Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on April 14, 1994, it is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atlanta, Georgia.
The channel's programming consists mainly of classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment Co. film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. (covering films released before 1950), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (covering films released before May 1986), and the North American distribution rights to films from RKO Radio Pictures. However, Turner Classic Movies also licenses films from other studios and occasionally shows more recent films. Unlike its sister networks TBS, TNT and TruTV, TCM does not carry any sports coverage through TNT Sports.
The main channel is available in the United States and Canada, with international counterparts also available in France, French-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Belgium and Spain.
History
Origins
In 1981, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) purchased United Artists (UA) for $380 million.[1] Three years later, in 1984, Ted Turner looked to acquire a library of entertainment programming, primarily for his Atlanta-based "superstation" WTBS.[2] An attempt to acquire CBS had failed when the network announced a large stock buyback to thwart Turner's takeover attempt.[3] In July 1985, Kirk Kerkorian, who had controlled a 50 percent stake of MGM/UA, told Turner he would auction the MGM studio the next month for $1.6 billion. However, the deal did not include the film libraries for United Artists and the pre-1950 Warner Bros. catalogue. Turner replied he would buy MGM if the other libraries were part of the acquisition.[2]
Programming
Movie library
Turner Classic Movies' library of films spans several decades of cinema and includes thousands of film titles. Before its launch in April 1994, Turner's film library had included pre-1986 MGM and RKO films, as well as all pre-1948 Warner Bros. films.[72] In August 1993, TCM obtained exclusive rights to 300 films from Paramount Pictures, for a cost of $30 million.[73] In August 1996, TCM obtained an exclusive, three-year licensing deal to 36 films from Sony Pictures Entertainment (primarily film content from Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures).[74]
In April 2004, near their 10th anniversary, TCM purchased the television licensing rights to 146 titles from
Accolades
Turner Classic Movies received a 2008 Peabody Award for its dedication to film preservation and "a continuing, powerful commitment to a central concept—the place of film in social and cultural experience".[25]
Turner Classic Movies received a 2013 Peabody Award for its presentation of Mark Cousins' The Story of Film: An Odyssey, a 15-episode documentary about the development and advancement of the medium of motion pictures. Drawing on its exhaustive film library, Turner Classic Movies complemented each episode with short films and feature films from the familiar to the little-seen. The Peabody Award praised Turner Classic Movies's The Story of Film "for its inclusive, uniquely annotated survey of world cinema history".[130]
Streaming
In April 2016, TCM announced it had partnered with The Criterion Collection to create a subscription streaming service called FilmStruck. The service included a curated selection of more than 1,000 classic Hollywood, international, arthouse and independent films, including those from the Janus Films and Kino libraries.[131] FilmStruck was launched on November 1, 2016, and included exclusive bonus content such as hosted introductions, interviews and rare media.[132][133] In November 2018, FilmStruck was shut down by WarnerMedia, under the ownership of AT&T, to streamline business operations.[134]
TCM has been associated with its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max streaming service since its 2020 launch.
Merchandising and events
TCM Vault Collection
The TCM Vault Collection consists of several different DVD collections of rare classic films that have been licensed, remastered and released by Turner Classic Movies (through corporate sister Warner Bros. Home Entertainment). These boxed set releases are of films by notable actors, directors or studios that were previously unreleased on DVD or VHS. The sets often include bonus discs including documentaries and shorts from the Turner Classic Movies library. The initial batch of DVDs are printed in limited quantities and subsequent batches are made-on-demand (MOD).
- Universal Collection – Featuring films licensed by Turner Classic Movies from the Universal Pictures vault.[137]
- The Lost RKO Collection – Featuring RKO films from the 1930s.[138]
International versions
Turner Classic Movies is available in many other countries around the world. In Canada, Turner Classic Movies began to be carried on Shaw Cable and satellite provider Shaw Direct in 2005. Rogers Cable started offering Turner Classic Movies in December 2006 as a free preview for subscribers of its digital cable tier and was added to its analogue tier in February 2007. While the schedule for the Canadian feed is generally the same as that of the American network, some films are replaced for broadcast in Canada due to rights issues and other reasons.
Other versions of Turner Classic Movies are currently available in France, French-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Belgium and Spain. The channel also used to be available in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Malta, the Middle East, Africa, Greece, Cyprus, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Nordic countries. The UK version in particular operated two channels, including a spinoff called Turner Classic Movies 2. TCM UK ceased operations on 6 July 2023.[155]
See also
- The Great Movie Ride – a former attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios that was sponsored by Turner Classic Movies.
- Turner Classic Movies 2 – A defunct sister network to the UK & Ireland version of Turner Classic Movies.
- Movies! – an American digital multicast television network operated as a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the Fox Television Stations, specializing in classic feature films primarily sourced from the Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures library.
- The Film Detective – an American internet television service specializing in restored seldom-seen titles.
- Family Movie Classics – an American cable and satellite television network operated by Family Broadcasting Corporation.
External links
References
- MGM buys United Artists for $380 million United Press International, July 28, 1981, retrieved January 20, 2026^
- Patrick R. Parsons. Blue Skies: A History of Cable Television Temple University Press, 2008^
- CBS, Trying to Block Turner Bid, to Buy $1 Billion of Its Own Stock