MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

: Lion) is an American television production/

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

studio launched in 1956 as "MGM-TV" as a division of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. From 2005 to 2006, MGM

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

s were distributed by

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...

(as a result from a

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

-led consortium buying MGM). Since May 31, 2006, MGM Television has resumed sole production and distribution of its programs on television. MGM Television has rejoined the

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

market for the first time in many years with ''

Paternity Court ''Lauren Lake's Paternity Court'' (originally known as Paternity Court) is a nontraditional court show in which family lawyer and legal analyst Lauren Lake heard and ruled on paternity cases and rendered DNA test results. The show was produced ...

''.

Background

first used television for promotional purposes having a tie in with ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' (on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

) in the early 1950s. When ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' switched to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, however, MGM attempted to arrange a promotional agreement with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, but could not come to terms on the specifics. The 30-minute show, '' The MGM Parade'', one of MGM's first television programs, was produced by MGM's trailer department as one of the compilation and promotional shows that imitated

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

, which was also on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. However, this program was canceled by ABC in mid-1956.

History

Beginnings

MGM took bids for its movie library in 1956 from Lou Chesler, PRM, Inc. owner (the WB pre-1948 library purchaser) and others. Chesler had offered $50 million for the film library. MGM then offered three-year term leases of film series, ''Andy Hardys'' ''Maisies'' and ''Dr. Kildares'' to TV film distributors. but decided on entering the TV market itself. MGM-TV was started with the hiring of Bud Barry to head up the operation in June 1956. MGM-TV was to distribute its 770 films to TV (starting with the networks), TV production and purchasing TV stations. TV production was expect to start with the 1957–58 season and was to include half-hour remakes of or series based on its pictures. Initial feature film sales focused on selling to the networks. On August 6, 1956, C. Pete Jaeger was appointed as the general sales executive of MGM-TV. The same day, Monroe Mendelsohn was also hired. Both of them originally were executives of Guild Films. MGM then acquired 25% of

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outle ...

in Los Angeles on August 20, 1956, in cash along with a $4 million film lease contract. MGM-TV began producing commercials by April 1957 creating ads for Knickerbocker and

Standard Oil of Indiana Amoco () is a brand of filling station, fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and petroleum, oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a oil re ...

. By April 1957, MGM-TV was sued by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for

Block booking Block booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit. Block booking was the prevailing practice among Hollywood's major studios from the turn of the 1930s until it was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in ''Uni ...

to TV stations for selling its movie library as a whole. MGM-TV denied the charges as the stations have the options of 3; 100 film groups licensed for 2 years with three runs, 2 different 350 packages with rights for 3 to 4 years and unlimited runs, the full library for seven years with unlimited runs. Substitute of a film in another package for an equal value movie were allowed, as each film is also individual prices based on several factors including its age and its stars. Then a discount is applied, 50% for the full library, 37.5% on the 350 packages and 25% on the 100 groups. In December 1957, the division had 10 TV series deal under consideration with plans for 8 to be in production with two outright owned and produced by MGM and the other six co-productions with independent producers. MGM-TV was also in negotiation with California National Productions, NBC's syndicated distribution subsidiary, for a deal to place two series into syndication. By 1959, MGM was producing no primetime shows on television after NBC decided not to go with the ''Jeopardy'' pilot. They would resume producing primetime shows for the 1960-61 TV season.

Paul Monash Paul Monash (June 14, 1917 – January 14, 2003) was an American television and film producer and screenwriter. Life and career Paul Monash was born in Harlem, New York, in 1917, and grew up in The Bronx. His mother, Rhoda Melrose, acted in si ...

joined the company, who served as executive producer of the programs. He later left the studio to join

20th Century-Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Comp ...

. In 1960,

Norman Felton Norman Francis Felton (April 29, 1913 – June 25, 2012) was a British-born American television producer, known for his involvement in shows such as ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and ''Dr. Kildare''. Background Felton was born in London, the son ...

, formerly of CBS joined the studio to serve as program producer. In late 1960, MGM received a contract with NBC to obtain two series, that was on the air. MGM TV started its own

Television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

, MGM Family Network (MFN), or MGM Television Network, on September 9, 1973, on 145 stations. Due to mounting financial difficulties and decreased output, MGM closed its distribution offices in October 1973 and outsourced distribution for its film library for a ten-year period along with selling its music publishing arm to

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

1980s−1990s

In 1981,

Fred Silverman Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as '' ...

and George Reeves via InterMedia Entertainment struck a deal with the studio to produce films and TV shows. In 1982, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television was renamed MGM/UA Television Distribution after the merger with

the previous year. In 1984, MGM/UA TV again launched an ad hoc TV network, MGM/UA Premiere Network, with movies. Also that same year, producer

David Gerber David Gerber (July 25, 1923 – January 2, 2010) was a television executive producer. His notable work on television included the 1970s TV series '' Police Story'' and '' Police Woman''. Other executive producer credits include '' Jessie'', '' The ...

, who was lured from

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

struck a deal with MGM to produce television shows. In 1983, producer Jerry Ludwig has struck a two-year contract with MGM to produce programming. On June 12, 1985, David Gerber himself was appointed president of MGM/UA Television. In 1986,

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

bought MGM/UA from

Kirk Kerkorian Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverl ...

, including all of the movies and television shows by MGM/UA. Due to a crushing debt, however, Turner was forced to return Kerkorian all of United Artists and the MGM trademark 74 days later on June 8. Turner kept the pre-May 1986 MGM television shows (the holdings of

Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popeye ...

). Thus, when

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

acquired

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

in October 1996, the pre-May 1986 MGM/UA TV shows became part of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

(via its

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

unit). After Turner's sale, the television division was renamed MGM/UA Television Productions, through a merger of the separate

United Artists Television United Artists Television (UATV) was an American television production/distribution studio of United Artists Corporation that was formed on New Year's Day (January 1), 1958. The company is remembered for producing series such as ''This Man Dawson ...

, which was headed by John J. McMahon. On October 15, 1986, the international television branch of MGM/UA Communications, headed by former

Embassy Telecommunications ELP Communications (formerly known as T.A.T. Communications Company, Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Embassy Communications) was an American television production company that originally began in 1974. History Beginning EL ...

executive Ross Brown, is planning on to speed the release of fourteen ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

'' motion pictures in many markets to which the division had owned the rights, and the strategy at the upcoming

MIPCOM MIPCOM (Marché International des Programmes de Communication, English: International Market of Communications Programmes) is an annual trade show held in the French town of Cannes, traditionally in the month of October and running for 4 days. It ...

television market at the

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

to get more Bond films to television that went all around the world. In 1987, the TV distribution arm MGM/UA Telecommunications Group (aka MGM/UA Telecommunications) was launched under the new company MGM/UA Communications Co. MGM/UA Television still kept producing the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' Fame'' until 1987, the 1980s version of

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

until 1989, and

Kids Incorporated ''Kids Incorporated'' (also known as ''Kids Inc.'') is an American children's television program that began production in the mid-1980s and continued airing well into the early 1990s. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performan ...

until 1993. That year, the company sued a Danish distribution company, threatening to sell Scandinavian TV stations it has exclusive rights to MGM/UA programming in that territory. Also, in late August 1987, MGM/UA Telecommunications partnered with CBS Broadcast International to sell a package of new '' Twilight Zone'' half-hour episodes to syndication, comprising 60 half-hour segments from the first two network series, then 30 new first-run syndicated episodes to form a half-hour 90-episode package. In 1992, MGM/UA Television Productions was reverted to MGM Television. The television company was reformed as MGM Worldwide Television Group and its distributor MGM Telecommunications Group. Also in 1992, the MGM TV Group has been dissolved, and David Gerber would leave the studio. With Credit Lyonnais' taking control of MGM Studios in mid-1993 and bring in new chief executive Frank Mancuso, Mancuso soon started up a TV production division. In 1995, Gross-Weston Productions has struck a deal with the studio. Also later that year, MGM/UA Telecommunications has struck a deal with

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

to co-produce projects. In 1996, the company was reformed for the television brand labels MGM Television Entertainment, MGM Domestic Television Distribution and MGM International Television Distribution when Kerkorian returned to MGM; however, MGM uses other names in the credits of their television shows such as MGM Global Television, Inc., MGM Global Holdings, Inc. and MGM Television Entertainment, Inc. In 1997, MGM bought

Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...

Corporation,

The Samuel Goldwyn Company The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an American independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1978. Background The company originally distributed and acquired art-house films from ...

, and

Motion Picture Corporation of America Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA) is an American film production company that focuses on production, acquisition, and distribution of low-budget films. History MPCA was founded in 1986 by longtime business partners Brad Krevoy and S ...

from

Metromedia Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...

. The purchase brought a number of TV series with them. As of the present time, MGM Television owns nearly all of the films and television programs originally handled by

Filmways, Inc. Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by United States, American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as t ...

, Orion Television, American International Television,

Heatter-Quigley Productions Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. After Quigley's retirement, the company became Merrill Heatter Productions. H ...

and

Samuel Goldwyn Television Samuel Goldwyn Television was the United States, American television production/distribution division of The Samuel Goldwyn Company. Formed in 1979 by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the company's best-known series was the competition series ''American Gladia ...

. On July 27, 1997, MGM's long-running cable television series, ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...

'', first aired.

2000s−present

In March 2001, MGM signed a multi-year international distribution deal for the NBC Studios catalog including current and future programs. Later in 2002, MGM and NBC Enterprises formed a joint advertising venture to sell national advertising barter time for the two companies' syndicated programs and handling the licensing of feature film and television programming product in the domestic television syndication market. The joint venture terminated on December 31, 2004, when the latter was merged with Universal Domestic Television and eventually became NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution. In 2005, MGM was purchased by a consortium which includes the

Sony Corporation , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

and private equity investors. As a result,

assumed worldwide distribution and certain domestic distribution of the television library from MGM Television. After Sony bought MGM, the company was referred to as MGM Worldwide Television Distribution. On May 31, 2006, MGM announced that it would drop Sony as its TV and home entertainment distributor by shifting its home video output to

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

, and relaunching its TV production/distribution arm. In October, MGM announced that they will distribute the film and television library from

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...

. In 2008, rights reverted to

after consolidating New Line into WB. MGM started entering the TV network and cable channel field in the mid-2000. MGM started with

This TV This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally fo ...

, a joint venture network with

Weigel Broadcasting Weigel Broadcasting Co. is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood. It currently owns 25 television sta ...

, launched on November 1, 2006.

MGM HD MGM HD was an all high-definition television cable network owned by the MGM HD Productions subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a division of Amazon's MGM Holdings, Inc. It featured movies from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library of 1,200 movie ...

cable channel was launched in 2007. MGM and Comcast launched the

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impact ...

video on demand channel in mid-August 2008. The national

Me-TV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

network launched on December 15, 2010, with MGM domestic television sales division handling the distribution of the network for

. MGM was partnering on KIN TV, an African-American subchannel, with Lee Gaither of Basil Street Media and was involved in the launch of TV One, an African-American cable network, shopping it to stations in late 2011. MGM launched The Works in April 2014. In 2009, MGM TV place eight series into development while signing

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror film, horror and thriller (genre), thriller genres, she has received List of awar ...

' and manager/producing partner David Sweeney's production company, Bossy Boots Production, to a first look deal to produce for MTV. MGM formed a TV finance and distribution entity, Orion TV Production. In December 2012, MGM Television announced they'd be launching a tabloid talk/ nontraditional court show, ''

'', through its Orion TV Productions.

MGM Television Group and Digital

On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a 55% stake in

Lightworkers Media Lightworkers Media is an American Christian media and film production company helmed by President Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett and owned by MGM Holdings through MGM Television. LightWorkers Media produced the Emmy-nominated ''The Bib ...

and One Three Media, which were formed by

Mark Burnett Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a television producer who is the former Chairman of MGM Television, MGM Worldwide Television Group. He is best known for creating and producing the reality shows The Apprentice (American TV series), ''The Ap ...

and

Roma Downey Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series ''The Bible'' for the History Channel and also appeared in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Monic ...

with a partial stake held by

Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...

, and consolidated the two companies into MGM's new TV production division, United Artists Media Group, with Burnett as CEO. On December 14, 2015, MGM announced that it had acquired the remaining stake in UAMG in a stock and cash deal, and that Burnett would become the new CEO of MGM Television replacing the outgoing president

Roma Khanna Roma Khanna is a television and digital media executive and current executive chair of HiddenLight Productions. She has previously served as the CEO of Revolt TV, as President of Global Networks at NBCUniversal, and as the president of the TV and ...

. As a result, Burnett's reality show franchises ('' Survivor'', ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', ''

The Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States) Donald Trump from 2008 to 2015, an ...

'', and ''

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 201'Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank' returning to ABCInsider TV. Retrieved June 24, 2012 The show i ...

'') are now being co-produced by MGM Television with their other respective original producers. While continuing its first look deal with Content Media Corporation, Caryn Mandabach Productions signed a multi-year scripted production deal with MGM TV in October 2015. In November 2016, MGM formed Gato Grande Productions, a joint venture with Mexican entrepreneurs Miguel Aleman and Antonio Cué. Gato Grande's first project was a TV series about recording artist

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

. On October 31, 2015, MGM launched a new digital television network with

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...

known as

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

, with a focus on

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and related genres (including content from MGM's library). In December 2016, MGM launched

Light TV Light TV may refer to: *Light TV, a former name of the American television network TheGrio *Light TV, a subchannel of Philippine TV station DZOZ-DTV **Light TV, a related network of ZOE Broadcasting Network ZOE Broadcasting Network, Inc. (ZOE ...

—another new network focusing on family and faith-based entertainment, and in February 2017, MGM launched a second venture with Sinclair, Charge!, which largely replaced The Works. Charge!, another Sinclair network, began broadcasting on February 28, 2017, with MGM programming once again. On July 18, 2017, MGM Television acquired Evolution Media, a non-scripted studio best known for the ''

Real Housewives ''The Real Housewives'' is an international reality television franchise that consists of 57 programs; 11 American installments, 20 international installments and 26 spin-offs. Most of the franchise documents the personal and professional lives ...

'' franchise. In June 2018, MGM Television acquired Big Fish Entertainment, the production company behind A&E's ''

Live PD ''Live PD'' is an American television program that aired on the A&E Network from 2016 to 2020. It followed police officers in the course of their patrols live, broadcasting select encounters with the nation. The show was hosted by Dan Abrams w ...

''. A new post, senior vice-president of digital and new platform, was created then filled in March 2017 by Sam Toles. In July 2017, MGM Television announced that it would revive the ''Stargate'' franchise with a new, digital-exclusive series, ''

Stargate Origins ''Stargate Origins'' (abbreviated as ''SGO'') is an American science fiction adventure web miniseries created and written by Mark Ilvedson and Justin Michael Terry, part of the ''Stargate'' franchise. It premiered with the first three episodes o ...

'', as part of a new subscription streaming service known as Stargate Command launched in third quarter 2017. By August 2018, MGM's Digital Group had formed United Artists Digital Studios to produce show such as ''Stargate Origins''. The streaming service was closed on December 31, 2019, as it reached only 75,000 subscribers. Burnett in June 2018 was promoted to chairman when he renewed his contract until 2022. In late 2019, the group assigned a number of first look agreements with 42, a British-American production and management firm, The Big Picture Co. owned by Renee Zellweger and Carmella Casinelli, Weed Road Pictures and

Escape Artists Escape Artists Productions, LLC, commonly known as Escape Artists, is an independently financed motion picture and television production company with a first look non-exclusive deal at Sony Pictures Entertainment, headed by partners Steve Ti ...

. MGM Television Group expanded by adding additional new labels. MGM Global Formats and Unscripted Content, its international formats division, was started in April 2019 with the hiring of Scot Cru as executive vice president and Patrice Choghi as senior vice president. MGM International TV was formed in 2019. One of the division's focus is developing projects with Latinx talent. The division's first development project is ''Tacowood'', a comedy series produced by and starring Paz Vega based on an idea by

Frank Ariza Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

, announced in early February 2020. By 2020, Orion Television was formed as three development executives were hired and placed under Barry Poznick, MGM's President of Unscripted & Alternative Television and Orion Television. One of the development executives would also work as studio development head for its partnership with Brat TV to develop young adult scripted content. In February 2020, the group formed the MGM/UA Television division head by president Steve Stark, who previously was MGM's president of scripted television production and development. Recently that year, Tresor has signed a first look deal for global formats.

Podcast production with AudioUp

In 2020, MGM Television invested in podcast producer AudioUp. As part of the agreement, AudioUp will produce and distribute five podcasts a year for MGM.

Units

*MGM Domestic Television Distribution LLC *MGM Domestic TV Networks LLC ** MGM HD Productions LLC ***

cable channel ** Epix Entertainment, LLC *MGM Digital ** Stargate Command (2017-December 31, 2019) streaming service ** United Artists Digital Studios (August 2018) *MGM On Demand Inc. **

(joint venture with

) ** MGM Sci-Fi channel (January 2020 – present) Roku linear channel *MGM Global Formats and Unscripted Content (2019) international formats division * Orion TV Productions, Inc. *Orion Television *MGM/UA Television * Big Fish Entertainment LLC ** Half Moon Pictures * Evolution Media (Evolution Film & Tape, Inc.) * Gato Grande Productions, joint venture production company with Mexican entrepreneurs Miguel Aleman and Antonio Cué

MGM channels

MGM Television owns three television channels: *

Epix Epix (pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as P) is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the Epix Entertainment LLC subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a subsidiary of Amazon's MGM Holdings, Inc. The channel's pr ...

multiplex cable channels (fully owned as of 2017), *

video on demand channel co-owned with

, *

cable channel and two subchannel broadcasting network MGM launched two more subchannel networks in late 2016 and early 2017.

, a co-venture with Burnett and Downey and Hearst, started up on December 22, 2016. MGM previous attempted a TV network starting in 1973 MGM Family Network (MFN), or MGM Television Network, using its movies on Sundays before Big Three network programming and again starting in 1984 with MGM/UA Premiere Network movie network. The Works subchannel network went off the air in early 2017 when apparently most affiliates switch to Charge! In January 2020, Roku launched the MGM Sci-Fi channel. In October 2020,

Byron Allen Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios which includes The Weather Channel. He is also a television producer, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable sh ...

's Allen Media Group (which also controls

Entertainment Studios Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and d ...

) announced that it would acquire

and

from MGM.

Impact

Impact is an action

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

channel from

and MGM Television.

Impact history

The Impact video on demand channel was announced by Comcast and MGM in August 2008 to feature action movies and TV shows to be rolled out market by market starting that week. At the time of channel's launch mid-August, Comcast owned 20% of MGM. MGM was seeking other cable providers to carry the channel. Impact is the third channel by MGM into TV broadcasting field as MGM formed a partnership with

for the digital subchannel network,

, in July and

, its year old cable channel. With Impact expecting to be streaming via its website in 2009.

Programming

The channel is programmed from the MGM library with 20 to 30 films (some in HD) available per month out of 1,000 action movies and shows in the library. With in the channel, the movies and shows are categorized into thrillers, crime, war films, martial arts, westerns and espionage groups. Most selections will be free but supported by advertising and come from the post-DVD film window of pay-TV providers. The ''

'', ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

'' and ''

Robocop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferre ...

'' franchises are amongst the available films for the channel. ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whos ...

'', ''

Enter the Ninja ''Enter the Ninja'' is a 1981 American martial arts film directed by Menahem Golan and starring Franco Nero, Susan George, Sho Kosugi and Christopher George. The film is about a martial artist named Cole (Nero) who is visiting his friend Frank ...

'' and ''

Windtalkers ''Windtalkers'' is a 2002 American war film directed and co-produced by John Woo, starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, and Christian Slater. It is based on the real story of Navajo code talkers during ...

'' were amongst the first 25 movies available on the channel. ''The Magnificent Seven'', ''American Ninja 2'', ''Bulletproof Monk'', ''Into the Blue'' and ''Roadhouse'' are also expected to be available in time through the channel.

References

External links

MGM Television
{{Authority control Television production companies of the United States Television syndication distributors Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsidiaries Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Culver City, California Entertainment companies established in 1955 American companies established in 1955 1955 establishments in California

Background

History

Beginnings

1980s−1990s

2000s−present

MGM Television Group and Digital

Podcast production with AudioUp

Units

MGM channels

Impact

Impact history

Programming

See also

References

External links