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MGM HD joining AT&T's U-verse channel lineup
Chalk up another major service provider of MGM HD, earlier this week bringing it's 4,100 title library to bear on U-Verse's $5/month HD Premium Package. Already signed up across the country on other lineups, sliding into the space recently vacated by MOJO HD on some. Executive VP Doug Lee told Multichannel News the network is is up to twice its original projections, with launches in New York and LA possibly on deck and talks underway with Cox, Charter, Cablevision and the NCTC. If he gets his way, you'll be able to grab MGM HD no matter how you get your television, as long as you're willing to pay a little extra.[Via Multichannel News]
MGM HD replacing MOJO HD on Time Warner Cable in Raleigh, NC
No word yet on whether this is a national / regional change, but Time Warner Cable has informed Raleigh, NC-based subscribers that it won't just let users lose an HD channel when MOJO HD vanishes on November 20th. Instead, it's slotting in MGM HD on the HD Tier (channel 291), which we feel is a pretty fair trade. And for those wondering, yes, this one is in addition to the 20 high-def newcomers announced for the area late last month.
Time Warner Cable adds FOX News HD, MGM HD in Austin / Waco, TX
Time Warner Cable subscribers in Austin / Waco, Texas have long complained about getting the proverbial shaft on HD channels, and if you take a gander at lineups in the other major cities in the Lone Star state, it's easy to see the root of their frustrations. That being said, we can tell you that a lowly twosome is headed down the pike, with FOX News HD available right now and MGM HD coming on December 1st. Unfortunately, MGM is essentially replacing the soon-to-vanish MOJO HD, so you're left with a net gain of one. Sad, we know. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Chad]
Time Warner Cable signs up MGM HD
Ring the bell folks MGM HD has racked up another one, this time inking a deal with Time Warner Cable to distribute its high definition network to subscribers. Promoting its wares on a 103-inch screen at The Cable Show, MGM continues to tout its 4,100 title-deep library of 1080i content. Multichannel News has more info its background, as an HD-only channel MGM HD charges a license fee to operators, causing it to reside on an HD tier with DirecTV and Dish Network. It's still unclear what it might cost to get the channel whenever it is eventually available on Time Warner, but executive VP Douglas Lee is confident those tiers will eventually "kind of melt away". We can only hope. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Via Multichannel News]
MGM HD headed to Comcast
Comcast subscribers will soon get a taste of MGM HD's 4,100-movie deep library, as the channel just inked a deal with the cable giant for both its linear channel and VOD service. Of course, the question of how much, if at all, extra it will cost to get the channel and when it will be squeezing onto QAMs near you have yet to be answered, but for now we're inclined to give more HD "choices" a glass half-full lean.
MGM HD headed to Israel's YES
Israel's leading DTH satellite provider (YES) has decided to give subscribers yearning for HD one more reason to choose it over the competition by inking a deal that will bring MGM HD to its lineup. Originally launched over in Poland, the channel is already available in Israel in SD, but it'll be making its HD debut soon enough as it begins simulcasting with the more pixelated version. Interestingly, there's no word of any other Israeli provider picking the HD flavor up, but Bruce Tuchman, MGM Networks' executive VP has stated that the company plans to "continue to aggressively expand its HD presence internationally."
Reminder: DirecTV's free HD Extra Pack is up
Last fall when DirecTV was adding HD channels like no one could believe, new HD channels weren't the only thing that changed. DirecTV also added a new tier called the HD Extra Pack of HD only channels like UHD and MGM HD for an extra $5 a month. Well, at least DirecTV was nice enough to give the package away for the first 90 days -- probably hoping we'd forget about the extra money it was costing us -- but now the free ride is over. So if you're in the club of those who don't want to pay $5 a month for five HD channels, then don't forget to cancel the package, cause we doubt DirecTV will be nice enough to remind ya.
RCN adds MGM HD in Chicago
Moving one closer to the promised 100 HD channels, RCN has added MGM HD in Chicago. Previously noted as coming to DirecTV and FiOS, we're still waiting to see MGM's 4,100 movie-based channel and VOD platform on a few other providers, but ACE Communications, Antietam Cable and Armstrong Communications subscribers should have it soon. Meanwhile, RCN customers can feel comfort knowing that at least a small piece of the date-TBD 100 HD channel future, is now.
MGM HD coming to Verizon's FiOS TV in late 2008
Some 14 months after Poland curiously became the first locale to lock down MGM HD, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios is finally announcing a deal to get its channel on Verizon's own fiber-based television service. Starting sometime in "late 2008," FiOS TV subscribers in California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia (that's all of 'em, by the way) will be able to enjoy the channel in 1080i. Aside from rafts of movies, viewers can also expect "exclusive behind the scenes coverage of red carpet events, sneak peeks at new films in production, seasonal promotions and world premieres of newly re-mastered hits from the MGM library." Now, just how "late" are we talking, exactly?[Via AVSForum]
Poland first to get MGM Channel in HD
While we're overjoyed to hear that some of our own are receiving additional HD programming out of the blue, we can't help but extend our congratulations to Poland on locking down yet another HD offering. The country's private television broadcaster, ITI Group, it teaming up with MGM Studios to launch an HD version of the MGM Movie Channel on the nation's "N" direct-to-home satellite television platform. Furthermore, this is MGM's first dedicated channel to be delivered in high definition, and will reportedly cover a smorgasbord of genres and eras while including films like "Raging Bull, Midnight Cowboy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Coming Home, Network and The Manchurian Candidate." Additionally, Poland's leading commercial television network (TVN) , as well as "third party cable operators" will be able to offer the new channel to those without "N." If all goes as planned, the folks in Poland can be enjoying their very own HD movie channel by the year's end.[Thanks, Arsenal]
