 | |
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom Ireland |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 576i16:9SDTV |
| Timeshift service | Horror Channel +1 (2010–2022) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | AMC Networks International Paramount Networks UK & Australia |
| Parent | CBS AMC Networks UK Channels Partnership |
| Sister channels | True Crime True Crime Xtra Legend Xtra |
| History | |
| Launched | 3 May 2004; 21 years ago (2004-05-03) |
| Former names | The Horror Channel (2004–2006) Zone Horror (2006–2010) Horror Channel (2010–2022) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.legend-tv.co.uk |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 41 |
| Streaming media | |
| Virgin TV Anywhere | Watch live (UK only) |
Legend,[1][2] formerlyZone Horror[3] andHorror Channel,[4] is a Britishfree-to-airtelevision channel specialising in sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, action and cult series. It is broadcast in the UK andIreland. The channel is known for its horror movies during the evenings and early hours with its schedule featuring in theFilms section of theRadio Times rather than with the General Entertainment channels.[5]
Horror Channel was available as afree-to-air service onAstra 2F and, sinceFriday the 13th of March 2015, onFreeview channel 70. The launch on the Freeview platform increased its viewership by some 300%.[6]
The Horror Channel was created by Tony Hazell, who had worked for theGod Channel. The Horror Channel went into administration on 21 September 2004.[7][8] The original management team formed a second company (Amore TV Ltd.) and purchased the channel on 22 September 2004, writing off the £200,000 investment made in the channel by venture capital firm, Northern Enterprise.
Zone Vision Networks Ltd. agreed to acquire the Horror Channel for an undisclosed sum on 17 June 2005.[9] In June 2006, the Horror Channel was renamed "Zone Horror" after Zone Vision Networks was renamedAMC Networks International UK. It became a part of theAMC Networks International UK content division ofLiberty Global in 2005.[10]
Zone Horror +1 was launched on Sky on 1 July 2008, replacingZone Reality Extra.
On 30 October 2006, Zonemedia launched Zone Horror in the Netherlands.[11] On 1 July 2009, the channel was dropped from cable in the Netherlands.[12]
On 14 September 2009, it was revealed that the international arm ofCBS,CBS Studios International, struck a joint venture deal with Chellomedia to launch six CBS-branded channels in the UK during 2009. The new channels would replaceZone Romantica,Zone Thriller, Zone Horror andCBS Reality, and timeshift services Zone Horror +1 and Zone Reality +1.[13][14]
On 5 April 2010, Zone Horror was renamed "Horror Channel", following the renaming of the portfolio's other three channels in November 2009.[15] On-air the channel name appears as Horror. The rebrand was produced by Chello Zone's in-house creative services team.
As of May 2014 the channel's pre-show idents incorporated a prominentCBS eye even though CBS does not appear in the channel's name.
Zone Fantasy got rebranded as Horror Channel in Italy on 6 September 2011.[16] Horror Channel closed in Italy on 1 July 2015.[17]
On 21 August 2012, a pre-watershed simulcast of Horror Channel began broadcasting in Sky's Entertainment genre on channel 198,[18] followed by three hours ofPsychic Today after 9.00 pm. This version of the channel was replaced by Reality TV, a simulcast of CBS Reality with a Psychic Today block, on 20 May 2013.
On 9 March 2015, Horror Channel appeared on Freeview channel 70 as a placeholder channel, and on 13 March 2015 Horror Channel started broadcasting fully and is the third of the CBS family to move to Freeview in under a year. On 25 May 2022, Horror moved to a higher position on the Freeview guide, by way of switching positions with siblingCBS Justice.[19]
On 30 June 2022 the Horror Channel revised, with the core of the schedule, including series, running on the new channelLegend, which replaced CBS Justice as an entertainment channel. Horror's feature film content was transmitted on a part-time channel,Horror Xtra, broadcasting from 5pm nightly, and set to take Horror's current slot in the Film section of the Sky guide. The change forms part of a larger reshuffle of AMCNI's UK channels taking place on that day.[20]
Since its inception in 2004, The Horror Channel had screened a wide array of, not only horror classics, but horror-themed,supernatural,slasher,cult, andb movies, mixed with genres of sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, thriller and drama. Early acquired films for the network includedCarnival of Souls (1962),Night of the Living Dead (1968),The City of the Dead (1960),Vampyr (1932),The Ghoul (1933),The Killer Shrews (1959),Lady of Burlesque (1943),Pumpkinhead (1988),Bloody Birthday (1981),Creepshow 2 (1987),Brain Damage (1988),Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988),Frogs (1972),Slugs (1988),Body Count (1988),Flowers in the Attic (1987),Turkey Shoot (1982),Demon Wind (1990), andTroll 2 (1990). The channel was also notable for its showing ofEuropean Cinema in its early years; this includedThe Devil's Nightmare (1971),Nude for Satan (1974),Black Magic Rites (1973),The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine (1974),The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance (1975), andCold Eyes of Fear (1971), as well as a collection of films from French directorJean Rollin; theses consisted ofThe Rape of the Vampire (1968),The Nude Vampire (1970),Requiem for a Vampire (1971),The Iron Rose (1973),The Demoniacs (1974),The Grapes of Death (1978),Fascination (1979), andThe Living Dead Girl (1982), which were initially shown as part of "The Jean Rollin Season", while two more of his films,Killing Car (1993) andThe Two Orphan Vampires (1997), screened at a later time. A number ofTroma films broadcast on the channel, such as,Mother's Day (1980),Terror Firmer (1999), plus films from theirThe Toxic Avenger andClass of Nuke 'Em High franchises. Other broadcasts from film franchises includedSleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers (1988) andSleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland (1989), theHellraiser trilogy, and theLeprechaun franchise.
When the channel was renamed in 2006 as Zone Horror, most of the older films eventually became phased out and were replaced with more recent, low-budget and independent films which are less known, such as,Drive-Thru,Choker,Berserker: Hell's Warrior andBlood Ranch, while classic films were shown only on a sporadic basis.
Rebranded as simply Horror Channel in 2010, a number of classic horror films began to premiere on the channel, some of which includedThe Evil Dead,The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,Happy Birthday to Me andThe Incredible Melting Man. Many films were screened as part of horror seasons, with 2011's highlights including "Horror Horreur" for September, "Hammer Horror" for October and "Season of the Banned" for November. Notable inclusions consisted of the films of European directorsLucio Fulci andDario Argento, and, screenings of recently released films by home entertainment companyArrow Films, which includesSavage Streets andStreet Trash. Following this, Horror Channel has premiered many popular films;Pan's Labyrinth,Halloween II,Halloween III: Season of the Witch,Rabid,Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things,Peeping Tom,Blue Steel,Wolf Creek andJeepers Creepers,
On 30 June 2022, Horror was rebranded asLegend[21][22] to reflect its schedule of sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, action and cult series. On Freeview, the channel simply rebranded on channel 41, whilst on other platforms it took over the slot vacated by CBS Justice, which AMC/CBS closed.[23]
Legend Xtra (styled asLEGEND XTRA, formerly known asHorrorXtra) is a British free-to-airtelevision channel which showsB movies, cult television programmes andhorror films. HorrorXtra launched as a spin-off channel to Legend on 1 July 2022, but kept the original Horror nomenclature used before Legend's rebrand. It was broadcast from 5pm onwards[24] and was available in the Movies section on the Sky EPG,[25] where it could be found on channels 317 and 318 (with the later being the +1 timeshifted service), on channel 192 on Virgin Media and Freesat 138,[26] though at launch the channel was not being broadcast on Freeview, with the parent company having a placeholder channel broadcasting RealityXtra 2 for a couple of hours each night instead. On 26 April 2023,[27][28] RealityXtra 2 was replaced by HorrorXtra on Freeview, with the channel starting a daytime schedule which included programmes such asKnight Rider[29] andMutant X,[30] alongside late night genre films such asThe Final Wish[31] and Nicolas Cage'sThe Humanity Bureau.[32]
On 22 November 2023, HorrorXtra rebranded asLegend Xtra to be more in-line with the Legend brand, with the broadcast hours extended in 2024 to include a full days schedule. As of June 2024,[33][34] Legend Xtra[35] is broadcasting series such asFarscape,The Twilight Zone[36] and[37]The Six Million Dollar Man[38] with mini-series such asFrank Herbert's Children of Dune[39] also turning up in the schedule. The channel has also extended its range of films from focusing mainly on horror films to broadcasting movies from a number of different genres. These include action films such asSniper: Special Ops,[40] thrillers[41][42] likeParadise Cove,[43] classic films such as the 1959 Hammer filmThe Mummy with Christopher Lee,[44][45] 1966'sIsland of Terror with Peter Cushing[46] and the 1959 Vincent Price[47] filmHouse on Haunted Hill, erotic films likeThe Loft,[48] westerns likeForsaken[49] and theKenny Rogers starringWild Horses,[50] in addition to horror and sci-fi disaster movies likeTi West's satanic haunted house slasherThe House of the Devil,[51]The Last Sharknado: It's About Time[52] and other similar films which made up the bulk of The Horror Channel's and HorrorXtra's output.
