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The battle for movie stream viewers took another turn this week after a quartet of heavyweight Hollywood players announced the upcoming beta of Epix, a new ad-free content service that will carry a wealth of feature films through popular cable providers.
Epix content. But will it be an epic service? Image: Epix.
Supported by notable industry figures such as Lionsgate, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Paramount and Viacom, the new joint cable channel and online service was initially uncovered in April of 2008 but is now approaching a state of consumer readiness.
The JV-owned service, which currently carries around 100 movies – including Robert Downey Jr. comic book blockbuster Iron Man, monster hit Cloverfield and boxing classic Raging Bull – is expected to launch in October of this year.
However, while the launch is reportedly still on track and is expected to go ahead, the amount of live-ready content could be compromised, according to Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer, who recently told paidContent the channel probably won’t have all of its carriage deals in place until October, which may affect its initial offerings.
“It’s kind of a rolling process for us,” he outlined, while adding that all the contributing partners remain “very confident” in the service’s realisation.
Beyond the availability of online movies through the Epix channel, NTV reports that original television shows are also likely to be included in its portfolio and content will be streamed in 720p high definition by utilising a dynamic streaming feature offered through CDN hardware in partnering networks.
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