Sundance Channel - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sundance Channel is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

network

Television network

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

devoted to airing independent feature films

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

, world cinema

World cinema

World cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industries of non-English speaking countries. It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term foreign film...

, documentaries

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

, short films, and original programs, such as news about the latest developments from each year's Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

.

All films are shown uncut and without commercial interruptions, however original series do include break interruptions that feature promos for the network's programming, with the only traditional advertising coming from PBS-style underwriter sponsorships of select interstitials featured within breaks; as a result of sister network IFC

Independent Film Channel

The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...

becoming an advertiser-supported network in 2010, Sundance is the only remaining cable television property of parent AMC Networks that is not wholly advertiser-supported.

History

Launched in February 1996 to show independent film

Independent film

s on television, Sundance Channel was a joint venture

Joint venture

A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...

of Showtime Networks (part of CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...

), Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

(part of NBCUniversal), and Robert Redford

Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

who also acted as the creative director of the network. The channel initially launched on five cable systems in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

; Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

; Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

; Chamblee

Chamblee, Georgia

As of the 2010 Census Chamblee had a population of 9,892. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 45.0% white , 7.0% black or African American , 2.1% Native American , 1.8% Vietnamese, 1.6% Asian Indian, 4.6% other Asian, 33.5% from some other race and...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

; and Pensacola

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

Redford partnered with Showtime Networks to launch the channel after negotiations between Redford and the Independent Film Channel

Independent Film Channel

for Redford to become a partner in the channel broke down in 1994. The channel got its name from Redford's character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...

. It is an extension of Redford's non-profit Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981 that actively advances the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide...

. The channel operates independently of both the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival. Certain providers offered Sundance Channel as part of the Showtime premium movie package.

In addition to broadcasting films, the channel airs and produces original content. One such show, Anatomy of a Scene
Anatomy of a Scene
Anatomy of a Scene is a television series produced by and aired regularly on Sundance Channel since 2001. As a tagline for the series notes, each 30-minute episode "dissects the art of filmmaking" of a scene from a specific film, often a film previously showcased at a Sundance Film Festival.An...

, takes a scene from a movie and breaks it apart from the perspective of the production design, costume design

Costume design

Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...

, the writing

Screenwriting

Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....

, the acting

Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

, and the directing

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

.

On May 7, 2008, Rainbow Media (a subsidiary of Cablevision) announced that it had purchased Sundance Channel for $496 million. Rainbow Media also owns the cable channels AMC

AMC (TV network)

AMC is a cable television specialty channel that primarily airs movies, along with a limited amount of original programming. The letters originally stood for American Movie Classics; however since 2002, the full name has been deemphasized as a result of a major shift in programming...

, IFC

Independent Film Channel

, WE tv

WE TV

We TV is the third TV channel from Malayalam Communications Ltd, in Kerala and based at Trivandrum. The other two channels of this company are Kairali TV and People TV. WE TV is mainly aimed at the youth and was officially launched on April 14, 2007. Mr...

, and News 12

News 12 Networks

News 12 Networks comprises seven regional cable news television channels in the New York metropolitan area. The channels offer local news 24-hours a day and reach approximately 3.8 million television households in the tri-state area...

, and owned the defunct Voom HD Networks. The acquisition of Sundance Channel by Rainbow Media was completed in June 2008. On July 1, 2011, Rainbow Media was spun off by its parent company, Cablevision; with this spin-off, the company was renamed AMC Networks.

Current programming

Current programming includes:

Be Good Johnny Weir
Big Ideas for a Small Planet
Big Ideas for a Small Planet
Big Ideas for a Small Planet is an American documentary series on the Sundance Channel which focuses on environmental innovations such as alternative fuel and green building techniques. The series premiered on the iTunes Store prior to its release on the Sundance Channel on April 17, 2007...
Carbon Cops
Eco Biz
Ecoists
Eco Trip
Iconoclasts
Iconoclasts (Sundance Channel)
Iconoclasts is a Sundance Channel show. Each episode pairs two "creative visionaries" who discuss their lives, influences, and art, most of whom are longtime friends with the other person featured in the episode. The series premiered on November 17, 2005, and has had five six-episode...
Is Your House Killing You?
Ladette to Lady
Ladette to Lady
Ladette to Lady is a reality based series that first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV in June 2005. The series was produced by UK-based RDF Media....
Live From Abbey Road
Live from Abbey Road
Live from Abbey Road is a 12-part, one-hour performance series/documentary that began filming its first season during 2006 at Abbey Road Studios in London. Season 2 was filmed between 2007 and 2008, season 3 was filmed in 2009 and Season 4 was filmed in 2011...
Ludo Bites America
On the Road in America
Pulling (TV series)
Shameless
Shameless
Shameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...
Sin City Law
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... was a UK/Canadian television series, shown on Channel 4 in the UK, CTV in Canada and the Sundance Channel in the United States. The show features intimate interviews between the host, Elvis Costello, and various musical guests intertwined with performances by...
The Green
The Lazy Environmentalist
The Next Garde
Green Porno
Green Porno
Green Porno is a series of short films on animal sexual behaviour. The series, which began in 2008 and currently airs on The Sundance Channel, is conceived, written, and directed by its star, Isabella Rossellini....
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys is an American reality television series. Each season follows the lives of four gay men and their female best friends. The series debuted on the Sundance Channel on December 7, 2010. World of Wonder produces Girls...
Quirky

International

Sundance channel launched in France in 2009 on Numericable.

On March 1, 2010, a Canadian version of sundance channel was launched by Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment

Corus Entertainment

Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...

. Rainbow Media does not own any stake in this channel but have signed a license agreement with Corus Entertainment allowing them to use the sundance channel brand as well as access to sundance channel programming.

Since then Sundance Channel continued to expand its international distribution and rolled out on Astro B.yond (Malaysia); SFR, Numericable and Free (France); Telenet (Belgium); Caiway (the Netherlands); UPC Polska (Poland); Skylife and KT (South Korea); SingTel’s mio TV (Singapore); and Corus Entertainment (Canada).

Sundance channel launched in Greece in July 18, 2011 as a linear channel on OTE

OTE

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. , usually known by its Greek initials OTE, is the dominant telecommunications provider in Greece. Formerly a state-owned monopoly, OTE was part-privatized in 1998 and is now listed on the Athens and New York Stock Exchanges...

's IPTV(Conn-x TV) and will be followed by satellite (OTE TV) which will launch and Sundance HD.

History

Current programming

International

See also