Epix said it has reached a carriage deal with Comcast that will make the premium channel available to X1 video customers early next year. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Epix was formed in 2009 by a trio of content providers – Viacom’s Paramount Pictures movie studio, Lionsgate Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. But the service often struggled to obtain carriage in the early days, lost in the shuffle of more dominant players like Home Box Office, Showtime and Starz. Earlier this year, MGM bought out the other EPIX partners and continued its strategy to develop more original programming such as existing original series like Get Shorty, Berlin Station, Graves and, coming soon, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.
“Comcast’s Xfinity TV is one of the most innovative and powerful distribution platforms for entertainment content across the United States,” said MGM chairman and CEO Gary Barber said in a statement. “As we increase our investment in original series, expand content offerings and commit more resources to developing EPIX’s brand and appeal, we are excited to partner with Comcast and bring EPIX’s suite of premium content to their customers.”
With the Comcast deal, EPIX will be available live and on demand through the Xfinity Stream app to EPIX customers. The addition of Comcast’s 22 million subscribers will expand EPIX’s overall availability to about 70 million homes.
“This agreement marks an incredible milestone for our company and provides EPIX with a launchpad to deliver our content to more consumers on every platform,” said EPIX executive vice president and general manager Monty Sarhan in a statement. “We’re extremely pleased to be in the Comcast universe.”
