History of FX Movie Channel in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: April 28, 2025

FX Movie Channel (FXM), owned by FX Networks (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company), is an American pay television channel. It primarily broadcasts movies from the Disney library, differentiating itself from its sister channels FX and FXX through its exclusive focus on film content. Since 2012, FXM has structured its programming into two blocks: one featuring recent film releases during primetime and another dedicating the early morning and daytime schedules to classic movies.

1975: The Rocky Horror Picture Show release

In 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released. On October 31, 1994 it became the first movie to air on fXM.

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October 31, 1994: Channel Launch

On October 31, 1994, the channel launched as fXM: Movies from Fox. The first movie to air on fXM was the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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February 7, 1997: First Film Production Commissions Aired

On February 7, 1997, FXM aired its first film production commissions of six under 12-minute films. Two of them, Better Late (directed by Jessica Yu) and 78 (helmed by Noah Edelson), would initially premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

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March 1, 2000: Name Change

On March 1, 2000, the channel officially changed its name to Fox Movie Channel.

January 1, 2012: Programming Divided into Blocks

On January 1, 2012, Fox Movie Channel's programming was divided into two 12-hour blocks: a block retaining older movies from the 20th Century Fox library and another block, called FX Movie Channel, consisting of more recent feature films.

2012: Film Content Separated into Blocks

In 2012, FXM separated its film content into two distinct blocks. The main programming focuses more on recent films, and its early-morning and daytime schedule (branded as "FXM Retro") focuses on classic films.

March 27, 2013: Rebrand to FXM

On March 27, 2013, Fox Movie Channel rebranded back to FXM.

January 1, 2015: Fargo Marathon

On January 1, 2015, FXM broke format for its first and only time, running a marathon of the first season of the FX original series Fargo.

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2019: Peak Availability

In 2019, FXM reached its peak availability in approximately 58,000,000 pay television households in the United States.

November 2023: Availability in households

As of November 2023, FXM is available to approximately 32,000,000 pay television households in the United States. The channel has recently been dropped in negotiations with Charter Spectrum.