Chiller (TV network)

Chiller (stylized as chiller) was an American cable and satellite television network that was owned by NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal, all owned by Comcast. It later opened its own film production company as well. Chiller specialized in horror, thriller and suspense programming, mainly films.

Chiller
Headquarters30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, New York, U.S.
Programming
Picture format
Ownership
Owner
History
LaunchedMarch 1, 2007 (2007-03-01)
ClosedDecember 31, 2017 (2017-12-31)
Links
Websitehttp://chillertv.com at the Wayback Machine (archived December 28, 2017)

As of February 2015, 38,820,000 American households (33.4% of households with television) received Chiller, though this declined with later removals by several cable services as carriage agreements expired.[1]

The channel ceased operations on December 31, 2017.[2][3][4][5]

Their website now redirects to Syfy Wire (formerly Sci-Fi Wire and Blastr) operated by Syfy featuring coverage of news in the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres

History

On January 12, 2007, NBCUniversal announced its intent to launch Chiller on March 1, dedicated to films and television shows related to the horror genre. The company also stated that, aside from their own content, Chiller would feature content from competing film studios, including Lionsgate, Sony, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox.[6] In February 2007, The 101, channel 101 on DirecTV, aired a "preview" of Chiller, featuring the pilot episodes of Twin Peaks and American Gothic, as well as various horror movies and programs. Sleuth, NBC/Universal's mystery-themed network later known as Cloo, aired a fourteen-hour movie marathon entitled "Chiller On Sleuth" to promote the launch of Chiller. The channel officially launched at 6:00 am Eastern/5:00 am Central on March 1. After a brief introduction to the channel, Chiller aired its first program, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

On July 30, 2014, its carriage was merged with that of its former competitor Fearnet, a network launched by Comcast in 2006 as a video on demand service 6 years before their purchase of NBCUniversal.

Carriage decline and end of operations

The termination of Cloo on February 1, 2017, along with Esquire Network on June 28, and Universal HD (another NBCUniversal network rebranding as the Olympic Channel) on July 14, as non-prime networks in NBCU's cable portfolio, portended Chiller's fate at the end of 2017.

On February 1, 2017 (the same day sister network Cloo ended all operations), Dish removed the channel from their lineup, which cited that most of the network's rerun-centric programming was duplicative of that available on other networks and streaming services, with Charter Communications (Spectrum, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subsidiaries) dropping it and Esquire Network on April 25 for the same reason.[7] Five months later on October 2, 2017, it was discontinued by Verizon FiOS, while Mediacom quietly removed the channel from their lineup on October 23.[8]

Cox effectively ended the network's life on November 8, 2017, when it refused to continue their carriage of Chiller within their new carriage agreements with NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group, removing the network from several Cox regional outlets.[9]

On November 16, 2017, NBC Universal Cable Networks confirmed that the channel would end all operations on December 31.[2][3][4][5] Google Fiber stopped carrying Chiller on December 20,[10] which left DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse as two of the last providers to carry Chiller until its demise. A year-end ratings recap showed Chiller as ranked 127 out of 136 networks, averaging 36,000 viewers a night.[11]

The network officially left the air around 11:59 p.m. ET on December 31 after an airing of The Babadook with a simple message of "Thank you for watching Chiller. Good night!", after which the channel spaces created by Fearnet in 2006 and Chiller in 2007 both folded and ceased to exist. Its website was redirected to that of Syfy a few hours before.

Programming
See also: List of programs broadcast by Chiller

Originals

On December 17, 2010, Chiller premiered Chiller 13: The Decade's Scariest Movie Moments. The countdown special featured a diverse group of pop culture mavens and horror movie experts looking back on the top 13 scary movie moments between 2000 and 2010. Show participants include renowned special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), comedians Dan Gurewitch & David Young (CollegeHumor), actress Betsy Russell (the Saw films), writer Steve Niles, Tony Todd and horror film director Lucky McKee among others. In October 2011, Chiller continued the franchise with Chiller 13: Horror's Creepiest Kids.

In December 2011, Chiller premiered its first original movie entitled Steve Niles' Remains, based on the IDW Publishing comic book by Steve Niles and Kieron Dwyer.[12]

On March 4, 2016, Chiller premiered its only original television series entitled Slasher.[13][14] Netflix acquired the licensing rights to the series after the first season.[15][16][17]

Acquired programs

Chiller's acquired slate included genre films, international series (Afterlife, Apparitions), non-scripted programs (Fear Factor), and anthology shows (Masters of Horror).

For a period of a month in July 2015 the channel provided selection of anime. The weekly block aired from midnight to 2:00 am on Wednesdays, but was summarily cancelled due to poor ratings. Aside from the aforementioned Tokyo Majin, Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, Is This A Zombie?, and Black Blood Brothers also found their home on the block.[18][19]

Dare 2 Direct Film Festivals

In October 2007, Chiller announced its "Dare 2 Direct Film Festival" which premiered on Halloween night. Viewers uploaded 300 short films and the winners aired on this original special.

Chiller renewed its Dare 2 Direct Film Festival in 2008, which aired on Halloween night. The channel premiered webisodes of an original film, "The Hills Are Alive" from Tim Burton protégé Caroline Thompson (co-screenwriter of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and screenwriter of Edward Scissorhands) in July on chillertv.com, and aired the complete film as its first original film in October.

Chiller Films

Chiller Films was a film production company based in New York that specializes in indie horror and thriller films. It was launched in 2011 to give select Chiller movies limited theatrical runs and nationwide VOD distribution, using a simultaneous, or "day-and date" film release strategy.[20] This means films are released in a limited number of small and multiplex theaters in large markets, along with release on video on demand through cable providers and online film retailers the same day. Most of the films are from independent filmmakers who then license their properties to Chiller Films. With the end of the channel it was connected to, the current status of Chiller Films is unknown.

TitleYearProduction Co.
Steve Niles' Remains2012Chiller Films
IDW Publishing
The American Scream2012Chiller Films
Brainstorm Media
Dead Souls2012Chiller Films
Synthetic Productions
Ghoul2012Chiller Films
Modernciné
Beneath2013Glass Eye Pix
Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear2013Chiller Films
Synthetic Cinema International
The Monkey's Paw2013TMP Films
Animal2014Flower Films
Synthetic Cinema International
Deep in the Darkness2014Chiller Films
Synthetic Cinema International
The Boy2015SpectreVision
SiREN2016Studio71
Camera Obscura2017Chiller Films
Hood River Entertainment
Paper Street Pictures
Dementia 132017Pipeline Entertainment
Haloran LLC

References
  1. Seidman, Robert (February 22, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of February 2015". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  2. Swann, Phillip (November 16, 2017). "NBC to Shut Down Chiller Channel: Exclusive". TV Answer Man. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  3. O'Connell, Michael (November 16, 2017). "NBCUniversal Turning Lights Off on Chiller Network". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  4. Littleton, Cynthia (November 16, 2017). "NBCUniversal Cable to Shutter Chiller Channel". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  5. Pedersen, Erik (November 16, 2017). "Chiller Going Dark As NBCUniversal Axes Horror-Centric Channel". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  6. Adalian, Josef (January 11, 2017). "NBC Universal, DirecTV team on Chiller". Variety. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  7. Swann, Phillip (February 28, 2017). "Charter to Drop Chiller Channel". TV Answer Man. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  8. Grassely, Lee (September 25, 2017). "Subject: Channel Change (to City of Galena, Illinois)" (PDF). Mediacom (Press release). Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  9. Swann, Phillip (October 11, 2017). "Cox to Drop NBC-Owned Chiller Channel". TV Answer Man. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  10. "View changes to your channel line-up". Google. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  11. Schneider, Michael (December 28, 2017). "Highest Network Ratings of 2017: Most Watched Winners & Losers". IndieWire. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  12. "Looking at IDW's Remains". Newsarama. March 11, 2004. Archived from the original on May 25, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  13. "Slasher delivers a good old-fashioned murder mystery," Archived August 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine from The TV Junkies, March 3, 2016
  14. Hipes, Patrick (May 5, 2015). "Chiller Unveils First Original Series 'Slasher', More New Movies". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  15. "Slasher returns for a second season". Playback Online. May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  16. Moore, Kasey (September 20, 2017). "October 2017 New Netflix Releases". WhatsonNetlix. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  17. Urqyhart-White, Alaina (October 17, 2017). "Is 'Slasher 2: Guilty Party' A True Story? The Netflix Series Honors Some Legendary Horror Classics". Bustle. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  18. "U.S. TV Channel Chiller Runs Anime Block on Wednesdays". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  19. The Failed Anime Block that Everyone Forgot About, archived from the original on December 14, 2021, retrieved July 2, 2021
  20. Yamato, Jen (June 19, 2013). "Chiller Adds 'Deep In The Darkness', Drew Barrymore's 'Animal' To Original Film Slate". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
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