Bringing the Fright On a Full-Time Basis

FearNet Chief Block Wants Affiliates to Welcome Horror

By R.Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 9/6/2010 12:01:00 AM

Peter Block, executive producer of the Saw theatrical horror movie franchise, will look to scare cable viewers when he takes over as president and general manger of basiccable channel FearNet when it launches on Oct. 1. Block recently talked to Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead to discuss the linear launch of the Comcast, Sony Pictures and Lionsgateowned FearNet VOD service as well as the overall popularity of the horror genre. An edited transcript follows.

MCN: Do you expect to go through a major transition process from serving as an executive movie producer to running a cable network?
Peter Block: I don’t think it will be a huge transition for a couple of reasons. I was around at the inception of FearNet (in 2006) and I had served in several executive capacities at Lionsgate — one of which was being instrumental in the organization of FearNet and later (premium movie service) Epix — so this is something that has been percolating with me for quite a while.

MCN: Is there room for a commercial-supported, edited-for-content basic-cable horror network in a crowded cable environment?
PB: It’s an underserved market in cable. Yes, there are great [thriller] shows on cable, whether it’s some of the older horror titles that appear on [the NBC Universal-owned, horror-themed basic cable service) Chiller, like Dark Shadows or The Outer Limits, or current television shows like AMC’s Walking Dead, but for us, it’s an opportunity to provide a firm destination for this audience. There are few competitors handling this type of product — we embrace the genre and we in turn believe the audience will embrace us.

MCN: Are you confi dent that the operators will embrace FearNet and that you’ll have significant distribution when you launch Oct. 1?
PB: I think that we will have great distribution partners prior to and after our launch. For us, it’s a matter of educating distributors by showing them where the marketplace has been theatrically and in home video for many years, and to work with them to send the right message out about FearNet. We have our Fear- Net VOD and Internet offerings that [current FearNet president] Diane [Robina] and her team have done a fantastic job of branding and letting people know that there’s a destination for horror content. Now what we need to do for the FearNet linear channel is tweak that to make it not only appealing to go into homes, but also that cable, satellite and telco operators feel comfortable putting FearNet into homes.

MCN: While the service is launching as predominately a movie channel, do you foresee a time in the near future where you’ll offer original content?
PB: It’s absolutely in the planning. Obviously our first goal is to get FearNet up and launched, but eventually we will get into original content. I’m really excited about that — that’s the real opportunity to marry what I had been doing and what I’m about to do.

MCN: What is the overall appeal of the horror genre for audiences?
PB: Dating back to [Edgar Allan] Poe and moving into Stephen King, [Alfred] Hitchcock and to all the successful filmmakers we have today, this genre has been around for years and years. There’s never been a time in cinematic history when the horror and thriller genre hasn’t been a tremendous draw at the box office. What’s fantastic about this audience is that they’re a social bunch — FearNet has been so successful because of the community and outreach of support from fans.

MCN: Having said that, can you effectively move that community from the Web and VOD to support the channel on basic cable?
PB: Is there a difference between the audience that watches FearNet on VOD and the Internet and those that will watch the linear channel? I think so. We will have to deal with broadcast standards and practices as we move into the linear network and I think that will bring about a different type of programming and a different type of audience.

We’re like an amusement park in many ways — we have the scariest of roller coasters, and then there’s the log flume and the Ferris wheel. For each of us, each one of those moments is scary in our opinion, so for FearNet, it’s about finding programming that serves a broad audience on the linear channel. Perhaps we are a little harder-edged on the VOD site, but we can soften it up on the linear service.

But if you look back at some of the great horror films of all time, from the Hitchcock films to The Exorcist — or even the upcoming Lionsgate release The Last Exorcism — they can play on linear right now without a lot of editing and it doesn’t make them less scary. We not only want to try to broaden the audience, but also to broaden the audience’s tastes as well.