Slogan Scary Good DirecTV 257 (SD) | Website www.chillertv.com | |
Launched March 1, 2007 (2007-03-01) Picture format 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) C-Band AMC 18-Channel 327 (H2H 4DTV) Owned by NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group | ||
Chiller is a 24-hour American cable and satellite television channel specializing in horror, thriller and suspense programming.
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As of February 2015, 38,820,000 American households (33.4% of households with television) received Chiller.
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. 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, 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.
Carriage
On February 1, 2017, Dish Network removed the channel from the lineup.
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.
On March 4, 2016, Chiller premiered its first original TV series entitled Slasher.
Acquired programs
Chiller's acquired slate includes genre films, international series (Afterlife, Apparitions, Tokyo Majin), non-scripted programs (Fear Factor), and anthology shows (Masters of Horror). The network doesn't use a traditional weekly or daily schedule; multiple episodes of the same series are shown sequentially on specific days of the month.
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 is an American film distribution company in New York City that specializes in releasing indie horror and thriller films. It was launched in 2013 to give select Chiller movies limited theatrical runs and nationwide VOD distribution. It is an offshoot of the Chiller television network, which is owned by NBCUniversal. Chiller Films uses a day-and-date release strategy, which gives its films a limited theatrical run plus a simultaneous nationwide VOD release.