Epix and Atlanta Broadband have teamed together to offer a new OTT bridge to MVPD-distributed set tops. Epix will not offer it’s premium app services on TiVo-powered devices from Atlantic Broadband. The app integration will give Atlantic Broadband customers with a Epix subscription access to over 2,000 movies and original series like Berlin Station and Graves.
For those who are unfamiliar, Atlantic Broadband is a service provider that serves roughly 250,000 subscribers in the Western Pennsylvania, Miami Beach, Maryland, Delaware, Aiken, S.C., and Eastern Connecticut areas. Epix is a joint venture between Viacom, its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and MGM. This new deal is mutually beneficial for both parties as Epix gets more publicity and Atlantic Broadband gets to offer their customers about six times more Epix content than what was previously available to them.
This Epix App is rolling out for the first time with Atlantic Broadband, but Epix has stated that they are hoping it will catch on with other providers. Epix has made clear that their app is available for other National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) cable systems with TiVo-based boxes, but no additional MVPDs have announced any intentions to do so. Most MVPDs will likely wait to see how the partnership between Epix and Atlanta Broadband plays out before dipping their toes in the water.
“Our hope is that others will participate,” Epix CEO Mark Greenberg told Multichannel.com. “There are a lot of people looking to see how this rolls out…This is about us working with our partners to make the experience better.”
Epix’s app, much like Netflix, will offer a personal que, curated collections, Rotten Tomatoes scores and movie trailers. “With the availability of the EPIX app on TiVo devices, TiVo makes it easier to watch content in today’s fragmented media landscape by bringing it all into one place for viewers to find, discover and consume their favorite entertainment,” Jim Denney, VP of product management and strategy for TiVo, said in a statement.
Atlantic Broadband is excited about the partnership as well, as David Isenberg, Atlantic Broadband’s President and Chief Revenue Officer demonstrated in his press release statement saying: “In today’s increasingly on-demand world, Atlantic Broadband is committed to providing our customers with the most choices and greatest flexibility in their TV offerings,” said. “With this launch, EPIX is helping us deliver on that promise through its massive library of the newest original series and hit movies, combined with classic movie favorites that are now available seamlessly across TVs, computers and mobile devices.”
Sources:
