Sky Movies channels to be renamed

See more here: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2013027,00.html

Other articles: http://www.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2007/02/sky_movies_channels_to_lose_their_numbers.php and http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117959407.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

digiperson

sounds like away to make More money!

Not hugely surprised - they rebrand every few years, though always end up back with the Sky Movies branding. A bit surprised though Sky Cinema is included as part of the revamped package - I'd have though the identity there was clear.

I've already posted this on DS, but no harm in repeating it here:

I don't see how this possibly gives the viewer "greater control". They will still be showing the same films, which can currently be identified in the A-Z listings under these genres.

It's a gimmick and probably intended to hide (yet another) price rise.

Is this a response to Virgin Media's mood matcher service which allows you to search the library of 500 on demand movies in a number of ways, A-Z, by mood, genre etc ?

I really don't think scheduled movie channels have much of a future as film consumption seems to be shifting towards DVD rental and now on demand.

I don't think it is a response to Virgin's offering, but probably another attempt to grap the media press headlines from them. As explained above it's essentially already available for the scheduled films and Box Office. It would've been simply extended to Sky Anytime next month anyway.

If Sky+ is going to be the default installation then it doesn't really matter what nomenclature or scheduling you give to your channels as long as you provide an easy way of searching for programmes (which Sky already has and people are used to using).

Why do they bother rebranding film channels? To me they're still Screen1, Screen2 etc.

It's just like the time RTE Ireland spent a fortune rebranding RTE2 to Network 2 . We still called it RTE2 anyway so it became RTE Network 2 and then RTE2 again. The same will happen to Sky, ITV and BBC eventually. And after the Digital Switchover, the names Ch4, E4, More4 and Film 4 will have no significance whatsoever....

I still call Ch4 - Ch4! after the switch-over

Just because they have no significance, doesn't mean they should go. Back in the olden days, when we just had four channels, Channel 4 meant the fourth channel. It still is, by default. And by all accounts it's a brand name for which we don't consider the meaning.

I agree, and just look at Australian TV for the example of their terrestrial channels - they were originally broadcast on UHF (or VHF) channels 7, 9 and 10 - but retain those names now many decades later.

C4 and Five have a "family" of channels reflecting their original analogue designation, but the names really don't matter in the digital age.

..does this mean that Sky Movies subscribers will be paying more?

What do you think? They'll hide a price rise in with confusing the SM 1-10 service with the SC1-2 channels this time, although they will probably rename Cinema "Modern Greats 1 & 2".

I know SM(odds) are seperate from SM(evens) - they remain the same as the split between:
The Movie Channel/Sky Movies
Sky Screen1/Sky Screen 2
Sky Premier/Sky MovieMax
Sky Movies Premier/Sky Movies Max

I can't imagine who they think they are fooling with this stunt.

EDIT: Shall we all have a guess at which genres will fall into the ONE and TWO caregories for subs? I'm sure it's not difficult!