Bad News For American Movie Classics (AMC) Fans (1 Viewer)

[Jason_Els]

In the June 17 Multichannel News , a cable industry magazine, there's an article by Linda Moss interviewing the new Senior Vice President Rob Sorcher. His previous experience is with the Fox Family Channel and was general manager of USA Networks until he was displaced by Doug Herzog in March. Among his plans:
Sorcher said: "We've acquired more contemporary titles and want to make AMC a more contemporary destination."
"AMC, which will move toward carrying a full load of commercials this fall, is in transition. Its plans are to move its older classic movies to a new diginet and run more recent films in their place."
"The network has expressed a renewed commitment to original programming and to finding signature shows..."
and then there's this nugget:
"AMC is effectively relinquishing its title as a commercial-free venue for vintage movies to Turner Classic Movies."
So in other words, they're going to become just another movie channel. It's a loss really because AMC started so well. Though TMC has definitely surpassed it, AMC was always one of my first stops channel surfing.
There goes the neighborhood....

 

[Robert Crawford]

AMC's not even a movie channel, it's more like TBS or TNT than anything else. At least, as classic movie fans are concern, we have TCM and FMC to a certain degree.



Crawdaddy

 

[Malcolm R]

hannel.

Is that their new, official name? They can hardly be "classic" anymore, can they?

 

[Duane Robinson]

I thought their name meant Another Moronic Compromise to get a wider audience.

 

[Dan B]

Why are they doing this? Is nobody watching the network as it is now? This stinks.


-Dan B.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

This is disappointing news, as I really like AMC.
I just watched Escape from Alcatraz on AMC tonight!

 

[george kaplan]

1) AMC already has gone way down hill since it's glory days with commericial interuptions, edited films and 99% pan & scan. I already watch TCM 95% of the time over AMC anyway.

2) AMC was still good for older films with OAR of 1.33 and little for them to censor out.

3) So now they're getting rid of the one remaining good thing about the station and adding more commercials. Looks like their'll be no reason to watch them anymore.

4) I can't quite tell if they're just giving up the market to TCM, or developing their own alternative. What is this new diginet they're moving these films to?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

This truly stinks, especially since my local cable provider doesn't even offer TCM!
Oh well, time to get that dish...

 

[Greg_S_H]

Its plans are to move its older classic movies to a new diginet and run more recent films in their place.

This sounds promising. Maybe this'll be devoted to the true classics and be (mostly) commercial free. Probably little hope for OAR, unless they are older classics.

I miss what AMC used to be. Back in '97 and '98, my poor VCR never stopped running thanks to AMC and TCM. I had a closet full of movies. It seems it was about the time Nick Clooney left (and then the other guy . . . can't remember his name . . . Bob something?) that it started to go south.

Actually, I really started to notice it when they moved to that theater. It's been so long since I've watched, I don't even remember. I think it was Radio City Music hall.

 

[BarryR]

Bob Dorian was the longtime host since the early '80s. Heck, I remember when AMC was known as Montage, circa 1983. It showed Universal's KING OF JAZZ (1930)! Not even TCM has aired that! AMC was in its glory days in the late '80s, despite a tendency even then to rerun certain films endlessly, but at least they emptied out the RKO vaults--I first saw Wheeler & Woolsey thanks to AMC! They even ran plentiful Soundies, fascinating forerunners to modern music videos. But in the last five years AMC's gradual signing off of its original purpose has been a sad spectacle--thank god I hooked up a dish last autumn, solely to get TCM.

 

[Michael*K]

I disagree that AMC is now nothing more than a warmed over version of TBS and TNT. I may not agree with all the programming choices, but at least on AMC I know that I'll never have to see a stupid NBA or Braves game or assinine made-for-TV films like Atomic Twister. Ugh. And though AMC has switched away from commercial-free broadcasting, I still don't have to be bombarded with advertisements every ten minutes like I am on TBS and TNT.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Give it time!



Crawdaddy

 

[Seth Paxton]

So true, Crawdaddy.

They were having trouble being one of two networks, so the solution is to make it one of 12 networks. Yeah, you guys will stand out.

AMC will probably close up shop in 5 years. Seriously. Or default to 10 hours of infomercials at night.

Meanwhile FMC had In Like Flint in LBX earlier today. I am growing more fond and more hopeful for that station.

What is diginet? Is that another digital network, perhaps slang I guess? And does that mean create another network, or rather sell off films to the existing TCM.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Yeah, diginet means a digital network. Any new channel these days is going to be sent over the satellite using digital compression because it uses much less of the finite satellite bandwidth.

 

[george kaplan]

Well there may have been some stupid NBA games shown on TNT and TBS but there were also some great ones shown featuring the Lakers.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

but at least on AMC I know that I'll never have to see a stupid NBA or Braves game

Funny, I think the Braves games are the only good thing about TBS
I'll take baseball and basketball games, over a movie channel that will be showing little more than stuff like Hot to Trot, Manniquin 2 , & an edited version of Predator, no less than 20 times a months.

 

[Greg_S_H]

My cable service didn't have AMC (Montage) back in the '80s, unfortunately, and we don't have FMC yet.

Anyway, thanks for reminding me of Bob Dorian's last name, Barry.

 

[Jason_Els]

Brian,

What IS that a picture of? I like it.

What is FMC? We dont have it either but I'd like to learn if it's that good.

Thanx

 

[Greg_S_H]

Fox Movie Channel.

 

[BarryR]

FMC >IS< good!! Next to TCM they're the most conscientious channel catering to true movie lovers. No commerical breaks during films, interesting shorts, special features, a deliberate scheduling of leterboxed films, etc. Very much like a born again AMC, haha.