Great! Movies
 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom Ireland |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 576i 16:9 SDTV |
| Timeshift service | Great! Movies +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Sony Pictures Television (2012–2021) Narrative Entertainment UK Limited (2021–present) |
| Sister channels | Pop Tiny Pop Pop Max Great! TV Great! Action Great! Romance |
| History | |
| Launched | 3 May 2012 |
| Replaced | Movies4Men 2 (Sky) Movie Mix (Freeview) |
| Closed | 18 October 2023 (+1 on Freeview) |
| Former names | Sony Movie Channel (2012–2019) Sony Movies (2019–2021) |
| Links | |
| Website | greatnetwork.com/movies |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 34 |
| Streaming media | |
| Samsung TV Plus | Channel 4991 |
Great! Movies (stylised as GREAT! movies)[1][2] is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited that broadcasts across the UK and Ireland showing films and related content. The channel is transmitted on most of the major broadcast platforms in the UK - terrestrial, satellite and cable. The channel is only broadcast in standard-definition.
History
Launch and transmission on satellite
The Sony Movie Channel brand was made available outside the US for the first time when a British version of the station launched on the Sky platform in the UK and Ireland on 3 May 2012.[3][4] To release Sky guide slots for the launch of SMC and its +1 timeshift, Movies4Men 2 and its +1 service were closed (and thus lost by Freesat viewers).
At launch and until 2018, SMC was broadcast on a free-to-view basis, meaning that access to channel was only available to those with a Sky viewing card, and although no subscription payment was required to view the channel, it was unavailable to Freesat devices.
On 10 January 2017, Sony Movie Channel was added to Freeview and Virgin Media, replacing Movie Mix, which already broadcast some of the same content.[5] In preparation for the switch, Movie Mix and SMC had been broadcasting an identical schedule in the final days prior to the transition.
Sony Movie Channel became fully free to air on satellite on 13 August 2018, in preparation for its full launch on the Freesat programme guide on 9 October 2018.[6] To permit SMC's launch on Freesat, Sony reorganised their other movie channels on the guide: Movies4Men +1 was no longer listed on the Freesat guide as a result of the addition of SMC, though remains freely available for manual tune-in. Encryption was also removed from Sony Movie Channel +1 at the same time, though this was not added to the Freesat full guide.
On 24 July 2019, it was announced that the channel will be renamed as Sony Movies from 10 September 2019.[7]
Great! Movies
On 25 May 2021, the channel rebranded as Great! Movies as the channel was acquired by Narrative Capital/Narrative Entertainment.[8]
On 9 November 2022, Narrative Entertainment UK Limited announced the launch of a FAST version of Great! Movies, to stream on Samsung TV Plus, the new FAST network has the same branding as the linear channel, but a different schedule. A FAST version of Great! Movies Christmas was also launched.[9]
In June 2023, the channel launched an on demand service known as Great! Player, available via the red button on Great! Movies on Freeview.[10]
On 18 October 2023, Great! Movies +1 was replaced by Great! Movies Extra on Freeview channel 61. On 20 March 2024, Great! Movies Extra was replaced by Great! Real on Freeview channel 61.
Logos
Sony Movie Channel (2017–2019)
Sony Movies (2019–2021)
Sony Movies +1 (2019–2021)
References
- ^ "New network GREAT! launches in the UK". 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Sony Movie Channel has been renamed Great! But how? And why?!". the Guardian. 26 May 2021.
- ^ "Sony planning UK film channel". Broadband TV News. 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Sony Movie Channel – Almost here!". Sony Entertainment Television UK. 28 March 2012.
- ^ "Sony Movie Channel to replace MovieMix on Freeview and Virgin". SEENIT. 6 January 2017.
- ^ Sony Movie Channel joins Freesat a516digital 8 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018
- ^ "Sony Pictures Television Revamps Entertainment Portfolio And Launches UK's First Free-To-Air Movie Network". Sky Media. 24 July 2019.
- ^ "Sony Pictures Television U.K. Channels Sold to U.S. Investment Firm Narrative Capital". Variety. 14 May 2021.
- ^ Snow, Nick (9 November 2022). "Narrative Entertainment launches into FAST TV market". Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "GREAT! player". Retrieved 3 June 2023.
