MGM+

MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced epics and stylized as eᴘix) is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which is itself a unit of Amazon MGM Studios. The network's programming consists of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, original television series, documentaries, and music and comedy specials.

The service was originally launched as Epix in the United States on October 30, 2009, by a joint venture between MGM, Lionsgate, and Paramount. After MGM acquired the ownership portion of the service's co-founders in late 2017, and following the March 2022 purchase of MGM itself by Amazon, Epix was rebranded as MGM+ on January 15, 2023. It was the result of a gradual transition by the network to use the name of MGM following the buyout, as well as Amazon setting it up as a sister service to Prime Video and Freevee.

MGM+ is currently led by Michael Wright. Since he joined in November 2017, the network would expand its original program offerings (including Godfather of Harlem starring Forest Whitaker, Perpetual Grace, LTD starring Ben Kingsley and Jimmi Simpson, Deep State, unscripted series Unprotected Sets executive produced by Wanda Sykes and the return of The Contender).

in 2019, before the later Amazon purchase of MGM, it was reported that MGM was looking for partners for the channel after it was dropped from bundled cable TV packages offered by Charter Communications and Sling TV and only offered as a separate add-on.https://archive.today/20250803184747/https://www.theinformation.com/articles/mgm-looks-for-epix-partner-two-years-after-buying-channel-for-1-billion

In 2023, Paramount Pictures extended a previous 2021 deal with Epix under which MGM+ has access to Paramount movies as part of a pay TV window deal.

The flagship channel and its three additional channels are sold by most traditional television providers either as premium services or as part of a la carte digital movie tiers as well as by new over-the-top providers such as Sling TV,The latest Sling TV update brings UFC events, more movie channels , July 26, 2017 DirecTV Stream, Philo, FuboTV and YouTube TV.

The service is also sold direct-to-consumer through a streaming service with the same name, and via a la carte subscriptions independent of a traditional pay television platform sold by Apple TV Channels, Amazon Channels and The Roku Channel. Each digital platform provides a library of video on demand content and live streams of the linear MGM+ television channels (the standalone streaming service and the Amazon Video channel provide feeds of all four MGM+ channels; Apple and Roku subscribers receive only the East Coast feed of the primary MGM+ channel).
MGM+'s over-the-top (OTT) subscription streaming service (formerly known as Epix Now) is available online and through apps for Android tablets, phones and Android TV devices, Apple iOS and Apple TV devices, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

StreamingMGM+'s over-the-top (OTT) subscription streaming service (formerly known as Epix Now) is available online and through apps for Android tablets, phones and Android TV devices, Apple iOS and Apple TV devices, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

On February 22, 2018, Epix announced plans to launch a streaming service to be sold directly to non-subscribers of the linear Epix service, alongside plans for 4K HDR streaming for their films on its Apple TV app (becoming the first American television network to offer its streaming film content in the format). The service was officially launched on Apple iOS, Apple TV and Android devices on February 10, 2019; apps for Roku and Fire TV devices were launched on March 28, and for Android TV devices on May 31, 2019.

MGM+ offers on-demand access to feature films from the network's content partners, a back catalog of episodes of current and former original series (with new episodes being made available for streaming on their original broadcast airdate on the main channel), documentaries produced for the service and through its third-party content partners, and stand-up comedy and music specials. The service also offers live streams of all four MGM+ channels, and offline viewing of app content via direct download. MGM+ is the only premium channel-streaming hybrid service that offers its associated service's full channel collection (by contrast, Showtime and Starz's OTT services provide only East/West feeds of the primary Showtime, Starz and Starz Encore channels, respectively; while Max doesn't offer live feeds of HBO and Cinemax.)

The network maintains an online and mobile video-on-demand service (originally known as Epix HD') that is available on MGMPlus.com, and also through apps for Android devices and Android TV, Apple iOS and Apple TV, Chromecast, Microsoft Xbox (both Xbox 360 and Xbox One), the Roku streaming player, select Samsung Smart TV models, and Sony PlayStation consoles. Video on demand content from the network is also available on virtual television services Sling TV, YouTube TV, Philo, and FuboTV through add-on subscriptions to the linear MGM+ service; and its dedicated video channels on Apple TV Channels, Amazon Video Channels and The Roku Channel. Except for subscribers of Hulu (which offers MGM+ as a VOD add-on without live feeds of the four-channel linear service), the streaming service requires a subscription to the linear channel through a participating television provider in order to access program content.

In 2023, MGM+ became available as a bundle with Starz on Amazon Prime Video.

MGM+ expanded internationally, starting with European countries in April 2023, replacing the MGM International subscription video-on-demand service available through Amazon Prime Video Channels. 
MGM+ then launched as a streaming channel in Latin America in April 2024
and in the UK in May 2024.

Outside of the United States, MGM+ reached a content deal with Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation (now Starz Entertainment and then parent company of Lionsgate Studios) to take over programming from Lionsgate+ (formerly Starzplay), after the latter had ended its operations in those markets. The deal includes a package of premium films and television series from Lionsgate and Starz.

+ MGM+ launch rollout timeline Release date Country/Territory Distribution partner(s)  United States Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Channels, Roku, YouTube TV, OTT  Austria Amazon Prime Video Belgium Germany Italy Netherlands Spain  Argentina Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Channels Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Venezuela Uruguay  United Kingdom Amazon Prime Video

Notes

References

Other websites


Category:2009 establishments in New York City
Category:Amazon MGM Studios
Category:Commercial-free television networks
Category:English-language television stations in the United States
Category:Former joint ventures
Category:Movie channels in the United States
Category:Television channels and stations established in 2009
Category:Television networks in the United States