Sky and Virgin Media have announced that two popular channels will shut down tonight. Viewers of the broadcasters will no longer be able to watch TCM Movies as it will be shut down permanently on July 5.
It is shutting down in the UK on Wednesday and it means the time shift +1 channel is set to be removed from Sky and Virgin also. The channel has been broadcasting on channel 315 on Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream and is channel 415 on Virgin Media.
As reported by Birmingham Live, it comes after HBO and Sky Succession star Brian Cox spoke out over the decision from channel bosses.
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“I’ve just written a thing for Facebook because I’m horrified,” Cox told Above the Line. “The head of Warner Brothers, once they get rid of TCM/Turner Classic Movies, which I think is one of the most vital resources — and certainly Robert Osborne set that up, and the five gals who run it now. I mean, who’s an expert on film? I just love that sense of who we are, where we’ve come from, and our history. It’s vital to me that we see that and live it.”
“For me, the history of cinema, the watching of it, and the way that TCM presents it are incredible resources because they really make me understand how far we’ve traveled,” he added. “But also how far we haven’t traveled. You know, we’ve traveled technically, but in terms of the truth of acting, there are no more true players than Spencer Tracy or Katherine Hepburn. And you see them together in what they create, so the cinema has always been vital to me. Absolutely vital.”
Some of the TCM Movies UK film library will go to UK free-to-air channel Quest, bosses have said. A post on the channel's social media page has now confirmed its closedown.
It read: "TCM Movies is closing in the UK and Ireland. On July 6th, we'll be riding off into the sunset one last time. Thank you for joining us on our journey and for loving classic movies just as much as we do."
