After more than 10 years, NBCUniversal has confirmed plans to shut down its horror TV channel Chiller TV. A spokesperson confirmed that the network will be shut down early next year, although no explanation was given for why the network is being shuttered. Here's what an NBCUniversal spokesperson had to say in a statement about shutting down Chiller TV.
"NBC Universal will discontinue Chiller as of January 1, 2018."
Chiller TV launched on March 1, 2007, specializing in horror, thriller and suspense programming. Aside from its own original programming, the network featured horror content from competing studios such as Lionsgate, Sony, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox. A preview of Chiller launched in February 2007 on The 101 channel on DirecTV, which featured pilot episodes of Twin Peaks and American Gothic. The network debuted with its first program, an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Chiller is the only network devoted to delivering viewers round-the-clock scares. Chiller's eclectic slate of adrenaline-fueled, soul-stirring entertainment includes classic drama and anthology series (Tales from the Darkside, Twin Peaks, Nightmare Cafe), international programming (Spine Chillers, Strange), and a broad offering of films, including feature-length premieres on the first Friday of each month. Chiller is currently available in over 33 million homes. While the network largely aired existing programming, they eventually started airing original content.
Chiller's first original program was a special entitled Chiller 13: The Decade's Scariest Movie Moments, where a panel of horror experts weighed in with their scariest horror movie moments. The panel included The Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero, comedians Dan Gurewitch & David Young (College Humor), actress Betsy Russell (Saw), writer Steve Niles, Tony Todd and horror film director Lucky McKee. In October 2011, Chiller continued the franchise with Chiller 13: Horror's Creepiest Kids. In December 2011, the network debuted its first original movie, Steve Niles' Remains, based on the comic book by Steve Niles and Kieron Dwyer.
Chiller debuted its first original series, Slasher, in October 2016, with the second and presumably final season debuting last month. The series starred Christopher Jacot, Jim Watson, Paula Brancati, Katie McGrath, Leslie Hope, Brandon Jay McLaren, Lovell Adams-Gray, Steve Byers, Paulino Nunes, Sebastian Pigott and Joanne Vannicola. The move to drop Chiller comes after the cable company Cox dropped the horror-themed channel last week, which came after other providers such as Verizon, Charter and Dish dropped the channel. This also comes as other niche channels such as Esquire, Cloo, Pivot and Al-Jazeera America have shuttered in recent months. The news first broke at TV Answer Man.