digital cable
Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previ ...
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...
, website and
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...
service owned by
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
. The network specialized in horror entertainment programming through a mix of acquired and original series, and feature films.
Background and platforms
Fearnet on Demand
Fearnet launched on October 31, 2006 as a
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...
service, Fearnet On Demand. It was originally operated as a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
,
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
, and
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
. The on-demand service featured full-length horror, thriller, and suspense films as well as shorts,
trailers
Trailer may refer to: a
Transportation
* Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle
** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers
** Full-trailer
** Semi-trailer
**Horse traile ...
, interviews, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. It was available to subscribers of Comcast,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
AT&T U-verse
U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.Insight Communications,
Bresnan Communications
Bresnan Communications was an American cable television provider formed by William Bresnan in 1984. It originally operated cable systems on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Over the next fourteen years, its operations spread to Minnesota Wisconsin, M ...
, Guadalupe Valley Systems,
Buckeye CableSystem
Buckeye Broadband (formerly known as the Buckeye CableSystem from August 1996 until May 2016, and as The CableSystem prior to August 1996) is a cable and telecommunications company located in Toledo, Ohio, owned by Block Communications (which a ...
,
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, opera ...
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet prov ...
, and
CenturyLink
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink) is an American
telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is ...
.
Fearnet cable channel
Fearnet launched as a linear
cable channel
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 broa ...
on October 31, 2010. The network was originally scheduled to launch four weeks earlier on October 1, but the date was pushed back as Fearnet was in the midst of carriage negotiations with cable providers to carry the linear channel. The Fearnet channel was available through Comcast (in select markets),
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS,
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet prov ...
, and CenturyLink. The network aired over 350 full-length feature films annually, as well as popular series (such as ''
Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt may refer to:
* ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo
* ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s
** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...
'' and ''
Reaper
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...
'') and original content (such as '' Holliston'') and the weekend program block called "Funhouse".
In September 2012, Fearnet became the first television network to offer Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), technology which decreases integration time from four weeks to as few as three days, and allows advertisers to refresh creative mid-campaign and track impressions on a daily basis.
Fearnet.com
The Fearnet website featured thriller, suspense, and horror films available for
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
(with available content updated each week); other videos including movie trailers and
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
; daily news and reviews that covered all aspects of the genre; and sweepstakes, chats, and forums. The website had over 270,000 registered users.
Leadership and ownership changes
In 2010, Peter Block (who launched the top-grossing ''Saw'' horror film franchise, and produced several other blockbuster horror and thriller films including ''
Hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or share ...
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
of Fearnet, replacing Diane Robina. In addition to his duties at Fearnet, Block continued to run his production company A Bigger Boat.
Merger with Chiller
On April 14, 2014, Comcast purchased Lions Gate Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment's stakes in Fearnet to acquire full ownership of the channel. Comcast planned to fold Fearnet's programming into its existing horror- and thriller-focused network
Chiller
A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via a vapor-compression, adsorption refrigeration, or absorption refrigeration cycles. This liquid can then be circulated through a heat exchanger to cool equipment, or another p ...
(owned by the company's NBCUniversal Cable unit) and move some of Fearnet's programming to
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...
. The merger occurred on July 30, 2014 at midnight, after an airing of ''
House of 1000 Corpses
''House of 1000 Corpses'' is a 2003 American black comedy horror film written, co-scored, and directed by Rob Zombie in his directorial debut, and the first film in the ''Firefly'' film series. It stars Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon, K ...
''. Chiller ceased operations on December 31, 2017 folding the former Fearnet channel space.
Programming
Original programming
On April 3, 2012, Fearnet premiered its first original series, '' Holliston'', a horror/comedy series starring real-life filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch as two college graduates chasing the dream of becoming successful horror filmmakers while struggling to make ends meet through their jobs at a
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
In August 2012, Fearnet debuted a two-hour program block on Saturday and Sunday mornings called "Funhouse", featuring reruns of science-fiction and horror series aimed at children, including: '' The Real Ghostbusters'', '' Tales from the Cryptkeeper'', ''
Dark Oracle
''Dark Oracle'' is a Canadian teen fantasy television series that premiered in 2004 on YTV. It was created by Jana Sinyor (former writer for '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and creator of ''Being Erica''), and co-developed by Heather Conkie. I ...