Recalling The Blair Witch Project's TV special that preceded the movie

The A.V. Club

The Sci-Fi Channel helped promote the horror film with the special Curse Of The Blair Witch that aired three days before the movie's release in July 1999. "Schlock-doc cable television reached its highest (or maybe lowest) point in the late ’90s," says Andrew Paul. "During that era, random channel-surfing could almost always turn up a grimy true-crime exposé, history of American UFO sightings, or countdown of the most haunted hotels in America thanks to shows like Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, Forensic Files, and History’s Mysteries. So prevalent were these offerings that few batted an eye when Syfy (then the Sci-Fi Channel) got in on the craze, premiering an hour-long special entitled Curse Of The Blair Witch on July 11, 1999."