The network's programming and advertising operations are based in Weigel Broadcasting's headquarters on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois.

On January 28, 2013, Fox Television Stations and Weigel Broadcasting announced the formation of Movies!, with plans to launch the network on Memorial Day of that year.

[8][9] Described as presenting "a variety of theatrical motion pictures in a new, viewer and advertiser friendly format, not seen on broadcast television to date",[10] films featured on Movies!

as of February 2022 primarily consist of releases from The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Entertainment and Shout!

Films that are broadcast on the network are edited for graphic profanity and inappropriate violent or sexual content, but are not edited for running times to fit in a set time block;[13] start and end times for films airing on the network are influenced by a combination of the film's original running time and the commercial breaks inserted within the broadcast (the network limits the amount of advertising featured during its programming to twelve minutes per hour),[13][14] with airtimes for films varying between the conventional top-and-bottom-of-the-hour scheduling (e.g., 6:30 a.m. or 8:00 p.m.) and incremental airtimes in margins of five minutes (e.g., 2:10 p.m. or 3:55 a.m.) that more closely mirror the scheduling structures of premium cable channels than those of other advertiser-supported networks[8][9] (this scheduling format, which still results in a particular film's running time to be somewhat longer than the original runtime of its theatrical release depending on the content edits, was replicated by GetTV when it launched in February 2014).

In order to meet requirements imposed by the Federal Communications Commission on the amount of educational programming content that a broadcast station must air each week, Movies!

airs a three-hour block of children's programs that were originally distributed for syndication on Sunday mornings supplied by Storrs Media/Telco Productions (currently featuring Dog Tales Classics, Getting Green and Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition).

This allows its affiliates to carry the network's full schedule without having to purchase E/I programming from the syndication market to comply with the rules.

at launch, WJZY in Charlotte (which came under Fox ownership one month prior to the network's debut) did not begin carrying Movies!

[17] Following the WISN deal, that station's owner Hearst Television signed affiliation agreements on a piecemeal basis to add Movies!

[20] Four additional stations (in Salt Lake City; Boise; Wausau; and Victoria, Texas), through deals with companies such as the Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Saga Communications, added the network between May and October 2014.