New Line Cable

New Line Cable was a proposed early cable television network to be operated by New Line Companies, Inc. It was to feature a diverse programming lineup but to a lesser extent operate as an American equivalent to BBC Two in the United Kingdom, itself the second television channel of the BBC.

Details
By the early 1980s, cable television had reached millions of American households and was starting to draw significant audiences away from the broadcast television networks. Several networks saw opportunities to expand into cable television in order to protect and grow their audiences, and they all experimented with niche programming. In fact, three traditional networks did successfully launch arts-related channels within one year of each other. CBS launched in 1981, which focused on "art house" and critical acclaimed programs; NBC, meanwhile, launched the similarly formatted The Entertainment Channel; and ABC partnered with the Hearst Corporation to create its own arts-oriented service, the.

Seeking to enter this race, in August 1980, Robert Shaye announced intentions to expand his New Line Network into cable television not only to replay programming from the broadcast network, but also include some niche programming.

However, cable systems in the early 1980s had far more limited channel capacity than they do today (usually the standard thirty-five channels in most cities). Shaye was unable to find a company willing to add the proposed network to their lineups for this reason, and plans for New Line Cable were scrapped.

New Line Cable would have operated as followed below:
 * a requirement on basic cable lineups
 * broadcast programming from New Line Network alongside arts-related programming created specifically for New Line Cable
 * feature regional programming broadcast to a national audience
 * feature news programming aired on a national basis

New Line would eventually successfully launch a cable network in 1989, 24 Hour News from New Line (now New Line News Network).