Cinemax is a collection of cable television networks that provide movies, special features, erotica, and other services to consumers. Cinemax is operated by the Home Box Office Group, (part of Time Warner), and broadcasts from San Francisco. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Previous Astro Logo Astro is a subscription-based direct broadcast satellite (DBS) or direct-to-home satellite television and radio service in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. ... Astro Nusantara is a satellite television service in Indonesia. ... A standard DIRECTV satellite dish with 1 LNB on a roof DIRECTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service based in El Segundo, California, USA, that transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America except for Mexico. ... DISH Network is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television and audio programming to households and businesses in the United States, owned by parent company EchoStar Communications Corporation. ... United Broadcasting Corporation, a former company of True Visions, widely known as UBC, is Thailands leading cable satellite television operator. ... FiOS is a fiber to the premises (FTTP) telecommunications service offered in the United States by Verizon. ... Projection screen in a home theater, displaying a high-definition television image. ... Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) is an American national cable television company that operates in 27 states and has 31 operating divisions. ... Comcast Corporation, (NASDAQ: CMCSA) based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest cable company and the largest broadband (second overall) Internet service provider in the United States. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Erotica (from the Greek language Eros - love) — refers to works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable television network. ... Time Warner Inc. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

History

Cinemax launched in August 1980 as HBO's answer to The Movie Channel (which at the time was an up and coming rival), introduced by its then on-air personality Robert Kulp. Kulp told viewers that Cinemax would be about movies and nothing but movies. At the time, HBO featured a wider range of programming, including some news, documentaries, children's entertainment, sporting events, and entertainment specials. Cinemax would rely entirely on movies, and during its earliest days it had a slight resemblance to American Movie Classics (AMC). Movie classics were a mainstay of the channel at its birth, "all uncut and commercial-free" as Kulp would say. A heavy schedule of films from the 50s-70s made up most of Cinemax's program schedule. HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable television network. ... The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium cable television network owned by Showtime Networks, Inc. ... AMC was originally a basic cable channel that aired classic movies, largely pre-1950s, in a commercial-free, generally unedited format. ...

Cinemax succeeded in its early years because subscribers typically had access to only about three dozen channels. Movies were the most sought-after program category by cable subscribers, and the fact Cinemax would show classics without commercials and editing made the channel an attractive add-on for HBO subscribers. In many cases, cable operators would not sell Cinemax to non-HBO subscribers. The two channels were typically sold as a package, usually at a discount for subscribers choosing both. A typical price for HBO in the early 1980s was $12.95 per month. Cinemax typically could be added for between $7-10 extra per month.

As additional movie-oriented channels launched on cable, Cinemax's programming philosophy began to change to try and maintain its subscriber base. First the channel opted to carry more violent fare that HBO would only show at night. Then Cinemax decided it could compete by airing more adult-oriented movies.

Today, a large number of Cinemax movies shown at night are softcore adult films produced especially for adult cable or hotel entertainment channels. The sheer number of these films has earned the network several nicknames, including "Skin-a-max" (which the network once adopted as the name of their adult movie block), "Sinamax," and "Climax" and has made the cable channel the source of jokes, mostly on television sitcoms and sketch comedy series to this day. Cinemax also airs half-hour adult erotica series proceeding and/or following adult films, sometimes not airing at all. Rarely does Cinemax not air adult programming of any kind. Cinemax's rivals Showtime and more recently, The Movie Channel have also tried to compete by airing adult films late at night, although these two networks have not gained as much attention for airing these programs. Softcore is a form of pornography that is less explicit than hardcore pornography in depicting or describing sexual behaviour. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Showtime is a subscription television brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world, but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United States. ... The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium cable television network owned by Showtime Networks, Inc. ...

Adult programming is not limited solely to the main Cinemax network. MoreMax also airs adult movies and series, for the most part, an hour earlier than Cinemax. The adult programs usually air starting at 10:00pm ET (to the consternation of Cinemax subscribers on digital cable and satellite in the Mountain and Central time zones where these movies usually start at 9:00pm, who may have children that are old enough to be awake at that time and could possibly observe these programs if channel blocking is not activated). Even more controversial, in 2002, Cinemax had (albeit only twice) aired one adult film in the early evening after 8:00pm ET, when mainstream films are supposed to and are usually aired.

In sharp contrast, Cinemax continued to air films from the 1950s, '60s and '70s, for the most part movies made before the MPAA implemented the movie ratings system in 1968, most days usually between 5:00 and 8:00am ET but these movies for the most part have since moved to MoreMax and 5StarMax. Cinemax rarely, if ever, airs family films during the morning hours unlike other premium movie channels instead opting to air R or PG-13 rated films. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), originally called the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America, is a non-profit trade association based in the United States which was formed to advance the interests of movie studios. ...

Cinemax also produces documentary programming under the banner Cinemax Reel Life usually running every month. Some of these documentaries have been nominated for or have won Emmy awards.

Channels

Cinemax operates eight multiplex channels as well as a High Definition channel. All channels with the exception of Wmax have separate "East/West" feeds for the eastern (Atlantic) and western (Pacific) areas of the United States. This is especially conducive to video recording and time-shifting. Cinemax also packages the East and West feeds of the primary and multiplex channels together, allowing viewers a second chance to watch the same program three hours later or earlier depending on their geographic location. In telecommunications, multiplexing (also muxing or MUXing) is the combining of two or more information channels onto a common transmission medium using hardware called a multiplexer or (MUX). ... Projection screen in a home theater, displaying a high-definition television image. ... Video is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures, typically using celluloid film, electronic signals, or digital media, primarily for viewing on television or as video clips on computer monitors. ... Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. ...

List of channels

• Cinemax: the main "flagship" feed; blockbuster movies, first-run films, favorite movies.
• MoreMax: a secondary channel with similar content to Cinemax, also includes more foreign films, indie flicks and arthouse releases than its main sister channel. Was "Cinemax 2" until 1997.
• @Max: Targeted to younger college aged generation, features contemporary films, movies with attitude, like Moremax it also features more arthouse fare, and films with unique ideas.
• ActionMax: action movies including blockbusters, westerns, war pictures and martial arts films. Was "Cinemax 3" until 1998.
• OuterMax: Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy films.
• ThrillerMax: Mystery, suspense, horror and thriller movies .
• Wmax: Targeted at women, features dramas, mysteries and classic romance pictures.
• 5StarMax: Modern classics, featuring award-winning films and timeless treasures.
• Cinemax HD is a high definition simulcast of the primary Cinemax channel.

Art film is a film style that began as a European reaction to the classical Hollywood style of film making. ... Projection screen in a home theater, displaying a high-definition television image. ... Simulcast is a contraction of simultaneous broadcast, and refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium at the same time. ...

Movies

Cinemax (through HBO) currently has exclusive deals with sister company Warner Bros., DreamWorks (which has been bought by Paramount) and 20th Century Fox. In addition, it holds partial pay-cable rights to movies produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment (excluding those in partnership with Revolution Studios), and Universal Studios (along with Rogue Pictures and Focus Features). Despite also being a sister company to HBO and Cinemax, some New Line Cinema films do not appear on HBO due to a prior output deal with competitor Starz!. Warner Bros. ... DreamWorks, LLC (limited liability company), also known as DreamWorks Pictures or DreamWorks SKG, is one of the major American film studios which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games, and television programming. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the major American film studios. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Revolution Studios was founded in 2000 by Joe Roth, a former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and Twentieth Century Fox. ... Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles... Rogue Pictures is a division of Focus Features, the specialty film division of Universal Studios, which is a division of NBC Universal. ... Focus Features is the art house films division of Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distrubutor for foreign films. ... New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is one of the major American film studios. ... Starz is a US pay TV network which features mainly first-run motion pictures. ...

Usually films which HBO has pay-cable rights will also run on Cinemax during its time of license. Increasingly, Hollywood films tend to premiere on Cinemax first, before moving to HBO a few months later. This is because HBO is moving increasingly away from relying on theatrical films and more towards original productions.

However, in an historic television deal with Fox and Lucasfilm, Ltd. which was made beginning during negotiations for the pay-cable rights to Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Cinemax became the first U.S. network (commercial or otherwise) to air all six Star Wars films, including the revised 2004 DVD version of the original trilogy [IV, V, and VI], in November, 2006. Sister network HBO will also have access to the saga until 2008 when Spike TV assumes the broadcast TV rights. Lucasfilm Ltd. ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) is the fifth Star Wars science fiction movie released and the second part of the prequel trilogy which began with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. ... This article is about the series. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Branding

Cinemax's launch logo made in 1980 featured the channel's name in the traditional first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase on a semi-circular rectangle. In 1985, the channel adopted a new logo with the channel's name in an italicized Univers Condensed typeface with each letter on a slanted square sized to fit each letter. This logo was used in print and during bumpers for a short time while the original 1980 opening bumpers were used before a new feature presentation opener was added in the fall of 1985. The current Cinemax logo consisting of the network's name in lowercase letters in an Impact typeface with the 'max' on a circle was implemented when the network rebranded itself in 1997. While slight modifications of the logo's coloring have been made since the logo was first used, with the current version used in network ID sequences and movie previews in a silver coloring, the Cinemax logo design has remained the same since. The logo is shown most of the time with just the circle 'max'.

Following in the footsteps of Starz! and Showtime, some niché Cinemax networks (except for the primary Cinemax and secondary MoreMax, which do not have on-screen watermarking whatsoever) brand many films with transparent logos of their respective network, to the chagrin of many who would rather see clean screenings of movies with no commercial branding whatsoever. Starz is a US pay TV network which features mainly first-run motion pictures. ... Showtime is a subscription television brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world, but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United States. ... MoreMax is a multiplex channel to Cinemax. ... Watermarking can refer to: Creating a recognizable image or pattern in paper, ie. ...

See also

• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels

Below is a numerical representation of the DirecTV channel lineup. ... This is a list of the channels receivable from DISH Network. ...

External links

• Official Site
• Cinemax Europe
• Cinemax Latin America
• Cinemax Asia