Draft:Sky Movies Max

History
Sky Movies Max, previously known as Sky Movies (1989-1997), Sky Movies Screen 1 (1997-1998) and Sky MovieMax (1998-2002), was Sky's first movie network, which launched with the Sky Television service on 5 February 1989, alongside Sky Channel, Sky News and Eurosport. Initially, the channel was given to all subscribers but became a paid network in 1990, shortly after the merger between Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting to form British Sky Broadcasting. The merger brought along BSB's own movie network The Movie Channel, and in 1992, another network - Sky Movies Gold, was launched replacing The Comedy Channel. During the 1990's until the launch of Sky Sports in 1992, Sky Movies also showcased PPV Sports programmes.

The Sky MovieMax rebranding in October 1998 also brought along three additional multiplex networks to coincide with the launch of Sky Digital, while a fifth Sky MovieMax network was added in October 1999. The final name was applied in July 2002, and in November 2003, both Sky Movies Max and Sky Movies Premier merged to form a single Sky Movies brand.

1st ID (5 February - April 1989)
ID: Same as the standard Sky Channel ident at the time, except the large orange word "MOVIES" zooms down below the logo.

FX/SFX: CGI done by Pacific Data Images on an SGI 4D/25.

Audio: Initially, the same synth theme (composed by Frank Gari) the Sky Television variant used, but eventually got its own music track of a funky sounder.

2nd ID (April 1989-1993)
ID: We rotate through a neon structure that lights up to form the Sky Movies logo. The structure is lit up in various bright colours.

Trivia: The ident's theme and format are similar to that of an NBC ident used at the time.

Later Variants:
 * Following the merger of British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television to form BSkyB on 2 November 1990, the ident was slightly updated. This time, the footage slightly zooms out to reveal a black background with the text "BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING" on the bottom. A later revision zoomed the logo further with a shadow effect below.

FX/SFX': CGI by Harry Marks of Marks Communications.

Audio: The same funky-sounding track from the previous ident.