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UK digital network Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has added US legal drama The Guardian to its slate as Sony prepares to launch a dedicated movie channel.
SET, which airs drama series such as The Tudors, Hustle and Hawthorne, celebrated its first anniversary on air in the UK last month.
It will soon begin repeating spy thriller Spooks and has now added The Guardian to its line-up.
The show, which will debut in June, follows a lawyer played by Simon Baker (The Mentalist) who is forced to carry out community service after being convicted of a drug offence.
Kate Marsh, senior VP of broadcast and channel development at Sony Pictures Television (SPT), told C21: “When we set out to launch the channel, we were very clear about our target audience. We felt there was a space for women who want good quality entertainment and I think we’ve found that space.”
Marsh added that SET will remain an acquisitions-based channel for the foreseeable future.
Sony is now preparing for the May 3 launch of Sony Movie Channel, which marks the first time the brand has been taken outside the US.
Its maiden line-up will comprise Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, Big Fish, Resident Evil: Extinction and King of South Beach.
The channel, which will show films from the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s, will also air monthly thematic seasons, beginning this month with thrillers including Panic Room and Secret Window.
It will also have a Movies at 10 block, Action Mondays and a Friday Features double bill featuring stars including Tommy Lee Jones and Julia Roberts.
Female-skewing SET, which targets women aged 25-54, also carries movies as part of its Long Weekend block.
It was the success of films on SET that inspired Sony to launch a dedicated movie channel in the UK.
“We really feel there is room for a destination film fan channel,” said Marsh. “There’s a real distinctive place for that type of channel within the marketplace.”
SPT earlier this year acquired five movie channels operated by Dophin TV.
Marsh added: “The UK still has opportunities for us to grow and develop the Sony channel brands.”
SPT’s international networks business reaches 745 million households worldwide, with channels in 22 languages in 120 countries.
