Movie Network Channels
Movie Network Channels was Australia’s premium movie service. It offered five regular channels (Movie One, Movie Extra, Movie Greats, Family Movie Channel, Starpics 1), two timeshift channels (Movie Two, Starpics 2) and three HD simulcasts (Movie One HD, Starpics 1 HD, Starpics 2 HD). Its main competitor was Showtime. The service started on Optus TV and later expanded to Austar, Foxtel, Neighbourhood Cable, SelecTV and TransACT. It was owned and run by a group of major studios: Warner Bros., Disney, MGM and Village Roadshow, with DreamWorks and Hopscotch Films providing additional titles.
In 2009, Movie Network expanded with more channels (and an additional timeshift and HD options), launched a new website, and adopted the slogan “All Together Better!”. Movie Extra also sponsored the Tropfest short-film festival from 2009 to 2012.
In 2012 Foxtel announced it would replace Movie Network after buying Showtime, and Movie Network said it would cease broadcasting on 1 June 2016. Negotiations over movie rights contributed to Foxtel’s takeover plan.
Channel highlights
- Movie One: the main channel for big-blockbuster movies from major studios (Warner Bros., Disney, MGM, Village Roadshow, DreamWorks). It launched in 1995 (originally called The Movie Network) and later offered an interactive Redspace service.
- Movie Two: the two-hour-delay timeshift of Movie One; launched in 2004.
- Movie Extra: started in 1997 with a mix of international and Australian films, and later included TV series; it hosted the annual Movie Extra Webfest.
- Movie Greats: showed classic films from studio catalogs; launched in 1995.
- Family Movie Channel: focused on family movies (G/PG, light M); launched in 2009 with Saturday premieres.
- Starpics: featured double features starring the same actor; launched in 2009; also had a timeshift and HD versions.
Other notes
- Foxtel offered three download channels for Windows PCs: Movie Action, Movie Comedy, and Movie Drama.
- In 2010, Movie Network launched MovieBox on Fetch TV, a daily on-demand movie service included with Fetch TV basic subscription, which continued to be updated even after the channels closed.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:28 (CET).