MUMBAI: And that is the official line....

Whether Zee group is contemplating the launch of a new English movie channel, following the buy-out of its current partner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group headed by Sony Corp, is not forthcoming. But the latest is that starting 1 October, Zee MGM is being renamed as Zee Movie Zone (ZMZ). The network has also unveiled a sparkling new golden logo.

When contacted, a company spokesperson refused comment on the current status of Zee and MGM's content sourcing contract in India. What was offered instead is that the channel - touted as a complete Hollywood movie channel - will now be making extra efforts to air new titles, which had not been the case earlier. The perception Zee-MGM has in the market is that of a movie channel that is not strong on big blockbusters, though it does air some interesting movies.

In addition to sporting new titles, ZMZ will have weekly bands like Family Zone, Comedy Zone, Action Zone, Oscar Zone etc. First up is a 'James Bond' series that will air Sunday nights at 8 pm.

Earlier, the business head for Zee's English channels Ajay Trigunayat had been quoted in media reports as saying that the group is contemplating starting its own English movie channel, either on its own or in partnership with some other media company.

"Even as we had the partnership with MGM, many of the movies on the channel were being sourced from other players like Paramount and Miramax. Thus we can go solo, taking the content from various partners," he was quoted as saying in the report.

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Zee mulls launch of new English movie channel