Corus Unveils Movie Channel for Women

TORONTO: Corus Entertainment is expanding its portfolio of specialty services with the March 1 rollout of W Movies, a movie channel targeted to women.

Targeting females 25 to 54, W Movies will feature a mix of Hollywood hits and Canadian films as well as TV movies, all for and about women, with genres ranging from relationship, romance and comedy to drama and suspense. The grid will include celebrity-themed film events, such as a weekend devoted to Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks with Big, Forrest Gump, You’ve Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally. There will also be stunts built around Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford (Working Girl, Six Days and Seven Nights, Dangerous Minds and What Lies Beneath), Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck (Chasing Amy, Bounce, Shakespeare in Love, A View From the Top and Sliding Doors), and Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (Dying Young, Sleeping with the Enemy, Steel Magnolias, Runaway Bride and The Hoax). Also on the slate for March are Once, Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Tristan and Isolde, Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith, The Engagement Ring and The Hoax.

"With the phenomenal success of women-oriented films at the box office, coupled with the huge popularity of our film blocks on W Network, we know that women have a real appetite for movies," said Susan Ross, the executive VP and general manager of specialty and pay television at Corus. "With women’s movie services representing one of the fastest growing genres in the U.S., we are thrilled to be able to offer Canadian audiences the first dedicated movie channel for women."