Launch Pad: Scream, Others Head to New Orleans in Search of Carriage

Legendary producer Joel Silver and director Robert Zemeckis are hitting National (executive suite 10) with a new production: The Scream Channel. The Hollywood heavy hitters are building on their success with Dark Castle Ent, the production company ("Gothika," "House on Haunted Hill") they founded in ’99. Their new net features titles in the horror, suspense and thriller genres, and targets the 18-49 audience, with a focus on males 18-34. Kim Bangash left startup The Horror Channel (targeting an Oct 31 launch) earlier this year to join Silver and Zemeckis. Next door (suite 11) to The Scream Channel will be Q Television Network. Formerly Triangle TV (Cfax, 3/1), the newly named QTN is vying with Viacom’s outlet and here! TV to be the first gay cable service in America. here! TV named Oct 1 as launch date for its 24/7 net of movies, original series, classic films and TV shows. All here! TV services will be offered on a revenue-share basis, with distributors having the choice of launching here! as a PPV service or monthly subscription channel. Here! is available now in the form of 6 PPV selections/month on Dish Net and DirecTV. But come June 1, the net will open that content up to cable ops for VOD or PPV. It also will launch an SVOD service of 30 hrs/month. In addition to plans for 200 hrs of original fare, here! has licensing deals for nearly 200 titles. – Shirley Brady