Home Theater Network or HTN was the name of a premium cable television service that existed from 1977 to 1987. The service was operated by Group W Satellite Communications

Westinghouse Broadcasting

The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....

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History

The service operated initially for four hours a day, expanding to 12 hours a day, and was notable for airing non-exclusive G and PG-rated films (prior to 1984, when the PG-13 rating was first introduced). It boasted a policy of not running R-rated feature films (predating the launch of family-oriented multiplex services by HBO, Showtime, Starz and Encore that also omitted R-rated films from their schedules), and marketed itself as a lower-priced alternative to HBO, Cinemax

Cinemax

Cinemax, sometimes abbreviated as simply "Max", is a collection of premium television networks that broadcasts primarily feature films, along with softcore erotica, original action series, documentaries and special behind-the-scenes features. Cinemax is operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a...

, Showtime (which Group W later owned in part) and The Movie Channel

The Movie Channel

The Movie Channel is an American premium channel owned by Showtime Networks, Inc., a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, which shows mostly movies, as well as special behind-the-scenes features, softcore adult erotica and movie trivia....

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Prior to The Disney Channel

Disney Channel

Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

's 1983 launch, Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

 licensed select non-animated films to many premium cable networks (including HBO, Showtime and Spotlight); as a result, HTN featured Disney fare such as Freaky Friday

Freaky Friday (1976 film)

Freaky Friday is a 1976 American comedy film starring Jodie Foster as Annabel Andrews and Barbara Harris as her mother.The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, in which mother and daughter switch bodies and get a taste of each others' lives. The cause of the switch is left...

, Snowball Express

Snowball Express

Snowball Express is a 1972 screwball comedy film made by Walt Disney Productions about a man who leaves his desk job to run a hotel left to him by his uncle.-Plot:...

, Pete's Dragon

Pete's Dragon

Pete's Dragon is a 1977 live-action/animated musical film from Walt Disney Productions and the first Disney film to be recorded in the Dolby Stereo sound system...

, Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company which combines live action and animation and was released in North America on December 13, 1971...

and The North Avenue Irregulars

The North Avenue Irregulars

The North Avenue Irregulars is a 1979 Disney film distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company starring Edward Hermann, Barbara Harris and Susan Clark. It was based on original work by Albert Fay Hill, as adapted by Don Tait...

. Other films HTN featured include Xanadu

Xanadu (film)

Xanadu is a 1980 romantic musical fantasy film written by Marc Reid Rubel and directed by Robert Greenwald. The title is a reference to the poem "Kubla Khan, or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is quoted in the film. Xanadu is the name of the Chinese province...

and The Private Eyes. In addition, the channel showcased travel-related programming between films, billing that programming as "The Travel Channel".

In October 1986, GWSC made the decision to shut the network down, citing a lack of growth despite a positive cash flow. GWSC terminated the service on January 31, 1987, and sold the transponder time on Satcom 3-R and the Travel Channel name to Trans World Airlines

Trans World Airlines

Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...

to launch the current service now known as The Travel Channel.