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107-813: FX ( F ox e X tended) is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks , a division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company . Based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City , California , FX was originally launched by the first-incarnation News Corporation on June 1, 1994, and later became one of the properties that was included in Disney's acquisition of one of News Corporation's successor companies, 21st Century Fox , in 2019. The channel's original programming aspires to

214-469: A trial period , often one to three months, though there have been rare instances of free trials for pay services that last up to one year for newer subscribers to that provider's television service. Pay television has become popular with cable and satellite television . Pay television services often, at least two to three times per year, provide free previews of their services, in order to court potential subscribers by allowing this wider audience to sample

321-514: A 2016 interview with critic Alan Sepinwall that "I cannot think of a more painful moment of my career than the one when I defined Terriers as a failure by canceling it." On October 1, 2010, parent company News Corporation (which spun off FX and the company's other U.S.-based entertainment properties to 21st Century Fox in July 2013) pulled its channels from Dish Network due to a carriage dispute over retransmission consent revenue. FX returned to

428-559: A September 2018 interview with Variety of the Disney-Fox deal, Landgraf said, "I think this is a necessary step. I have curiosity and a bit of anxiety about how it will work, but I'm really excited about it. On April 8, 2019, FX Networks had acquired off-network rights to Family Guy , starting with its sixteenth season and Bob's Burgers , starting with its ninth season. Family Guy began airing on FXX on April 16, 2019, while Bob's Burgers made its debut on September 24, 2019. FXX shares

535-630: A comedy series starring Elijah Wood . It is based on the Australian series Wilfred . In March 2010, the channel debuted Justified , a drama series created by Graham Yost based on Elmore Leonard 's short story "Fire in the Hole" (which was the series' original working title ). It starred Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens – a tough, soft-spoken lawman with a rough side – and chronicles his cases and personal life, including unfinished business with an ex-wife and his aging father. FX also picked up

642-582: A critical and commercial success, having aired for seven seasons as of 2014. In 2010, the series attracted an average of 4.9 million viewers per week, making it FX ' s highest rated series to date. Other new shows that premiered in 2008 included the Kenny Hotz comedy Testees , which debuted in October 2008 and was cancelled after its first season. In August 2008, FX relaunched its website, adding streaming of full episodes of its original shows. In 2009, reruns of

749-406: A crude decrypting of the over-the-air television signal and a decoding box, but never caught on for use at that time. It took another four decades when cable broadcasters started using pay-per-view on a widespread basis. "Free" variants are free-to-air (FTA) and free-to-view (FTV); however, FTV services are normally encrypted and decryption cards either come as part of an initial subscription to

856-514: A finance unit similar to GE Capital , which could start new cable or Internet services. TCI had already planned digital cable set-top boxes . On September 28, 1998, Liberty Media announced the formation of Liberty Interactive, a company which would take advantage of new technologies such as set-top boxes to develop interactive programming. The company would own 86% of TCI Music Inc. ( NASDAQ symbol: TUNE/TUNEP). As of January 1, 1999, E! Entertainment President and CEO Lee Masters would become

963-627: A focus on their parent companies' libraries, with HBO Now replaced by HBO Max (now Max) in 2020 (which adds content from other Warner Bros. properties and third-parties, and would also be included with existing HBO subscriptions via television providers), and Showtime formally merging with Paramount+ in 2023. Canadian premium service The Movie Network similarly merged with the CraveTV service owned by parent company Bell Media in 2018. Pay-per-view (PPV) services are similar to subscription-based pay television services in that customers must pay to have

1070-513: A lower subscription fee. These are called "mini-pay" channels (a term also used for smaller scale commercial-free pay television services) and are often sold as a part of a package with numerous similarly priced channels. Usually, however, the regular pricing for premium channels ranges from just under $ 10 to near $ 25 per month per suite, with lower prices available via bundling options with cable or satellite providers, or special limited offers which are available during free preview periods or before

1177-622: A major force in original pay-TV programming, gaining both acclaim and notoriety for edgy dramas. That year, FX debuted the police drama The Shield , which became a breakout hit. This trend continued the following year with Nip/Tuck , a drama about two plastic surgeons, and the Denis Leary -helmed Rescue Me , about the lives of a crew of firemen from the New York City Fire Department post- 9/11 . Both shows were lauded by critics, and achieved equal success with viewers. Rescue Me

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1284-622: A majority ownership of the new company. On May 4, 2009, The DirecTV Group Inc. said it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off as a separate company called DirecTV. The new company would also acquire Liberty's 100% interests in the three FSN networks and its 50% interest in GSN . The rest of the unit would be traded as Liberty Starz. Liberty would increase its share of DirecTV from 48 to 54%, with Malone and his family owning 24%. On May 4, 2009, Liberty announced that it would split off Liberty Entertainment, Inc.,

1391-535: A mix of original series, films, and specials. The shift towards SVOD has resulted in increasing competition within the sector, with media conglomerates having launched their own services (such as Disney+ , Paramount+ , Peacock , and Disney's acquisition of the majority of Hulu ) to compete, and existing premium networks such as HBO ( HBO Now ) and Showtime launching direct-to-consumer versions of their existing services to appeal to cord cutters . HBO and Showtime later absorbed their DTC offerings into wider services with

1498-429: A new company named DirecTV. On February 17, 2009, Liberty announced that it would invest up to $ 530 million into the struggling Sirius XM Radio Inc. , in a structured deal that would help the satellite radio provider avoid filing bankruptcy protection by meeting its obligations. The deal provided two board seats for Liberty Media, and provided cash for operations and development, with a maturity date of December 2012 for

1605-466: A part of this plan, fX became the national home for Fox Sports programming over the next few years. The first incarnation of fX was not available on Time Warner Cable , one of the major cable systems in New York City, where its programming originated. TWC would not carry the channel until September 2001. The live shows gradually disappeared one by one until only Personal fX remained. Breakfast Time

1712-433: A pay television bouquet – in other words, an offer of pay-TV channels – or can be purchased for a one-time cost. FTA and FTV systems may still have selective access. ABC Australia is one example, as much of its programming content is free-to-air except for National Rugby League (NRL) games, which are encrypted. Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty )

1819-1027: A record total of 18 Emmy wins. FX's most popular original shows include Justified , Damages , Nip/Tuck , Rescue Me , It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia , The League , Sons of Anarchy , The Shield , The Strain , Archer , American Horror Story , Anger Management , The Americans , Better Things , Louie , You're the Worst , Fargo , American Crime Story , Legion , Snowfall and Atlanta . The channel also broadcasts theatrically released feature films from sister companies Walt Disney Pictures , Marvel Studios , and 20th Century Studios as well as other film studios such as Columbia Pictures , Sony Pictures Animation , Universal Pictures , Paramount Pictures , Lionsgate Films , Relativity Media , Village Roadshow Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures , DreamWorks Pictures , and DreamWorks Animation which take up much of FX's primetime and

1926-689: A restriction as a few providers optionally sell that service without requiring a Showtime subscription. Unlike other cable networks, premium services are almost always subscribed to a la carte , meaning that one can, for example, subscribe to HBO without subscribing to Showtime (in Canada, there are slight modifications, as most providers include U.S. superstations – such as WAPA-TV – with their main premium package by default). However, subscribing to an "individual" service automatically includes access to all of that service's available multiplex channels and, in some cases, access to content via video-on-demand (in

2033-550: A result, FX covered several races in the series then known as the Busch Series and Winston Cup (including the All-Star Race ), as well as select qualifying and final practice sessions. Having FX carry the race telecasts was intended to promote the channel and encourage NASCAR fans to contact their subscription providers to add FX to their lineup. In 2002, Peter Liguori , who was then president of FX, praised NASCAR for its growth;

2140-764: A result, pay television outlets are most concerned with offering content that can justify the cost of the service, which helps to attract new subscribers, and retain existing subscribers. Many pay television services consist of multiple individual channels, referred to as " multiplex " services (in reference to multiplex cinemas ), where a main flagship channel is accompanied by secondary services with distinct schedules focusing on specific genres and audiences (such as multiplexes focusing more on "classic" films, or family-oriented programming), time shifting , or brand licensing deals (such as channels focusing specifically on Disney films , or content from U.S. pay television brands if they do not specifically run their own network in

2247-443: A result, the streaming service became a division of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International with Comcast effectively becoming a silent partner . In November 2019, it was announced that FX would produce series for Hulu under the " FX on Hulu " brand. Four series previously in development for the linear FX channel would now premiere on Hulu, including Devs , Mrs. America and A Teacher . Furthermore, episodes aired on

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2354-425: A seasonal package. They are typically the most expensive type of pay services, generally running in the range of $ 35 to $ 50 per month. Some pay services also offer pornographic films ; Cinemax was well known for carrying a late-night block of softcore films and series known as "Max After Dark"—a reputation that led to the network often being nicknamed "Skinemax" by viewers. Cinemax phased out this programming in

2461-471: A separate publicly traded company. The spin-off of Starz Inc. was completed on January 15, 2013. The company agreed in March 2013 to pay $ 2.62 billion for 27.3% of Charter Communications from Apollo Global Management, Oaktree Capital Management and Crestview Partners with the provision that Liberty would not increase its stake past 35% until after January 2016 but no more than 39.99%. By May 1, Liberty completed

2568-540: A short time during the 1980s, and unlike other general-interest pay services accepted outside advertising for broadcast during its sports telecasts), Preview , SelecTV and ON TV in the late 1970s, but those services disappeared as competition from cable television expanded during the 1980s. In Australia , Foxtel , Optus Television and TransACT are the major pay television distributors, all of which provide cable services in some metropolitan areas , with Foxtel providing satellite service for all other areas where cable

2675-401: A specific market). Typically, these services are bundled together with the main channel at no additional charge, and cannot be purchased separately. Depending on local regulations, pay television services generally have more lenient content standards because of their relatively narrower distribution, and not being subject to pressure from sponsors to tone down content. As a result, programming

2782-455: A subsidiary owning the three Fox Sports Net (FSN) channels (now Root Sports) acquired under the swap with News Corp. and Liberty's 65% interest in GSN , into a separate company that would merge with The DirecTV Group, reducing Liberty owner John Malone 's stake in DirecTV to 24%. The merger was completed on November 19, 2009, with The DirecTV Group and Liberty Entertainment becoming subsidiaries of

2889-459: A supplemental sports outlet for its sister networks, first broadcasting Fox Sports -produced programming under News Corporation's and 21st Century Fox's ownership, and ESPN -produced programming since the Disney acquisition of FX. After obtaining the spring broadcast rights to NASCAR , Fox Sports announced that FX would serve as its cable partner for the 2001 inaugural season of race telecasts. As

2996-481: Is Canal+ and its scrambled services, which operated in France from 1984 to the 2011 closedown of analogue television, Spain from 1990 to 2005 and Poland from 1995 to 2001. Some U.S. television stations launched pay services (known simply as "subscription television" services) such as SuperTV , Wometco Home Theater , PRISM (which principally operated as a cable service, only being simultaneously carried over-the-air for

3103-533: Is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in Formula One Group , Sirius XM , and Live Nation Entertainment . The Sirius XM Holdings segment operates two audio entertainment companies, Sirius XM and Pandora. Sirius XM offers channels and information and entertainment services. Pandora is a streaming platform for searching for music and podcasts. As of 2024, Liberty Media

3210-596: Is available on the majority of pay television providers. The SD channel, as was standard with all of Fox's broadcast and pay-TV networks (and also its new Disney siblings, which also all operate in 720p), is now merely downscaled from the HD feed at the provider headend level rather than having a devoted SD feed. Since 2004, Fox overseen the expansion of FX's to international markets, as well as forming several distribution partnerships to syndicate FX programs to other broadcast networks, cable channels, and video services on request outside

3317-544: Is available to approximately 71,000,000 pay television households in the United States - down from its 2011 peak of 99,000,000 households. In addition to the flagship U.S. network, the "FX" name is licensed to a number of related pay television channels in various countries around the world. FX, originally stylized as "fX", launched on June 1, 1994. Broadcasting from a large " apartment " in Manhattan 's Flatiron District , fX

FX (TV channel) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3424-701: Is not available. Austar formerly operated as a satellite pay service, until it merged with Foxtel and SelecTV . The major distributors of pay television in New Zealand are Sky Network Television on satellite and Vodafone on cable. In the 2010s, over-the-top subscription video on demand (SVOD) services distributed via internet video emerged as a major competitor to traditional pay television, with services such as Amazon Video , Hulu , and Netflix gaining prominence. Similarly to pay television services, their libraries include acquired content (which can not only include films, but acquired television series as well), and

3531-528: Is set to own three global motorsport businesses in the form of Formula One , Grand Prix motorcycle racing and World Superbikes . Liberty Media began in March 1991 as a spin-off of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a U.S. cable-television group. Peter Barton, hired by TCI's Malone, served as president until retiring in April 1997. The company took over TCI assets considered to have little value, but Barton completed "a deal every ten days for six years" and made

3638-717: Is typically aired with limited to no edits for time or, where applicable, mature content such as graphic violence , profanity , nudity , and sexual activity . As premium television services are commonly devoid of traditional commercial advertising, breaks between programming typically include promotions for upcoming programs , and interstitial segments (such as behind-the-scenes content, interviews, and other feature segments). Some sports-based pay services, however, may feature some commercial advertising, particularly if they simulcast sporting events that are broadcast by advertiser-supported television networks. In addition, most general interest or movie-based pay services do not adhere to

3745-600: The Baltimore Orioles in September 2001. On April 27, 2011, FX began airing soccer games from the UEFA Champions League as part of the league's overall television deal with Fox Sports. In the fall of 2011, FX began broadcasting Big 12 , Conference USA and Pac-12 college football games on Saturdays (mainly primetime games, with some daytime games mixed in), as part of Fox Sports' broadcasting contracts with

3852-535: The Wimbledon tennis tournament. Specialty pay sports channels also exist—often focusing on international sports considered niche to domestic audiences (such as, in the United States, cricket ), and are typically sold at a higher expense than traditional premium services. Out-of-market sports packages in North America are multi-channel pay services carrying professional or collegiate sporting events which are sold in

3959-513: The XFL beginning with its 2023 season , with games airing on FX, ESPN, and ABC; FX was included in the package to accommodate ESPN and ABC's existing programming commitments. With its first XFL broadcast in February 2023, FX introduced an "ESPN on FX" brand for sports broadcasts carried by the channel, modelled after the existing ESPN on ABC branding. However, due to low viewership, ESPN quietly discontinued

4066-555: The business cycle , some broadcasters try to balance them with more stable income from subscriptions. Some providers offer services owned by the same company in a single package. For example, American satellite provider DirecTV offers the Encore channels along with the Starz multiplex (both owned by Lionsgate 's Starz Inc. ) in its "Starz Super Pack"; and The Movie Channel , Flix and SundanceTV (the latter of which continues to be sold in

4173-416: The reality series Black. White. and the drama Thief ; neither series was picked up for a second season. During 2007, FX introduced three new dramas: Dirt , starring Courteney Cox ; The Riches , starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver ; and Damages , starring Glenn Close , Ted Danson and Rose Byrne . All three performed well in the ratings and were renewed for second seasons. By 2008, FX

4280-586: The 2010s, citing that it did not align with its current focus on action programming, and that internet porn and the amount of sexual content in other mainstream premium series (such as Game of Thrones ) made a specific block for such content redundant. Specialized channels dedicated to pornographic films also exist, that carry either softcore adult programs (such as Playboy TV ), or more hardcore content (such as The Erotic Network and Hustler TV ). Pay television channels come in different price ranges. Many channels carrying advertising combine this income with

4387-529: The Atlanta Braves and its associated real estate development project, and create a new Liberty Live Group tracking stock to hold Liberty's 35% stake in Live Nation. Liberty Media acquired ticket distributor and hospitality group QuintEvents for $ 313 million in September 2023. In December 2023, Liberty Media and SiriusXM agreed to create a new public company, "New SiriusXM", which will continue to operate under

FX (TV channel) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-555: The British morning show The Big Breakfast , was formatted like an informal magazine show. Breakfast Time and Personal fX would regularly feature the channel's "roving reporters" – which included Suzanne Whang , John Burke and Phil Keoghan – visiting unique places around the United States live via satellite. Other notable fX personalities included Karyn Bryant and Orlando Jones , who were panelists on Sound fX . The channel prided itself on its interactivity with viewers. fX, in 1994,

4601-417: The DirecTV package despite Showtime Networks no longer owning Sundance, that channel is now owned by AMC Networks ) along with Showtime in its "Showtime Unlimited" package; Cinemax and its multiplex networks, in turn, are almost always packaged with HBO (both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery ). Though selling premium services that are related by ownership as a package is common, that may not always be

4708-747: The FX wordmark while removing searchlights placed to its left since the 1997 rebrand. The new branding included an advertising campaign featuring a post-game ad for FX during Fox's coverage of Super Bowl XLII . The promo used the James Morrison song " You Give Me Something ". During 2008, competition with other pay-TV channels increased. This was evident in the second season ratings for series Dirt and The Riches , whose ratings decreased significantly from their freshman seasons. During some weeks, viewership for both shows barely exceeded 1 million. Both shows were cancelled in 2008; acquired shows Dharma and Greg , Buffy

4815-535: The Sunset Strip , the autobiographies of the Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis and his father, Blackie Dammett. HBO had picked up the series, which was to be titled Spider & Son , a few years before but never completed the project. Entourage writer/producers Marc Abrams and Mike Benson were tapped as its showrunners and Kiedis was to be involved as a co-producer. Dammett said in 2013 that

4922-431: The United States, Cinemax , HBO , MGM+ , Showtime , and Starz , but such services can also include those devoted to sports , as well as adult entertainment . In contrast to most other multichannel television broadcasters, which depend on advertising and carriage fees as their sources of revenue, the majority of pay television services rely almost solely on monthly subscription fees paid by individual customers. As

5029-554: The United States. In March 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox , after the acquisition Disney would expand the network more by rebranding several Fox networks in the Baltic states, CIS, Greece and Poland as FX, as result of the acquisition. FX programs in Canada are also distributed through agreement with Rogers Sports & Media . Pay television The term is most synonymous with premium entertainment services focused on films or general entertainment programming such as, in

5136-630: The Vampire Slayer . The channel also added Major League Baseball games to its lineup at that time (at one point sharing rights with then-sister network Fox Family ), and eventually expanded its sports programming to include NASCAR races in 2001. In the summer of 1998, FX debuted three original series: Bobcat's Big Ass Show , Instant Comedy with the Groundlings and Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular . All three series were cancelled

5243-511: The Vampire Slayer , Married... with Children and Fear Factor were also removed from the schedule. On September 3, 2008, FX debuted Sons of Anarchy , a drama series created by Kurt Sutter (who previously served as executive producer of The Shield ) about a fictional outlaw motorcycle club devoted to protecting their sheltered California town from corporate developers and drug dealers; its September premiere coincided with that of The Shield ' s final season. Sons of Anarchy became

5350-733: The aforementioned leniency in content standards, they too can contain content that is more mature than those of other cable channels or television networks . These series also tend to be high-budget and aim for critical success in order to attract subscribers: notable premium series, such as HBO 's Curb Your Enthusiasm , Game of Thrones , Sex and the City , and The Sopranos , and Showtime 's Dexter , Homeland , and Weeds , have achieved critical acclaim and have won various television awards. Some premium channels also broadcast television specials , which most commonly consist of concerts and concert films , documentaries , stand-up comedy , and in

5457-482: The assumption of existing indebtedness". IDT Entertainment's assets and Starz Entertainment Group 's line of premium television channels combined to produce content for all distribution platforms, and IDT Entertainment was later renamed as Starz Media. Liberty negotiated an asset swap with News Corp. and Time Warner that would give it control of DirecTV and the Atlanta Braves baseball team. On February 12, 2007,

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5564-419: The broadcast decrypted for viewing, but usually only entail a one-time payment for a single or time-limited viewing. Programs offered via pay-per-view are most often movies or sporting events, but may also include other events, such as concerts and even softcore adult programs. In the U.S., the initial concept and technology for pay-per-view for broadcast television was first developed in the early 1950s, including

5671-586: The broadcasts on FX by early-March, and had rescheduled some of them to its own networks, this coverage did not return in 2024 due to a merger with the United States Football League to form the United Football League , in which rights were split between the main ESPN networks and ABC (FX was excluded from this contract) and Fox Sports . FX began broadcasting a 720p HD channel in 2007, which

5778-501: The cable rights with then-sister network Fox Family Channel (taking rights to the league's Thursday evening games from Fox Sports Net ), with games being scheduled on an alternating basis with FX. Starting with the 2001 season, FX also obtained rights to games from the MLB Division Series , the only playoff round to which Fox did not hold television rights. Among the games televised on FX was Cal Ripken Jr. 's final home game with

5885-539: The channel increased penetration from 58.5 million to 76.6 million households nationwide. FX was removed from Fox's NASCAR coverage in the 2007 season, which saw the Busch Series move exclusively to ESPN , and Fox aired all of Nextel Cup races on broadcast television. In 1997 , FX obtained partial cable rights to Major League Baseball games; the channel initially aired game telecasts on Monday nights, before moving them to Saturday nights in 1998. In 2000, FX began sharing

5992-532: The channel's name and logo was rendered in lower-case to portray a type of relaxed friendliness; the stylized "X" represented the channel's roots: the crossing searchlights of the 20th Century Fox logo. The live shows were each mostly focused on one broad topic. Shows included Personal fX (collectibles and antiques), The Pet Department (pets), Under Scrutiny with Jane Wallace (news) and Sound fX (music). The channel's flagship show, Breakfast Time , hosted by Laurie Hibberd and Tom Bergeron and inspired by

6099-516: The channel's original series are rated TV-MA , often for strong profanity, sexual content, and/or violence. Family organizations such as the Parents Television Council and American Family Association , have asked advertisers to boycott these shows due to their graphic content. Despite this, FX's original programming output, outside of a few shows, has been critically acclaimed for their strong storylines and characters. Capitalizing on

6206-403: The channel's shows. Inside the channel's syndicated programming blocks, channel hosts would frequently appear during commercial breaks to read news headlines, respond to e-mails from viewers about the episode that was airing, or to promote upcoming programming. In 1995, Liberty Media purchased a 50% stake in the network as part of their alliance with News Corporation to form Fox Sports Net ; as

6313-428: The common top and bottom of the hour scheduling of other cable channels and terrestrial broadcasters. As such, programs often air using either conventional scheduling or have airtimes in five-minute increments (for example, 7:05 a.m. or 4:40 p.m.); since such channels broadcast content without in-program break interruptions, this sometimes leads to extended or abbreviated breaks between programs, depending on when

6420-602: The company a big success. Liberty was merged back into TCI in the mid-1990s. In 1995, Liberty Media acquired a 49% ownership stake in the Faith & Values Channel (which would later be known as the Hallmark Channel ), and took over operational control of the network, adding more secular and family-oriented programming. It was rebranded as the Odyssey Network in 1996. On March 13, 1998, Liberty Media Group and TCI Group announced

6527-621: The company's common stock trades under nine individual stock symbols. Seven of the nine are listed on the Nasdaq stock market and two trade over the counter . Liberty Media has come under pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), thanks to GCI company, an Alaskan subsidiary of Liberty Broadband. GCI is a corporate sponsor of the Iditarod , an Alaskan dogsledding race that has lost multiple participants and sponsorships over

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6634-531: The crime comedy-drama Terriers , created by Ted Griffin , for its fall 2010 lineup; in 2011, the channel debuted the boxing drama Lights Out , about retired boxing champion Patrick "Lights" Leary who is considering a comeback, despite the serious risks it entails. Despite the critical acclaim that Terriers and Lights Out received, the two series were cancelled after their first seasons due to low viewership; For Terriers specifically, FX Networks president and General Manager John Landgraf would later admit in

6741-440: The daily lives of four friends with eating disorders who live in New York City; and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia , about the usually very politically incorrect comic misadventures of four people who own a bar in the titular city . Both of these shows feature frank sexual dialogue and strong language, and were pitched as "The Dark Side of Comedy". Starved was derided by groups that sought to publicize eating disorders and

6848-555: The deal was completed with Time Warner wherein Liberty would receive the Atlanta Braves and a group of craft magazines, along with $ 1 billion in cash in exchange for 60 million shares of Time Warner stock (valued at $ 1.27 billion as of market close on February 12, 2007). The deal was approved by Major League Baseball and then completed on May 16, 2007. On February 20, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission approved

6955-482: The exchange for Sprint PCS stock. Being independent increased their asset values, but the stock prices of both dropped, negating any benefits. In June 2002, Liberty Media acquired Wink Communications, a maker of set-top boxes founded by Brian P. Dougherty (of GEOS fame), for $ 100 million. Liberty Media subsequently spent $ 5 billion on nine German regional cable networks. Apart from television distribution it held major interests in other groups. For example, it

7062-556: The exchange of 16.3% of News Corp. for 38.4% of DirecTV, an $ 11 billion deal that also gave Liberty sports networks in Denver , Pittsburgh and Seattle plus $ 550 million in cash. In April 2007, Liberty completed a purchase of Green Bay , Wisconsin , television station WFRV-TV , and satellite station WJMN-TV in Escanaba , Michigan , which serves the Marquette , Michigan, market. The deal

7169-571: The following year. Soon after its relaunch, the "Fox Gone Cable" tagline was dropped. By 1999, new original TV shows were added with the debut of shows such as Son of the Beach (a Baywatch parody that starred Timothy Stack and was executive produced by Howard Stern ) and The X Show (a male-oriented late night panel talk show). The channel also acquired the pay-TV syndication rights to reruns of series such as Ally McBeal , NYPD Blue and The Practice for then-record high prices then unseen in

7276-644: The form of a conventional VOD television service, and in some cases, a companion on-demand streaming service as well). Most pay television providers also offer a selection of premium services (for example, the HBO, Showtime and Starz packages) in one bundle at a greatly reduced price than it would cost to purchase each service separately, as an inducement for subscribers to remain with their service provider or for others to induce subscribers into using their service. Similarly, many television providers offer general interest or movie-based premium channels at no additional charge for

7383-602: The former ABC sitcom Spin City were removed from the schedule (though it was restored early the following year). In July 2009, FX ordered three new comedy pilots: Archer , an animated series featuring a spy agency, which premiered on January 14, 2010; The League , with a group of friends who are part of a fantasy football league; and Louie , a sitcom starring stand-up comedian and writer Louis C.K. , which "blend[s] stand-up material with ... 'extended vignettes' depicting moments from [the comedian's] offstage experiences." The following year, FX debuted Wilfred ,

7490-454: The launch of a network's prestige series. However, some other channels, such as sports and adult networks may ask for monthly pricing that may go as high as near $ 50 a month. There are also premium television services which are priced significantly higher than the mini-pay channels, but they compensate for their higher price by carrying little or no advertising and also providing a higher quality program output. As advertising sales are sensitive to

7597-604: The linear FX cable network will be available on Hulu the next day. On June 11, 2019, Hulu and FX picked up show rights to Lionsgate films released in 2020 and 2021. In December 2021, Disney renamed the "FX on Hulu" hub to simply "FX" as part of an effort to streamline and extend the brand's use. In addition, Disney began to increase the prominence of FX as an imprint on its original programming, especially when carried on Disney's international streaming platforms such as Disney+ ( Star ) and Star+ . In 2024, FX won its first Emmy Award for Best Drama for Shōgun , which received

7704-645: The loan. On March 6, the two companies approved the second part of the deal, with Sirius XM getting $ 250 million immediately and Liberty receiving 12.5 million shares of preferred stock convertible into a 40% ownership of Sirius XM common stock . On June 16, 2010, Malone exchanged his preferred stock in DirecTV with equivalent amounts of common stock , reducing his voting interest in the company from 24% to 3%, with Malone resigning as chairman and ending his managerial role at DirecTV. That same year, Liberty Media announced that it would spin off Liberty Starz and Liberty Capital and keep Liberty Interactive . The spinoff took

7811-421: The majority of its weekend schedules. It airs repeats of network television sitcoms (such as Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother ). From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, the acquired shows which FX broadcast consisted largely of series originally broadcast on Fox between the late 1980s and the 2000s (such as That '70s Show , Married... with Children , and In Living Color ). FX has served as

7918-635: The merger of Encore and STARZ! into a single company—Encore Media Group, owned by Liberty. Encore was taking advantage of the growth of digital cable , while TCI, which had previously owned twenty percent of Encore, was more interested in traditional cable. After U.S. Department of Justice approval that required TCI to sell its 23.5% interest in Sprint Corporation PSC , TCI was acquired by AT&T on March 9, 1999, for approximately $ 48 billion. Liberty Media merged with TCI Ventures Group LLC (TCIVA), TCI's telephone and Internet businesses, and

8025-625: The name Liberty CapStarz, but renamed itself Liberty Media in 2011. On the Fortune 500 list 2011, Liberty Media was ranked 224, moving up from 2010 when they were ranked 227. In May 2011, Liberty announced it was in talks to buy the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain for $ 1.02 billion. It eventually bought a 16% stake in the form of preferred stock in Barnes & Noble for $ 204 million. On August 8, 2012, Liberty Media announced that it would spin off Starz into

8132-418: The name and brand SiriusXM. It gained simplified ownership structure and greater strategic flexibility. On April 1, 2024, Liberty Media announced its planned acquisition of 86% of Dorna Sports , which own MotoGP and WSBK . Liberty has issued tracking stocks for each of the three divisions, and each tracking stock is in three individual series (A, B and C) having individual voting rights, meaning that

8239-688: The new company had a value of $ 1 billion, $ 650 million of that from the interactive unit of Liberty Media, which had also used the name Liberty Digital. Liberty Digital lost $ 244 million with revenue of $ 66 million in 1999, thanks to investments in struggling Internet businesses homegrocer.com, drugstore.com , TiVo and iVillage . In August 2000, the company bought a 50% stake in the Game Show Network because of its interactive features. On December 17, 1999, TCI Satellite Entertainment Inc. (TSAT), based in Englewood , Colorado , announced that Liberty Media

8346-729: The new company's CEO, and Bruce Ravenel would be chief technology officer . On June 2, 1999, Liberty announced that it would acquire the Associated Group for $ 2.8 billion. On September 10, 1999, Liberty Media Group renamed TCI Music to Liberty Digital Inc. (NASDAQ symbol: LDIG), with the new company trading on NASDAQ's National Market tier, after Liberty Media traded most of its Internet content, interactive television assets, and rights to provide AT&T's cable systems with interactive services, in addition to cash and notes valued at $ 150 million, for TCI Music stock. Masters, who became Liberty Digital's CEO, told The Wall Street Journal that

8453-428: The new slogan "Fearless"; Landgraf explained that the slogan symbolized that viewers of its programming "don't know what's going to happen and that you're not in a safe place that is governed by guardrails that are going to keep you from going off." On March 20, 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox . Consequently, FX Networks was integrated into the newly renamed Walt Disney Television unit. In

8560-494: The original term of license agreements with a distributor may also be broadcast as "sub-runs", in which a service holds rights to film long after the conclusion of a distribution agreement (under this arrangement, the pay service that originally licensed the rights to a particular film title, or one other than that which had held rights, may hold the broadcast rights through a library content deal). Many general interest premium channels also produce original television series . Due to

8667-587: The past, theatrical plays . Sports programming is also featured on some premium services; HBO was historically known for its broadcasts of boxing , while Showtime and Epix also carry mixed martial arts events. Some general interest premium channels have aired other professional sporting events in the past: HBO for example, carried games from the National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) in its early years, and from 1975 to 1999 aired

8774-421: The pay-TV industry despite all three 20th Century Fox Television series being under common ownership; when these shows expensively fumbled in primetime, FX predominantly ran movies in its more high-profile time periods, though with the move of premiere film rights from free-to-air broadcast networks to basic cable channels, FX unexpectedly would end up a benefactor of this change. Beginning in 2002, FX emerged as

8881-521: The previous program concludes and when the start time of the next program is. The only universal variation to this is prime time , where the main channel in each pay service's suite usually schedules films to start on the hour. Films comprise much of the content seen on most pay television services, particularly those with a general entertainment format and those that focus exclusively on films . Services often obtain rights to films through exclusive agreements with film distributors . Films acquired during

8988-549: The refocused FX until May 1, 1998. FX vacated the "apartment" in the summer of 1998 and the channel's operations were streamlined with the other Fox-owned subscription channels. In early 1997, fX was relaunched as "FX: Fox Gone Cable", refocusing the channel's target audience towards men aged 18 to 49. During the first few years after its relaunch, FX was known for little else than airing reruns of such Fox shows as The X-Files and Married... with Children , as well as 20th Century Fox -produced shows such as M*A*S*H and Buffy

9095-501: The resulting company became part of AT&T, giving Liberty Media $ 5.5 billion to repurchase stock or buy other companies. AT&T bought the other TCI businesses— @Home Corp. , National Digital Television Center and Western Tele-Communications Inc.—for $ 2.5 billion in cash. TCI chairman Malone, who became head of the new company, said buyers would not want all of TCI, but they would be interested in Liberty Media. Malone wanted to start

9202-517: The rights to Family Guy with sister network Freeform . WarnerMedia 's Adult Swim and TBS held the rights to older seasons of both shows; WarnerMedia's rights to Family Guy expired on September 18, 2021, at which point reruns are exclusive to FX Networks and Freeform, with the rights to Bob's Burgers similarly coming under FX Networks' full control in 2023. On May 14, 2019, Comcast relinquished its control in Hulu to Disney effective immediately. As

9309-440: The satellite provider's channel lineup on October 29, 2010, after Dish Network and News Corporation signed a long-term carriage agreement. On November 1, 2010, following a similar dispute, FX and its sister channels were restored by New York City-based cable provider Cablevision through a separate carriage agreement. On October 14, 2011, FX announced it picked up the rights to develop a series based on Scar Tissue and Lords of

9416-578: The service for a period of days or weeks; these are typically scheduled to showcase major special event programming, such as the pay cable premiere of a blockbuster feature film, the premiere (either a series or season premiere ) of a widely anticipated or critically acclaimed original series or occasionally, a high-profile special (such as a concert). Subscription services transmitted via analogue terrestrial television have also existed, to varying degrees of success. The most known example of such service in Europe

9523-498: The show has been "mothballed", and he hopes interest will resume on the project once the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrapped up their world tour that year. As of 2014 there has been no mention from FX, Kiedis or Dammett on the status of the series. On January 30, 2013, FX premiered the 1980s-set Cold War drama The Americans . In 2013, FX underwent a rebranding to accompany its new comedy-focused spin-off channel FXX , including

9630-465: The situation: for example, in the United States, Cinemax and Encore are optionally sold separately from or in a single package with their respective parent networks HBO and Starz, depending on the service provider. The Movie Channel and Flix meanwhile, are usually sold together with Showtime (all three channels are owned by Paramount Global ); though subscribers are required to purchase Showtime in order to receive Flix, The Movie Channel does not have such

9737-541: The standards of premium cable channels in regard to mature themes and content, high-quality writing, directing and acting. Sister channels FXM and FXX were launched in 1994 and 2013, respectively. FX also carries reruns of theatrical films and terrestrial-network sitcoms . Advertising-free content was available through the FX+ premium subscription service until it was shut down on August 21, 2019, after which ad free content moved to Hulu with no ads. As of November 2023, FX

9844-462: The success of the hit documentary Super Size Me , filmmaker Morgan Spurlock launched a new series, 30 Days , which debuted on FX in June 2005. The series place its subjects in situations uncomfortable to them for 30 days, such as making millionaires work for minimum wage , and having Christians live in a Muslim community. In the summer of 2005, FX debuted two new comedy series, Starved , about

9951-510: The three conferences. With the August 2013 launches of national sports networks Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 , FX no longer served as a regular cable outlet for Fox Sports, but it still occasionally aired sporting events in the event of overflow situations, such as the UFC 185 preliminary card, and selected soccer matches. On September 7, 2019, FX would air the preliminary card for UFC 242 . The event

10058-570: The transaction and placed four directors on Charter's board. In 2014, Liberty Media spun off TruePosition and its holdings in Charter Communications into a new company, Liberty Broadband. In late 2016, Liberty Media agreed to buy the Formula One Group for US$ 4.4 billion (£3.3 billion). The deal was finalized in January 2017 for a total of US$ 4.6 billion (£3.44 billion). On November 17, 2022, Liberty Media announced that it would split off

10165-472: The years. More than a dozen companies, including ExxonMobil, Alaska Airlines, and Chrysler, have dropped their Iditarod sponsorships over the years, amidst campaign efforts from PETA showing the conditions endured by dogs during and between races. Animal advocates have made pleas to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei to end GCI’s Iditarod sponsorship. Maffei has not released a statement on GCI’s sponsorship. According to PETA, more than 150 dogs have died while running

10272-484: Was an early adopter of the internet, embracing e-mail and the World Wide Web as methods of feedback. Most of the shows would feature instant responses to e-mailed questions, and one show, Backchat (hosted by Jeff Probst ), was exclusively devoted to responding to viewer mail, whether sent through e-mail or traditional postal mail. Select viewers were allowed to spend a day at the "apartment" and take part in all of

10379-445: Was available in 90.6 million homes in the U.S. In 2008, FX launched a new branding campaign built around the theme "There Is No Box." It alluded to the phrase " thinking outside the box " and referred to how the channel's programming goes beyond "the box" concept. In addition, this was a pun related to FX's creating original shows to compete against premium channels such as HBO . FX's logo was updated on December 18, 2007, retaining only

10486-477: Was being held in Abu Dhabi, which created conflicts with Saturday afternoon college football games on ESPN and ESPN2 ; it marked the first ESPN-produced sporting event to air on FX since the Disney acquisition of the network. For similar reasons, FX also aired the preliminary card for UFC 309 on Saturday, November 16, 2024. On May 17, 2022, Disney announced that it had acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to

10593-427: Was cancelled after its first season due to low ratings. Conversely, Sunny quickly became a critical darling, consistently achieved high viewership, and was picked up for a second season within days of its first-season finale. The second season added veteran actor Danny DeVito to the cast, and the show, still airing as of 2024, is the longest-running live-action sitcom in history. In 2006, FX debuted two new series,

10700-530: Was formed from Todd-AO and two other companies by Liberty Media, which provided audio and video post-production services. David Beddow of TCI became CEO. Liberty Media's Discovery Channel and QVC continued to do well, but the newer projects had problems and the company's stock price dropped by half. If AT&T agreed to spin off Liberty Media, new deals such as a possible News Corp. purchase of DirecTV would be easier because AT&T would no longer require federal approval to complete such deals. Liberty Media

10807-449: Was moved to the Fox network and renamed Fox After Breakfast in mid-1996. It underwent several format changes, but never found a substantial audience and was canceled less than a year later. By the time that all live programming (with the exception of Personal fX ) was dropped, the channel focused entirely on its classic television shows until its relaunch in mid-1997. Personal fX remained on

10914-433: Was one of the few television series to be given an order for an additional season prior to the broadcast of its most recent season: in June 2009 FX renewed the show for an 18-episode sixth season, although the fifth season had not premiered at the time. Unlike many broadcast networks, FX has chosen to take risks with its programming and push the envelope of what can be shown on television; as a result, most (though not all) of

11021-543: Was one of the first forays into large-scale interactive television . The channel centered on original programming, which was broadcast live every day from the "fX Apartment", and rebroadcasts of classic television shows from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, such as Batman , Wonder Woman , Eight Is Enough , Nanny and the Professor and The Green Hornet . fX had two taglines during this period: "TV Made Fresh Daily" and "The World's First Living Television Network". The "f" in

11128-519: Was part of a swap of 7.59 million shares of common stock in CBS , the stations' owner, that was held by Liberty Media; in exchange for the stock, CBS gave Liberty the stations and $ 170 million in cash. Liberty announced plans in April 2011 to sell WFRV and WJMN to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $ 20 million. On September 3, 2008, Liberty Media decided to initiate the process of spinning off Liberty Entertainment to Liberty Media shareholders, leaving Malone with

11235-529: Was spun off from AT&T on August 10, 2001. This was one of three possible actions to ensure federal approval of AT&T's $ 54 billion acquisition of MediaOne Group —the others were selling its 25.5% share of Time Warner Entertainment and dropping 11.8 million cable customers. Also in 2001, Liberty Media acquired the remainder of Liberty Digital and Liberty Satellite & Technology (formerly TCI Satellite). Both companies were independent spinoffs of TCI, though Liberty already owned 90% of both companies after

11342-696: Was the largest shareholder in News Corporation (though the founding Murdoch family owns more voting shares ), and had a 4% stake in Time Warner. In June 2005, Liberty Media International combined with UnitedGlobalCom, creating Liberty Global . In May 2006, Time Warner acquired Liberty Media's 50% stake in Court TV , for $ 735 million. On May 16, 2006, IDT sold its IDT Entertainment division to Liberty Media "for all of Liberty Media's interests in IDT, $ 186 million in cash and

11449-533: Was trading its interest in Sprint PCS for $ 300 million in TCI Satellite preferred stock . A new company, 90% owned by Liberty Media and 10% owned by TCI Satellite, would combine the satellite-related businesses and take advantage of the growing area of Internet content. Liberty Media President and CEO Robert R. Bennett said the deal would benefit stockholders of both companies. Another new company, Liberty Livewire,

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