Sky Movies name changes - AGAIN!

From November 1st, Sky Movies Max 1-5 and Sky Movies Premier 1-4 will be called Sky Movies 1-9 and Sky Movies Cinema 1-2 will revert to Sky Cinema and Sky Cinema 2. I assume Sky Movies Premier Wide will become Sky Movies Widescreen.

source: that new TV magazine that just launched at a 45p trial price! (I looked in WH Smith, flicked randomly through the pages, and found the story) Interestingly, it has 10 pages per days listings and has a full breakdown of GMTV programmes - which is more than can be said for certain established mags!

Premier Wide had disappeared last time I looked. It was supposed to become Premier 5 but it didn't.

And and I think that's a very bad move. The old 'Sky Movies' and 'Sky The Movie Channel' situation was bad enough (I realise it was a hangover from the BSB merger but it took them until 1997 to sort it out which was far too long). The Premier/Moviemax branding was an excellent idea (and the names made sense - do you want more movies or newer ones hence Moviemax and Premier).

The 'Sky Movies' generic brand with the Premier/Max/Cinema sub brands was a good idea in concept but I agree with Sky that it does need to go - it was just too long winded to have 'Sky Movies Premier 4' etc.

But, the way they've done it now strikes me as being very bad.

Straight numbering of a two strand movies service just doesn't work. Assuming Sky Premier gets 1-4, that will mean that if you subscribe to what was Max, you'll get Sky Movies 5-9 but not 1-4. And if you are on a cable service which only has the base channels from each strand, you'll have Sky Movies 1 and Sky Movies 5.

If they were merging the movie service together and all platforms had all the channels, then maybe it would work. But as long as the two tier system remains (and I've heard nothing to say that it won't) and as long as some platforms don't have access to all the movie channels it's a silly idea.

Sky Premier, Sky Moviemax (and Sky Cinema) was a good idea. Generic numbering is a bad one considering the environment in which the channels operate. That is presumably the basic reason why they 'Screen 1' and 'Screen 2' system didn't last long, I can't believe they're going back to it again.

Eh? No Press Release? Come on Sky confirm that that magazine was telling the truth! I quite agree cwathen, the old names are unwieldly, the new ones too generic. Glad Sky Cinema's returning though. Anyone got any ideas about the logos?

I'd imagine (although they'll probably prove me wrong) that since the current presentation is just over a year old, they'll probably just go for some simple re-edits. I can imagine the main 'Sky Movies' lettering moving up to the centre (where Premier/Max/Cinema is now) and being enlarged, but for the idents to otherwise remain the same. Maybe the Premier ident will now be used for the former Max channels too?

I think Sky confirmed that they would be moving to 'megaplex' branding (i.e. straight numbering) earlier this year.

ITV's pres was less than a year old and that's changed. I think you're right, they will prove you wrong.

i'l admit, i'm curious as to how they will pull this off.

Maby mdta* and the likes could create mocks for how they think it should look. (i'd do some, but mine are all cr@p).

Press release taken from Sky Publicity LAST WEEK

Sky Movies Announces New Channel Line-up

Sky Movies announced today (Monday, 8th September) that from 1st November 2003, it will change the names of its movie screens across DTH and cable platforms.

In summary, the changes are as follows:

The current service, consisting of Sky Movies Premier 1-4 & Sky Movies Max 1-5, will be renamed Sky Movies 1-9.

Sky Movies Cinema 1 & 2 will be renamed Sky Cinema & Sky Cinema 2.

BSkyB’s Director of Film Channels & Acquisitions, Sophie Turner Laing, said, “The alterations are the first in a series of measures to be rolled out over the next few months, which have been designed to enhance the relationship between Sky Movies and its viewers and simplify navigation through the service.”

The move also paves the way for further flexibility across the multiplex:

Given the success of Sky Movies’ themed Long Weekends, premieres will be scheduled more often on Friday, Sunday or Monday nights, as well as the usual Saturday night slot. November themes include Brad Pitt (1-3 Nov), Brit Hits (7-10 Nov) and the Billion Dollar Long Weekend (15-18 Nov)

Also, Sky Movies premieres will be broadcast on Sky Movies 1 or, for the first time, on Sky Movies 2. In November, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, About A Boy and Bend it Like Beckham will be seen first on Sky Movies 1, whilst Ocean’s Eleven, and Ali G Indahouse will premiere on Sky Movies 2.

Have they removed the link or something? No idea why I missed that!

I like this idea, but I'd like tosee them bring the idents and things more into line with the sort of thing you'd see at a cinema. The 20th Century Fox style searchlights and things would look brill.

Good idea, especially as Fox and Sky are both owned by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp.

Cinema frontcaps? Seriously? They are almost all awful, silent things which look like they were created in the 1980's. The Universal ident is about the only one which looks half decent.

One which I do really like is the Fox Searchlight promo frontcap, but that never gets used on any actual films.

20th Century Fox have refilmed their ident several times in the last 20 years! What about the Fox TV idents? They have a movie channel don't they?