Specialty channel Scream TV is toning down the gore – as of Sept. 9, Scream will be known as Dusk, Corus Entertainment announced today. The move is an attempt to become more female-friendly by adding supernatural and paranormal series, and in turn attracting more advertisers, according to a Dusk representative.
Scream TV typically airs horror movies with repugnant names (Corpse Grinders, for instance) and series like Friday the 13th. Last year it added Emmy-nominated murder mystery drama Supernatural, which is credited with raising the channel’s female 18- to 49-year-old-demo by 100%, explains Jim Johnson, VP, marketing, Dusk.
‘We’re adding more suspense, thriller and supernatural programming and taking away much of the gore. The new Dusk will feature bigger Hollywood premieres and greater star power,’ Johnson tells MiC. Fall titles include Supernatural Season 4, plus films like The Black Dahlia, Along Came a Spider and The Gift.
A national campaign will promote the rebranding, Johnson adds, with emphasis on Toronto and Vancouver. The campaign will be a combination of media including print, radio, transit, online and national specialty. Dusk will be available in the same homes as Scream – more than 1.6 million – with the hope of significantly growing the female demo after the relaunch.
What happened to “Scream” invariably leaves me thinking about Anita Sarkeesian and her video game agenda. You see for all the talk of “gore,” the fact is that “Scream” had female fans.
True, it was more popular with male fans, but more than anything else, it was popular with horror fans because it gave us an opportunity to see programs and films that would NEVER get broadcast on any other station. And it was fun: intros before premiers, station bumps that were refreshing, themes that were just awesome! Yes, programs like “Masters of Horror” and films like “Cannibal Ferox” were not for everyone…but they did appeal to hardcore horror fans who could otherwise watch “Supernatural” and “Medium” on network TV!
But of course anything that doesn’t appeal to the mainstream female demographic HAS to be changed…and so they rebranded it as “Dusk,” and gone were the unique series that you couldn’t see anywhere else (ie. like “Death Note”), gone were the vintage horror films (ie. like “Two Thousand Maniacs” and “The Gruesome Twosome”)…and eventually gone were the audience as well.
I really think some marketing person expected that if you threw in the occasional slasher film, the male demographic that had flocked to “Scream” would stay for “Dusk,” while the mainstream female demographic would flock to the channel…but that never happened. Men, who had liked how fun “Scream” had been…would never accept “Dusk” because we could see better horror on “Space.” And mainstream women, who are somewhat indifferent to horror anyways, weren’t going to pay for something they could see on network TV as part of their existing cable packages.
All of which eventually led to Dusk, some three years after the rebranding (and after at least two FREE PREVIEW months) to be shuttered, likely a shell of the viewership that “Scream” had enjoyed! Corus didn’t mind…it wanted to bring in ABC Spark, and it couldn’t bring it in while Dusk was around…but it is a shame!
“Scream” was unique on Canadian TV…something neither Dusk nor ABC Spark can claim! “Scream” deserved to stay on Canadian TV…so shame on Corus Entertainment for what they did! You ruined what was a great TV station, and probably helped fuel the Netflix craze…because at least with Netflix, we’re not at the behest of what advertisers want!