PARAMOUNT PICTURES - NEW MOVIE CHANNEL DEBUT -- FIRST ON THE WEB

NEW MOVIE CHANNEL DEBUT -- FIRST ON THE WEB

The internecine battle between Viacom's Paramount Pictures and CBS's Showtime Networks heated up Tuesday as Paramount, along with Lionsgate and MGM, announced the formation of a new movie channel, called Epix. Last year, the three studios failed to reach an agreement with Showtime, which has remained the Avis of movie channels, perennially taking a back seat to Time Warner's HBO. The new channel is expected to launch on the Internet first -- probably in May -- and then add cable in October. The New York Times reported today (Wednesday) that thus far the Epix founders have not reached a deal with any cable or satellite company. (Moreover, the Times reported that cable executives it had contacted said that they have little interest in carrying the channel.) Besides being able to feature a library of some 15,000 titles, with some being offered just nine months after their theatrical run, the company also plans to produce original programming. Access to the channel will require a monthly subscription.

28/01/2009