Turner Classic Movies (TCM) debuted humbly on April 14, 1994, in a handful of markets playing the 1939 classic "Gone With the Wind," accessing a vault of more than 3,000 films from Turner Broadcasting's library.
A quarter century later, TCM has survived three owners, the growth of the internet and multiple shifts in viewing habits to remain as it began: a 24/7, commercial-free showcase for older films, mostly from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Jennifer Dorian, who joined TCM as general manager in 2014 and has worked with Turner for 19 years, is now the standard-bearer, nurturing a dedicated fan base with a popular film festival, an annual cruise and its own fan club. TCM is now considered a "lifestyle brand" more than a mere "cable network."
But by now, the hosts and executives of TCM are also quite accustomed to fretful, agitated fans coming to them for reassurance that, yes, Turner Classic is OK, and, no, commercials aren't coming.
On Sunday, TCM turns 25, celebrating a quarter of a century as a lighthouse of classic cinema; a never-stopping, flickering beacon of Buster Keaton and Doris Day, Barbara Stanwyck and Ernst Lubitsch.
"We view ourselves as the keeper of the flame," Dorian said. "We're stronger than ever."
To mark its 25th anniversary on Sunday, TCM is again airing "Gone With the Wind." Since it was first transmitted, the 1939 epic has aired more than 60 times on the network.
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