Festival is a defunct American
premium cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
network that was owned by
Home Box Office, Inc., then a subsidiary of
Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
, and operated from 1986 to 1988. The channel's programming consisted of uncut and
re-edited versions of recent older theatrically released motion pictures, along original music, comedy and
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
specials sourced from the parent HBO channel aimed at a family audience.
History
On April 1, 1986, HBO began test-marketing a tertiary premium service, Festival, to an estimated 850 subscribers over six cable systems owned by then-sister company
American Television and Communications Corporation (eventually expanding to 25 systems by the Summer of 1986).
The channel—which transmitted for 19 hours each day from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time daily—was targeted at older audiences who found programming containing violence and sexual situations on other premium services objectionable, television viewers without cable service, and basic cable subscribers that opted against retaining a subscription to a premium service.
It's slogan, ''Quality Entertainment You Welcome Home'' reflected the target audience it was trying to attract.
Primarily to cater to the former demographic, Festival focused around
family-friendly
A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...
fare that included
classic
A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...
and recent hit movies (including collections of feature films starring a featured actor, known as "Star Salutes"), and documentaries, along with HBO original stand-up comedy, concert, nature and
ice skating
Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...
specials (which Festival branded under the "Centerstage" banner). Atypical for a premium service, Festival aired "airline-style" versions of R-rated movies re-edited to fit a PG rating on the channel's schedule.
As Festival was designed as a mini-pay premium service (similar to Take 2 before it), subscription pricing for the channel was set lower than that of HBO and Cinemax (between $2.99 and $6.99 per month—equivalent to between $ and $ in , adjusted for
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
—depending on the cable system). Festival also provided subscribers with a 20-page, color monthly program guide. Like HBO, Festival also ran occasional free preview periods, such as the October 30 to November 2, 1987 preview hosted by
Tony Randall
Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...
.
On July 14, 1988, Home Box Office, Inc. announced it would shut down Festival at the end of the year, citing headend channel capacity limitations that prevented Festival from expanding beyond the 102 systems that already carried the service. The channel had reoriented its marketing initiatives to aggressively target cable subscribers who subscribed to another pay service. At its peak, Festival had an estimated 30,000 subscribers by the Summer of 1988, putting it at a distant last place in total subscriber reach among the eight American premium cable services operating at the time. (By comparison, during the same timeframe, HBO had reached 15.9 million subscribers and fellow sister channel
Cinemax
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
reached 5.1 million, while Festival's most direct competitor,
The Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
—then also a family-oriented premium service until it shifted to basic cable in April 1997—had 3.18 million subscribers.) Festival ceased operations on December 31, 1988.
References
{{U.S. movie television channels
HBO
Home Box Office, Inc.
Commercial-free television networks in the United States
Movie channels in the United States
English-language television stations in the United States
Defunct television networks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 1986
Television channels and stations disestablished in 1988