Viacom - MGM - Lionsgate

Joint Venture

EPIX

5/7/10 - Cable and satellite TV subscribers could get to watch first-run Hollywood movies closer to their theatrical debuts under a proposal approved by federal regulators. The FCC approved a 2008 request from the Hollywood studios that will allow them to block analog signals on TVs and video recorders when consumers purchase some of the latest on-demand movies. Studio executives argued they need to shut off analog plugs on TVs and cable boxes to prevent consumers from pirating copies of movies or making copies for future viewing. They essentially want to make sure that their signals are only traveling over digital cables and plugs, which have built-in copy protections to prevent theft.

The change would allow the studios to offer movies on-demand shortly after their theatrical debuts and months before they are released on DVD. Consumer groups and consumer electronics makers opposed Hollywood's request, arguing that the studios shouldn't have the power to disable consumers' TVs and video recorders. They have said consumers have a right to keep personal copies of movies, songs and other digital content that they have legally purchased.

Epix, a cable-TV channel owned by Paramount, MGM and Lions Gate, is showing movies from its parent studios nine months after their release in theaters, instead of the usual 12-month window for premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime.

Disney recently went through a high-profile staredown with theater owners after the studio said it would release Alice in Wonderland on DVD three months after its theatrical release, instead of the usual four.

Cable companies won't be able to shut off analog signals on TVs and video recorders any time they want, only when a subscriber has purchased one of the early-run, on-demand movies and they also have to stop blocking the analog signals when the movies are released on DVD.

1/28/09 - Viacom, MGM and Lions Gate have created a movie channel to be debuted on the Web as the consortium battles to score key distribution deals on cable and satellite television.

The joint venture, called Epix, signals that the studios are forging ahead with the venture despite the tough economy.

The new network, which will compete with premium channels such as HBO and Showtime, was born after failed negotiations last year with Showtime.

Mark Greenberg, chief executive of the joint venture, said that the proposed channel will feature more than 15,000 new and old movies from the three studios, and eventually add original TV series, including a pilot episode to air soon after the channel's official October launch.

Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer said an original series being readied for Epix had been pitched to HBO. He likened it to HBO's "The Sopranos" and Showtime's "The Tudors," with comedic elements and set around the music world.

The venture still lacks a key ingredient: agreements with pay-TV providers, such as cable or satellite companies. Discussions with distributors were progressing, "some better than others," Mr. Greenberg said. "There's always some issue about prices."

The network plans a May launch of a subscription-only broadband site that would allow Internet users to stream its content online, Mr. Greenberg said. But he added that a direct-to-consumer service is "not our primary business model."

"I think that's an indication they're having a hard time," Deana Myers, a senior analyst for SNL Kagan, said of the decision to launch broadband first. "It's a tough environment."