The VOD onslaught continues! Paramount, MGM And Lionsgate have decided to cash in on the phenomena and sell the goods themselves through a premium television channel. We get the following news piece from our good friends at comingsoon:
Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and Lionsgate have formed a joint venture that creates a next- generation premium television channel and video on demand service that combines new and classic feature film output and original television series of five leading studios. The new premium channel, which will launch in the fall of 2009, was announced jointly today by Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom Inc.; Brad Grey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures; Harry E. Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); and Jon Feltheimer, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lionsgate.
The new venture will have access to Paramount and Paramount Vantage titles released theatrically on or after January 1, 2008 and MGM, United Artists and Lionsgate titles released theatrically on or after January 1, 2009. The venture’s programming slate will have exclusive access during the pay television window to such recent and highly anticipated films as Iron Man, Star Trek, Pink Panther 2, Cloverfield, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Shutter Island, GI Joe, Love Guru, and Valkyrie, along with many others currently in production including planned new installments of Robocop and Outer Limits.
In addition, the new venture will have access to motion picture titles spanning the vast libraries of the five studios, which libraries include Braveheart, Forrest Gump and the Mission: Impossible, The Godfather and Star Trek franchises from Paramount; the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky franchises from MGM; and Dirty Dancing, Reservoir Dogs, Crash, Monster’s Ball, the Saw franchise, the Tyler Perry catalogue and The Blair Witch Project from Lionsgate. The new venture will also feature new original television series created by the five studios.
I think we are going to see more of this in the not too distant future. It makes sense for studios to have their own VOD channels on cable and satellite television. A number of TV top units will soon be available as well, running on the internet as opposed to a television signal. VOD is a popular technology and everyone is starting to scramble to provide the service.
I am a fan of online movie catalogues and VOD services, and warmly welcome all new players with open arms. I am most interested in the back catalogues and classic films that are becoming hard and/or impossible to find at the local rental store. I am hoping the Academy will release a VOD series that has all the Academy Award winning Best Pictures available for viewing. it would be fun to go through the lengthy list of winners over the period of a year and discuss them all.
This channel will be available next year, and I look forward to checking it out.
