Sky Film
Encyclopedia
Sky Film is a German set of movie channels owned by Sky Deutschland.
The Sky Film package includes eleven Sky-branded channels:
Movies are broadcast in the 16:9 widescreen format with both German and original audio, when available.
In order to watch movies in high-fefinition, you also have to pay for Sky HD, another set of programs. By booking this set, the channels fitting into the other booked sets, such as Sky Sport are decrypted as well.
When DF1 and Premiere merged to form the platform "Premiere World" in October 1999, it movie package, which was called "Movie World", consisted of the Premiere channel and 13th Street
as well as the former DF1 channels Star*Kino, Cine Action, Cine Comedy, Sci Fantasy and Romantic Movies.
This structure remained until July 2001 when Premiere World relaunched their packages an brought all the channels they owned under the Premiere umbrella brand.
In May 2002, "Premiere World" became simply "Premiere". At the same time, the themed movie channel were replaced by the numbered movie screens Premiere 4 through Premiere 7.
On August 1, 2006, the channels were overhauled again. Premiere 1 to Premiere 4 became part of a package called "Premiere Blockbuster", which also included Disney Channel. Premiere 5, Premiere 6 and Premiere 7 were closed down and replaced by Premiere Filmclassics and Premiere Filmfest. They became part of a package called "Premiere Entertainment", which also included Premiere Serie
, Premiere Krimi and Premiere Nostalgie.
"Premiere Blockbuster" and "Premiere Entertainment" merged and became "Premiere Film" in on July 1, 2008.
The Premiere Film channels were sold with Disney Channel and Fox Channel
. When Sky was relaunched, those two channels were moved to the Sky Welt package, while the MGM Channel and Disney Cinemagic
took their place. Premiere Krimi was moved to the Sky Welt package and became Sky Krimi
.
With the relaunch, the channels adopted the searchlights-themed graphics, used by the British Sky Movies
channels since 2007, with the logos replaced by those of German counterparts. Sky Cinema uses Sky Movies Premiere's ident, while Sky Action uses Sky Movies Action & Thriller's, Sky Emotion uses Sky Movies Drama's, Sky Nostalgie uses Sky Movies Classics', Sky Comedy uses Sky Movies Indie's (not the Sky Movies Comedy's), and Sky Cinema Hits uses the original idents of Sky Movies HD 1 and 2.
When the channels where rebranded, there was only one high-definition simulcast channel, Sky Cinema HD. It was joined by two more HD simulcasts on August 13, 2010, Sky Cinema Hits HD and Sky Action HD.
The Sky Film package includes eleven Sky-branded channels:
- Sky Cinema, the premium channel with 20 television premieres per month.
- Sky Cinema +1, Sky Cinema with an hour delay.
- Sky Cinema +24, Sky Cinema with 24 hours delay.
- Sky Action with action, horror and sci-fi movies.
- Sky Comedy with various kinds of comedy movies.
- Sky Emotion with love stories, romantic comedies and dramas.
- Sky Nostalgie with classic movies from the 1930s to the 1970s.
- Sky Cinema Hits with blockbusters from all times.
- Sky Cinema HD, Sky Cinema Hits HD and Sky Action HD with movies in high-definition.
Movies are broadcast in the 16:9 widescreen format with both German and original audio, when available.
In order to watch movies in high-fefinition, you also have to pay for Sky HD, another set of programs. By booking this set, the channels fitting into the other booked sets, such as Sky Sport are decrypted as well.
Origins
The different channels in the package mostly have their origins in the analogue Premiere channel which started broadcasting in 1991 and the movie channels of the DF1 platform started in 1996. The movie package on the DF1 platform consisted of Cine Action, Cine Comedy, Romantic Movies, Star*Kino and Western Movies.When DF1 and Premiere merged to form the platform "Premiere World" in October 1999, it movie package, which was called "Movie World", consisted of the Premiere channel and 13th Street
13th Street
13th Street Universal is a television channel specialising in action and suspense shows and movies. It is owned by NBCUniversal and was launched in France on November 13, 1997 and in Germany on May 1, 1998...
as well as the former DF1 channels Star*Kino, Cine Action, Cine Comedy, Sci Fantasy and Romantic Movies.
This structure remained until July 2001 when Premiere World relaunched their packages an brought all the channels they owned under the Premiere umbrella brand.
- Premiere was extended to three channels: Premiere 1, Premiere 2 and Premiere 3
- Star*Kino became Premiere Star
- Cine Comedy became Premiere Comedy
- Sci Fantasy became Premiere Sci-fi
- Cine Action became Premiere Action
- Romantic Movies was closed down.
In May 2002, "Premiere World" became simply "Premiere". At the same time, the themed movie channel were replaced by the numbered movie screens Premiere 4 through Premiere 7.
On August 1, 2006, the channels were overhauled again. Premiere 1 to Premiere 4 became part of a package called "Premiere Blockbuster", which also included Disney Channel. Premiere 5, Premiere 6 and Premiere 7 were closed down and replaced by Premiere Filmclassics and Premiere Filmfest. They became part of a package called "Premiere Entertainment", which also included Premiere Serie
Premiere Serie
Premiere Serie was a German television channel which broadcasted television drama series.It had its origins in "Herz & Co", a channel dedicated to soap operas launched in 1996 with the DF1 satellite package...
, Premiere Krimi and Premiere Nostalgie.
"Premiere Blockbuster" and "Premiere Entertainment" merged and became "Premiere Film" in on July 1, 2008.
2009 relaunch
On July 4, 2009, Premiere was relaunched and became Sky Deutschland. All Premiere channels were renamed. The film channels got the following names:- Premiere 1 became Sky Cinema and Sky Action
- Premiere 2 became Sky Cinema +1
- Premiere 3 became Sky Cinema +24
- Premiere 4 became Sky Comedy
- Premiere Filmclassics became Sky Cinema Hits
- Premiere Filmfest became Sky Emotion
- Premiere Nostalgie became Sky Nostalgie
The Premiere Film channels were sold with Disney Channel and Fox Channel
Fox Channel (Germany)
Fox Channel is a German television channel dedicated to television drama series.The channel started broadcasting on the Arena platform and the Unitymedia cable network on May 20, 2008....
. When Sky was relaunched, those two channels were moved to the Sky Welt package, while the MGM Channel and Disney Cinemagic
Disney Cinemagic
Disney Cinemagic is the premium subscription movie service, available through Sky, TalkTalk TV and Virgin Media. The channel first appeared on 16 March 2006, airing previews, preparing for the official launch that took place at 17:00 on 19 March 2006....
took their place. Premiere Krimi was moved to the Sky Welt package and became Sky Krimi
Sky Krimi
Sky Krimi is a German television channel dedicated to crime series. It mostly features original German language productions.It started out as "Krimi & Co" on the DF1 satellite platform when it launched. DF1 had several channels dedicated to television series, including soap channel Herz & Co and...
.
With the relaunch, the channels adopted the searchlights-themed graphics, used by the British Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...
channels since 2007, with the logos replaced by those of German counterparts. Sky Cinema uses Sky Movies Premiere's ident, while Sky Action uses Sky Movies Action & Thriller's, Sky Emotion uses Sky Movies Drama's, Sky Nostalgie uses Sky Movies Classics', Sky Comedy uses Sky Movies Indie's (not the Sky Movies Comedy's), and Sky Cinema Hits uses the original idents of Sky Movies HD 1 and 2.
When the channels where rebranded, there was only one high-definition simulcast channel, Sky Cinema HD. It was joined by two more HD simulcasts on August 13, 2010, Sky Cinema Hits HD and Sky Action HD.