U.S. cable operator AMC Networks is to launch a channel in the U.K. this September exclusively on pay TV platform BT TV, which will be the first time AMC has been made available in the country.
The AMC channel will launch with the exclusive U.K. television premiere of drama series “Fear the Walking Dead.” The channel will air other soon-to-be-announced AMC dramas, as well as scripted series from other producers, and feature films.
That'll annoy a lot of people. So now you need BT and Sky to have every TV channel. That hasn't been a problem since the demise of the Carlton channels, which were also never on Sky.
You're forgetting abc1, which was Freeview exclusive for some years pre DSO and thus not available to Sky Digital viewers with analogue telly.
ABC1 was not exclusive to Freeview. At launch, yes, but later was available on cable and Sky. "some years" was actually only a few months between the Freeview launch and the appearance on cable, and it was September 2005, a year after launch, that ABC1 appeared on Sky. It coincided with the channel running 24 hours as opposed to the 12 it had on Freeview.
You make it sound like the channel ran for many years, it actually only ran for three.
It's not like ABC1 was showing new shows like AMC will either. And a channel being Freeview exclusive doesn't mean paying for two TV subscriptions. I'm sure almost all Sky viewers will have Freeview too (it should be built into all TV's bought since DSO, so the only reason to not have it would be lack of reception). Most people only have Sky or cable though, not both.
That'll annoy a lot of people. So now you need BT and Sky to have every TV channel. That hasn't been a problem since the demise of the Carlton channels, which were also never on Sky.
Well, its been a problem for anyone that hasn't had Sky. Do Sky viewers really need every single channel?
In addition, AMC doesn't own the distribution rights to neither Breaking Bad nor Mad Men, which means they cannot decide who will air them internationally. In contrast, HBO owns most of their content so they are able to present it as a unified HBO-branded proposition in international markets as well.
AMC have apparently decided that not owning your defining programmes is problematic and are trying to rectify this by bringing production in-house.
AMC have something of a branding problem. They have/had accalimed shows Breaking Bad, Mad Men & Walking Dead but haven't managed to build up any kind HBO style brand recognition....despite, IMO anyway, having better shows than HBO since it's original golden period ended with the Soprano's in 2006.
HBO launched in 1972 as a premium cable channel. That meant that had decades to building their brand. AMC launched in 1984 as American Movie Classics that only showed classic movies up until 2003 when the name was modified and original productions started. So I would say in the States AMC has turned the channel around completely and built a good brand, that hasnt translated yet globally.