The channel launched on 1 March 2012 and replaced the television channel Film1 Festival.[1] All films were shown uncut and without commercial interruptions.
On 7 May 2008, Rainbow Media (a subsidiary of Cablevision) announced that it had purchased Sundance Channel for $496 million.[3] Rainbow Media also owns the cable channels AMC, IFC, WE tv, and News 12, and owned the defunct Voom HD Networks. The acquisition of Sundance Channel by Rainbow Media was completed in June 2008.[4]
On 31 January 2012, Film1 (a then-subsidiary of Liberty Global) announced that it would launch Sundance Channel in the Netherlands. It replaced Film1 Festival.[1]
Film1 closed Film1 Sundance on 31 August 2017. The premium television service wants to focus more on its video-on-demand services.[5]