would be tough to start a horror channel mainly because many of the "best" horror movies are controlled by other entities, like AMC and other channels that have bought the rights to a certain core of movies. New horror movies charge a premium to be aired, so only the larger national stations can afford to grab them after they have there HBO or Cinemax run. If a larger company like the one that owns AMC or HBO were to see the profits in an all horror station, they probably would have started one.
Like someone stated, SciFi channel airs a large percentage of tv series like Stargate, produces a lot of their own cheesy movies, but rarely has a decent movie on because they're expensive. Could one company actually grab enough decent horror movies to actually run them 24 hours a day for more than a few weeks, or do you need all of the crap filler that SciFi slots into most of their time in order to sustain long term programming?
There are plenty enough horror movies that could run 24/7 and be a great channel, it just seems like a daunting and expensive task for a company to accumulate the rights to so many to fill up all this time.
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post #5 of 8
5/9/05 at 5:18pm
The Good:

Being able to watch Horror movies uncut.

The Bad:

Having a channel like THC, or any other channel trying to create an all horror network and just giving out tidbits of information.

Having deadlines, and clearly breaking them. Then act like they are professionals with all this experience (THC).

Breaking a deadline, and then acting like 2 year olds when their future customers want some information about the channel (THC).

Piggy-backing another channel (THC), instead of having their own channel. At least I think that THC is doing this. Not sure, since they never give out any reliable information.

Only showing a handfull of movies each month and then showing them over and over. I'm guessing that THC and any other horror channel would be doing this.
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post #6 of 8
5/9/05 at 7:01pm
If the Horror Channel is going to be a basic cable channel, we are in trouble because everything will be cut to PG. The only hope I have of it being any good is if it is premium where the films will not be cut.
And if the Sci Fi channel original programming is any indication of what THe Horror Channel original programming will be like, be afraid, be very afraid....and for the wrong reasons. 90% of the original programming will suck with decent stuff being rare if it follows the Sci FI channel precedent.
And look for them to try to revive the lame horror movie hosts idea a la Elvira...
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post #7 of 8
5/9/05 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Decisions Movie
The Good:

Being able to watch Horror movies uncut.

The Bad:

Having a channel like THC, or any other channel trying to create an all horror network and just giving out tidbits of information.

Having deadlines, and clearly breaking them. Then act like they are professionals with all this experience (THC).

Breaking a deadline, and then acting like 2 year olds when their future customers want some information about the channel (THC).

Piggy-backing another channel (THC), instead of having their own channel. At least I think that THC is doing this. Not sure, since they never give out any reliable information.

Only showing a handfull of movies each month and then showing them over and over. I'm guessing that THC and any other horror channel would be doing this.
All good points. But let's be fair here. We have not gotten any info from Scream TV (now HORROR.NET) and Fangoria TV is just as bad. They told us they were on the air when they weren't. They get one show on INHD, "Ghost Stories" for the month of April and now it's gone. It isn't even on INHD's listings for May and no word at all from Fangoria TV.

U.C. would be one of the first to tell you that I don't blindly support THC but none of the others have done any better.
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post #8 of 8
5/9/05 at 10:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chimpy
I would think it would be tough to start a horror channel mainly because many of the "best" horror movies are controlled by other entities, like AMC and other channels that have bought the rights to a certain core of movies. New horror movies charge a premium to be aired, so only the larger national stations can afford to grab them after they have there HBO or Cinemax run. If a larger company like the one that owns AMC or HBO were to see the profits in an all horror station, they probably would have started one.
Like someone stated, SciFi channel airs a large percentage of tv series like Stargate, produces a lot of their own cheesy movies, but rarely has a decent movie on because they're expensive. Could one company actually grab enough decent horror movies to actually run them 24 hours a day for more than a few weeks, or do you need all of the crap filler that SciFi slots into most of their time in order to sustain long term programming?
There are plenty enough horror movies that could run 24/7 and be a great channel, it just seems like a daunting and expensive task for a company to accumulate the rights to so many to fill up all this time.
I don't think it would be easy to start any kind of channel but it can be done.

Terrorvision, the company behind THC was started in 2001. That's four years of buying the rights to films and raising funds. The man that created the company, Nicholas Psaltos, has a vast background in the cable business. He is far from being new to TV.

Fangoria has been in the horror business for over 25 years. They have done everything from publishing, to making toys, t-shirts, videos, CD's and now DVDs. If anybody should know what the fans want they should.

The problem seems to be "it's my way or the highway" way of thinking. If all of these people would come together for "good of the fans" they would be unstopable. I really don't see that happening. So we may end up with a horror version of the "Sci-fi Channel". We can only hope that if that happens that they will listen to us, the fans and improve. If not we watch the good shows and not the bad ones. We would still be better off than we are right now.
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