fXM: Movies from Fox (1994–2000) Originally intended to be called "Fox Movie Studio" during the planning stages, the channel launched at midnight on October 31, 1994, as
fXM: Movies from Fox, a name derived from its sister
cable channel FX, which launched five months earlier on June 1. The first movie to air on fXM was the 1975 film
The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Its original format focused solely on classic movies from the
20th Century Fox film library, which were presented commercial-free (and in regard to films originally released in
Black and white,
uncolorized), and were generally shown without editing for content and time; the films that were broadcast were mainly releases from the 1920s to the 1980s. On January 1, 2012, Fox Movie Channel's programming was divided into two 12-hour blocks: its main programming schedule, from 3:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, was a commercial-free block retaining the older movies from the 20th Century Fox and
Fox Searchlight Pictures libraries. Another block, called FX Movie Channel, the other 12 hours consisted of an expanded slate of more recent feature films from 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight and some other film studios, including
Columbia Pictures and
Universal Pictures. The channel, which ran only
promos for its programming as well as interstitials relating to its films, also began running traditional advertisements during the 12-hour block, which runs from the late afternoon to the early overnight hours (from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
Eastern Time). As a result, films broadcast on the FXM block are edited to allow for commercial time, and for content. Fox Movie Channel still retained uncut and commercial-free broadcasts of its films. On January 1, 2015, FXM ran a
marathon of the
first season of the FX original series
Fargo, marking the first time a non-film program had aired on the channel. ==High definition==