Superchannel

[ottawasnowdog]

Does anyone know how the superchannel is doing subscriber wise.

[IMissBCTV]

Probably not that well. Movie Central and TMN have had long contracts with the big studios leaving Super-channel to shop elsewhere for independent films which have a small audience.

[musimax]

When Super Channel filed for bankruptcy protection in June, articles written about it had said they had roughly 220,000 subscribers. So it was quite lower then the company had expected which was 800,000 in the first four years and they've only been on the air less then 2 years at the time of bankruptcy protection.

[Tripster]

I just can't see much on their lineup I'd want to pay a premium for, sure there are a few things but for the same money I can just get MC and access the latest HBO and Showtime material.

Superchannel needs something like that, they could try and get exclusives on Showtime or something since MC/TMN went with HBO for the most part. They did manage to get ShoBOX but they should have went for it all. Although not everything from SHO airs on premiums up here, Weeds is on Showcase.

I guess there is Starz which is producing a few things now, if they could manage it Superchannel could apply to import some of the Starz genre channels such as Encore Westerns since that genre was abandoned by Canwest when they rebranded Lonestar. Not sure if the CRTC would go for it though, but that type of thing might give them the edge they need to survive. As it is, their suite doesn't offer enough to warrant premium subscription.

Currently there are too many non-premium level series on Superchannel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it makes it tougher to gain subscribers willing to pay the premium price for it.

They could also be pulling more from the Fox back catalog since they have that exclusive, they do that a bit but still, it could be better I guess.

[ottawasnowdog]

I think part of it is what you like for me i really injoy the sc line up of series and movies.

[SportsFan]

The have good fights (Showtime boxing, Hennesey boxing and Strikeforce MMA), a few good series (Burn Notice, Sons of Anarchy plus a of couple British ones) and a pretty good variety of movies (athough not as good as TMN/MC) and Super Channel is a couple bucks cheaper than the competition.

It's a pretty good value.

[IMissBCTV]

I think Shaw would be quick to pull that plug on them if they could, but since it's a "required to carry service" it will remain!

[InMontreal]

I think Shaw would be quick to pull that plug on them if they could, but since it's a "required to carry service" it will remain!

Videotron doesn't even carry it !

[TVViewer]

This is why Super Channel is doing so bad in the first place, some BDU's are refusing to carry it even though it's must carry, Shaw took months to carry it.

When Super Channel first launched Bell was the ONLY provider to carry it.

[musimax]

What I don't get is why Super Channel has not taken Vidéotron to the CRTC over this and get the CRTC to force them to carry it, just like how OUTtv took Shaw to the CRTC over Shaws mistreatment of OUTtv. The CRTC would more then likely side with Super Channel since it is a must carry service. It may or may not cost Super Channel expenses to go through all that but wouldn't those expenses be worth it if they could get on a major carrier like Vidéotron.

[TVViewer]

I'm guessing SuperChannel doesn't have the money, and doesn't think the costs are worth it.

What I think should happen is if a BDU doesn't carry a must carry service, they should be fined for every day they refuse to carry it since the station launched, if Shaw and Videotron and Rogers had to pay Super Channel a fee every day they didn't carry the channel i'm sure they would have been able to get the channel on their service much faster.

[mtlguy]

Actuallly Videotron doesn't have to carry it because it is a must carry for BDU that are in an English market. Being in a French market exempt them of the must carry rule here.

I would subscribe to it if they offered it, mostly for the series, not the movies. I have subscribe to TMN for years and only for HBO/Showtime series. But in a French market it would probably be a waste of a lot of bandwith otherwise they would add it. They are adding Golf Netwwork HD this week, that tells you how small the interest and request for it have been. Nobody knows it exist here.

[musimax]

Actuallly Videotron doesn't have to carry it because it is a must carry for BDU that are in an English market. Being in a French market exempt them of the must carry rule here.

I would subscribe to it if they offered it, mostly for the series, not the movies. I have subscribe to TMN for years and only for HBO/Showtime series. But in a French market it would probably be a waste of a lot of bandwith otherwise they would add it. They are adding Golf Netwwork HD this week, that tells you how small the interest and request for it have been. Nobody knows it exist here.

That's right actually, Vidéotron's not actually required to carry it. That also explains why most cable companies in English markets don't carry the category 1 French services like Argent or RIS and some cable compaies don't even offer certain French analog channels.

But I'm pretty skeptical to think Vidéotron isn't carrying Super Channel because there is lack of interest, which could be a reason I guess because it is relatively new service and many may not know about it, but I think the reason why they aren't carrying it is because a unit of Quebecor Media (Vidéotron's parent company), applied for a licence at the same time Super Channel did and they were denied approval from the CRTC. So I have a feeling this is what it all comes down to, it's their way of getting back because they're pissed they didn't get the licence and Super Channel did.