Sky announces new film channels line-up

Sky has confirmed that Sky Movies is to be repackaged into a number of genre-based channels.

From April 4, the channels will relate to a number of film genres, with each genre split between two new package bundles.

Pack 1 will include comedy, family, classics and modern greats, with Pack 2 comprising action & thriller, sci-fi & horror, drama, independent and drama. Sky says its prices will not change.

Viewers with a Sky HD subscription and a Sky Movies subscription will also receive a mixed-genre HD film channel mirroring their film genre pack subscription.

Subscribers to Pack 1 will receive Sky Movies HD1 and subscribers to Pack 2 will receive Sky Movies HD2. Subscribers to both Movies packages and HD will receive Sky Movies HD1 and Sky Movies HD2. Subscribers to Pack 1 and Pack 2 will also receive Sky Movies Premiere and Sky Movies Premiere +1.

Sky claims it offers 90% of the top 100 box office films from the previous year and over 450 different films every week, adding that it "remains committed to innovation" with its two dedicated HD film channels, Sky+ and Sky Anytime. Films broadcast on Sky Movies will also remain free from advertisements.

Sophie Turner Laing, deputy managing director, Sky Networks, said: “The evolution of our film channels is driven by our customers. Sky Movies offers the best film experience available in the home and with the changes announced today, viewers can enjoy even greater control over the films they want to watch. In offering the widest choice of films, high definition and on-demand service through TV and PC, there’s never been a better time for film lovers to experience Sky Movies."

Sky has also confirmed that from March, it will also launch a version of Sky Anytime on TV, giving customers the opportunity to access films from Sky Movies, in-line with their subscription, on-demand.

Each week a selection of titles will be made available through a dedicated section of the Sky electronic programme guide and will be updated on a regular basis and "pushed" via the broadcast network to the hard-drives of Sky HD set-top boxes and the newer Sky+ boxes, for viewing on-demand.

Following the channel rebrands, Sky’s portfolio of movie channels will remain located on their current EPG positions on the Sky platform.