(16 February 2008 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: On the heels of concluding recently announced deals with DirecTV and Verizon in the US, MGM HD has expanded its reach in Illinois, Minneapolis, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Ohio.

Expanding its roster of carriage agreements, MGM HD has sealed a new agreement with RCN, a provider of video, data and voice services to residential, business and commercial/carrier customers, which launched MGM HD this month on its Chicago system. Additionally, MGM HD has signed a cluster of systems including ACE Communications Group (Houston, MN), Antietam Cable (Hagerstown, MD), Armstrong (Butler, PA), Bend Broadband (Bend, OR), Massillon Cable TV, Inc (Massillon, OH) and Millennium Telcom (Keller, TX).

MGM HD delivers a library of classic and contemporary films in high definition, 1080i. It is composed of a 24/7 linear network, a companion MGM HD VoD offering and mgmhd.com. It draws from the largest modern film library in the world.

MGM EVP of worldwide digital media Douglas A Lee says, "The promise of high definition is becoming realised with MGM HD at the forefront. Our new carriage agreements are a clear indicator that there is grassroots demand for MGM HD’s great brand and proposition in today’s competitive environment.

"Many cable operators today are bandwidth constrained so it’s really great they have committed valuable capacity to us, which underscores our belief in the viability of MGM HD’s value in the marketplace.”