October 27, 2006

Comcast, Sony and Lionsgate to Launch FEARnet on Halloween

Horror channel's multiplatform content will be free to users—but not to other cable operators

By Shirley Brady

Comcast released details this week on FEARnet, its multiplatform “hybrid” network that will launch Oct. 31 on broadband, on video on demand and on wireless—but not on linear television.

The first of its kind horror channel, announced by Comcast in April, is now being promoted on cross-channel spots running on Comcast systems and also on a MySpace page. So what can horror fans look forward to on Halloween?

• A free Website, the ad-supported FEARnet.com, will stream nine full-length horror movies a month, such as the 1956 classic The Werewolf. Other broadband content includes movie trailers, short films, a horror film database, news, games and community features such as chat. A selection of 50 horror movies can also be downloaded online for sale or rental. Future multimedia plans for the site include user-generated videos.

• Its Comcast VOD channel (which is being shopped to other cable operators for an undisclosed license fee) will launch with 70 hours (about 30 movies) a month, or 200 titles in the first year, including Carrie and Night of the Living Dead.

• Wireless content will be available at mobile.FEARnet.com or wap.FEARnet.com, where horror news, movie reviews and polls can be downloaded onto mobile devices.

Canada’s Lionsgate Films is a partner in the FEARnet joint venture between Comcast and Sony, both part of the consortium that last year purchased the MGM film library. The Vancouver-based producer of horror hits including the Saw franchise was planning to launch its own horror channel until this summer, when it decided to pool its resources and film library into FEARnet.

For more on FEARnet, read CableWorld's Q&A with Diane Robina, Comcast’s president of emerging networks.