TV channel / online service combo Epix has finally locked up its first distribution partner, Verizon's FiOS TV. Not a lot of details are available yet, but Viacom CEO Phillippe Dauman says it can offer the service a la carte, in bundles with broadband, and even plans a mobile VCast offering. We've already had a peek at the in-beta HD streams and saw a lot to like, with planned access on three screens and flicks from MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount locked up for years to come Epix is shaping up as a very formidable offering prior to its planned October launch.

Update: Epix hit us off with the official PR (posted after the break) but here's the most important details - in the coming weeks, Verizon customers will be able to access a preview of the network, either through their VOD menu on the FiOS set-top box, or by visiting EpixHD.com and entering their account info.

After making sure there was a domain name locked down for Epix, the new premium movie network formed by Studio 3 Networks (Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM) it was all about taking advantage of an early peek at the 720p Flash powered site to see what a new generation of home movie distribution has to offer. The tech end (opening up to invited users this week for beta testing) is powered by Akamai's variable bitrate streaming streaming technology, delivering up to 3mbps HD video with stereo audio all the way down (6 different levels) to 500kbps encodes. Where it surpasses current online offerings from the competition is the ability, thanks to the aforementioned studio backers, to provide many of the recent movies you want to see. Our impressions of the service and a few more pictures of the interface are after the break.

Now that it finally has a name, the Viacom / Lionsgate / MGM backed Epix can finally be a bit more forthcoming about its plans as a premium movie channel to rival HBO, Starz and Showtime. Now the question is whether the new channel will get the $1.50 per subscriber fee it's asking from potential cable and satellite providers, which could make that planned fourth quarter launch dicier than first imagined. Still, the studios seem entrenched behind the idea of improving their prospects for profiting from their newest, hottest movies like Cloverfield, even in these economic times, so we wouldn't be surprised to see a very Big Ten Network-style standoff in the making.

The joint venture formed by Viacom's Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate finally has a name -- Studio 3 Networks -- and today announced at NATPE '09 that its "next generation home entertainment service" with both broadband delivery and a traditional TV channel (possibly headed to a digital basic lineup near you) will be branded epix. Still most important about the new brand is that due to expiring content deals with Showtime, epix will have exclusive access to Paramount, Paramount Vantage, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Films released theatrically on or after January 1, 2008, plus all MGM, United Artists and Lionsgate flicks from the beginning of 2009 on and a release window two months shorter than the 11 months of other pay channels when it launches in the fourth quarter of this year. Still unclear is exactly where we'll be able to enjoy all 17 remastered* James Bond movies, the Indiana Jones series and more in crisp high definition, as Multichannel News caught president Mark Greenberg mentioning epix could find its way to the aforementioned digital tiers to boost satisfaction on HD content, but didn't set any quality expectations for an Internet or VOD experience. Prior to launch, expect VOD Internet access, while afterwards "authenticated" cable subscribers can get access to DVD extra-styled content online. Still, as Download Squad mentioned, first order of business should probably be buying up the epix.com, epix.net or epix.tv domain names since they're already taken.

[Via Multichannel News & Download Squad]

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]

YouTube has been dabbling in full-length professional content for a good while now, and as it seeks to compete more directly with the likes of Hulu, today it has landed a real big fish. Soon, a number of films and TV shows from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's archives will pop up on the video sharing site including episodes of the original American Gladiators and films like Bulletproof Monk and The Magnificent Seven. For all content added, it will obviously be free for anyone to view, though advertisements will be running "alongside the video." Now, if only we could convince Google to offer YouTube HD (or anything close), we'd be set.

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.

Sir Bond's Blu-ray classics aren't slated to ship until October 21st, but apparently, the box sets have found their way into at least one particular store. It seems as if the six films are split between two box sets (though we imagine you'll also be able to purchase them individually), and one lucky poster over at AVS Forum finally decided on Volume Two. Packed within was For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Thunderball. Lookin' good, James, and that pair of e-Movie Cash Certificates for Quantum of Solace is much appreciated as well.

[Via CommanderBond]

The mere mention of Spinal Tap gets our gears turning, and saying that phrase in the same sentence as "Blu-ray" pretty much stops us in our tracks. The cult classic will be making its long-awaited high-def debut on January 20th, 2009, and MGM has just revealed a few new details to keep the buzz, um, buzzing. The flick will boast a 1080p / AVC MPEG-4 transfer on a BD-50 disc, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless surround track, three audio commentaries (with Rob Reiner, stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, and other filmmakers), a host of deleted scenes, five music videos, trailers and TV spots. Of note, the BD will feature an exclusive "Create You Own Band" BD-Java game, though we can see the novelty there wearing off pretty quick. MSRP is set at $34.99, though it'll probably be available for a few bucks over eleven on launch week. Sorry, couldn't resist.

You've already seen how Sound & Vision graded the biggest Blu-ray studios, but now we're interested in getting your take. Now that you've had a number of months to check out each studio on a level playing field (read: everyone on team Blu), which studio(s) have impressed you the most? Feel free to include pros / cons from image quality, soundtrack fidelity, extras, BonusView / BD-Live support, etc. Let us know which of the Blu-ray studios has made you smile the most in 2008, and make sure you voice your opinion on which one(s) could stand to improve.

Although Viacom, Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM pitched in together to form a premium movie channel a while back, the group is now trying to secure itself a place more towards the digital-basic service level to the hefty tune of $1 - $2 per subscriber, per month. Even with market exclusivity and considerable studio marketing muscle on the table, though, we doubt there will be much traction among MSOs at this price point; and honestly, we'd hate to see the content chopped up with ads, um, ad nauseum. Worst of all, though, is that we imagine HD could be one of the first items to get the axe if this service is a digital-basic offering. Don't get us wrong -- we're not looking to spend more money every month -- but we are willing to pay for a quality experience.

If you can pull your eyes away from the Olympics, Comcast and MGM are launching Impact, the first video on-demand channel featuring only action programming. Need flicks and TV shows like Terminator, James Bond or Robocop a button press away at all times? Consider it done, as Impact will have 25-30 titles available every month from MGM's deep -- apparently deep enough satisfy this channel and MGM HD -- with "many" in HD. MGM is apparently in talks with other carriers about the adding the network, but it should roll out to Comcast systems throughout this week. According to Variety, the channel will also go online next year, allowing subscribers to stream movies to their PCs at no extra cost.

[Via Variety]

More info on all six of the James Bond pictures coming to Blu-ray October 21 is finally available, the individual discs of Dr. No, Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Thunderball will carry a pretty standard $34.98 MSRP, or as two separate volumes of three with an $89.98 SRP. The special features and 4K Lowry transfers seen in the Ultimate Edition Bond DVDs return here, so if you've already got those the net benefit is 1080p and possibly better sound (and a Quantum of Solace movie ticket), although it wasn't specified. Still, if you're awaiting the best looking home editions of these Bond movies yet there's no doubt these are the ones you're looking for.

Before you rush off to theaters to catch Quantum of Solace this November, MGM and Fox are planning to keep you squarely planted on the couch for at least a few days in October. Announced today, the two studios have agreed to push out a half dozen Bond classics on Blu-ray this October (20th internationally; 21st in North America), each of which will be "restored and re-mastered." The films in question are Dr. No, Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Thunderball. There's no mention of a price just yet, but judging by how extraordinarily well Casino Royale did, we're sure these will do just fine.

[Image courtesy of OriginalProp]

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.