The Vault of Horror objects to Time-Warner Cable’s recent decision to drop FEARnet’s on-demand service. Brian Solomon notes that the denise of Monster HD began in a similar fashion, with the channel being dropped by one provider at a time until nothing was left. Solomon exorts angered fans to speak up, suggesting they dial 1-877-FEAR-247 to voice their complaint (FEARnet will forward you to your cable operator, so you can complain to the write people.) Solomon writes:
I’m baffled as to where this lack of confidence in the concept of a horror channel is coming from. In my experience, horror has a much stronger mainstream following than science fiction, and yet the Sci-Fi Channel has been going strong for many years. Hell, there’s even an Encore Westerns channel. Horror fans, unite and speak up!
I don’t know why horror channels bite the dust while Sci Fi Channel keeps going strong, but in general I suspect these niche channels are endangered species. The future is going to be services like Netflix’s Instant Viewing and Amazon.com’s Video on Demand, which allow you to watch movies anytime you like. Although technically these are Internet services, thanks to the Roku box, you can now watch movies from these sources in high-def on your plasma television. It’s like cable, only better.