Encore Avenue

Encore Avenue is a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Corus Entertainment. Encore Avenue is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories. The channel offers a variety of classic films from the 1970s to the 1990s, with films from the early 2000s interspersed within the schedule. The channel's programming is comparable to that of The Movie Network Encore, a separately-owned pay service (and sister channel to The Movie Network) that is marketed to Eastern Canada, serving areas located east of the Ontario-Manitoba border.

History

The channel was launched on October 1, 1994 as MovieMax!, operating as a sister network to premium movie service Superchannel (now Movie Central). The channel originally focused on movies from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, but later expanded its film library to include films from earlier decades (as its licence allows the channel to air movies that were released up to five years from the present year). The channel was originally owned by Western International Communications. In the late 1990s, after digital cable and satellite television became available in Canada, MovieMax! launched a multiplex channel called MovieMax! 2, which was available initially on satellite only (and operated as a two-hour timeshift channel of the main MovieMax! channel).