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EpixHD to appear on Cox next?
Looks like EpixHD may have a second distribution partner soon, Bloomberg is reporting rumors that it is close to a deal with Cox to bring the premium movie network / online streaming service to its network in 2010. Analys reports peg as many as 1,000 FiOS subscribers per day signing up for the channel in its first month there, but that investors are currently focused on the slow progress in expanding to other carriers for Epix. more than a third of them take advantage of the online streaming, we'll see if capped & throttled cable customers have the same response.
Cinemax going 100% high-definition on September 1st
We already knew that Home Box Office was champing at the bit to rid itself of anything less than pure, unadulterated (okay, maybe just a little bit) HD, and now the outfit is announcing that its Cinemax channel will be going 100% high-def on September 1st. Granted, we're talking about the main channel only here, but this fall / winter is shaping up to be a good one for Cinemax HD. Subscribers will see the pay-TV premieres of The Bourne Ultimatum, Rendition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Darjeeling Limited, and in the near future, viewers will see I Am Legend, Juno, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem and In The Valley of Elah. Of note, the release states that "true HD (1080i)" won't begin until September 6th -- odd, but we suppose a few extra days won't kill us. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Starz Entertainment to launch Encore HD in July
Shortly after dropping a cool $25 million on a new logo (among other things), Starz Entertainment is gearing up to launch its fifth distinct high-definition channel in Encore HD. Currently, the standard-definition Encore channel has 31 million subscribers, which means that quite a few eyes in the world will likely be seeing the same stuff in much greater quality. The channel is slated to launch in July for all of its cable, satellite and telco affiliates to pick up, and as expected, 5.1-channel audio will be delivered right alongside the high-def imagery. We're still left to wonder who exactly will make the high-definition version of Encore available to its customers, but at worse, you've only got a few months to wait before finding out.
Showtime's not worried about the new premium movie channel competition
Don't worry about Showtime, the network insists the threat of a Viacom-MGM-Paramount-Lionsgate premium movie channel is not going to hurt it, and in fact it's "in a better position as a free agent", according to VP Stu Zakim. Multichannel News has word from the corporate PR exec that only two movies ranked among the 20 top rated programs on the network in 2007, and considering the license fees the studios asked, it was better served investing in series development and marketing. We can expect fresh movies on Showtime through 2010-11, but after that it'll be up to remaining partner CBS Films to keep serving up the flicks, but for lovers of Weeds, Californication and Dexter there should be plenty more where that came from.
