There's nothing on the television. You're flipping through, and all you're seeing is commercial-ridden, toned-down versions of films you might have been interested in, say, if you were interested in commercial-ridden, toned-down films. And HBO and Showtime just have the same movies on repeat -- you've seen everything they've got scheduled for the next week and a half. What are you going to do, go outside?
Now you don't have to -- Sony is here to help. The movie conglomerate is planning to launch two new movie channels on basic cable before the end of the year. No, they won't be competing with the big boys, a.k.a. HBO and Showtime, but these two channels will apparently add a little spice to the usual roster of USA, TNT, and AMC.
Sony Pictures Movies HD is the first channel (no, they couldn't find a shorter name). It's slated to launch on October 1, and it will play films that are, believe it or not, made by Sony Pictures. Since it won't be in the pay-cable market, and thus susceptible to censorship fines, so you won't be seeing the grittier end of Sony's filmography.
Another channel slated to launch is FearNet, also expected to hit October 1. FearNet has been a video on demand service for a while, but it'll be brought to basic cable as well. The channel will be a partnership between Sony, ComCast, and Lionsgate. Again, like Sony Pictures Movies HD (that is a mouthful), there probably won't be too much gore, even though Lionsgate does distribute horror films like the Saw series.
While some of you are undoubtedly excited by this news, I'm not, particularly. If I'm going to watch a movie, I want to see the whole movie, not an edited version of it. That's why I don't watch AMC for anything but it's original content -- I stick to the pay cable for the movies. But who knows? Maybe Sony will find some way to circumvent that. But until they do, I remain cautiously pessimistic.
Sounds ok. But chances are the cable company around here won't get either channel for years after they've been launched.