MUMBAI: AMC Networks has announced that its premiere movie channel MGM will now be renamed as AMC, starting today. This will give way to the first distribution of AMC Networks outside of North America, showing the company’s intent to extend itself beyond the US.

Later this year, AMC will be launching locally-versioned channel feeds across Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This will be accompanied by AMC VOD, HD and TV Everywhere services.

AMC Networks’ original series Halt & Catch Fire and The Divide, produced by AMC Studios, will be one of the first original series to premiere on the channel internationally this year. This apart, the channel will also feature films from big libraries including MGM, Paramount and Sony.

AMC Networks COO Ed Carroll said through a statement:  “In recent years, AMC has re-defined dramatic storytelling on Pay-TV via its cinematic approach to original series, including ‘The Walking Dead,’ ‘Mad Men,’ and ‘Breaking Bad.’ It is our intention to replicate our successful US strategy, extending the AMC brand worldwide and creating a broad pipeline for our original content.”

AMC Global and Sundance Channel Global president Bruce Tuchman said, “There is a huge appetite for AMC original programming abroad. That interest, coupled with our successful history of curating films from all the major studios to complement our original programming, gives us a great opportunity to make AMC Global a top-tier entertainment destination worldwide. We are confident AMC Global will be a valuable addition to our distribution partners’ platforms as we continue to work together to grow their business.”

Tuchman is responsible for the programming, marketing, business and strategic development of its global networks.

Liberty Global managing director programming Jeroen Bergman added: “AMC Networks has an excellent creative and business track record and we are pleased to offer this premier entertainment destination to our subscribers.”

Telefónica Director Global Content Ignacio Fernandez Vega stated: "We are delighted to add the new AMC channel to Movistar TV.  With this new addition, we continue to consolidate our content offering and positioning the channel as a leading pay TV platform in Spain and Latin America.” 

Indovision VP director Handhi Kentjono said: “AMC has established itself as a high quality popular network with outstanding entertainment and we are confident that our subscribers will respond strongly to this new offering. We are thrilled to continue our long and successful partnership with AMC Networks and its channels."

Last month, the company announced the re-brand of its recently-acquired Chellomedia business (which included the MGM Channel) to AMC Networks International. AMC Networks International consists of six operating units namely Asia-Pacific, Central Europe, Iberia, Latin America, Zone (EMEA) and DMC, a global media technology and distribution company.

Halt and Catch Fire hails from the executive producers of AMC’s celebrated series ‘Breaking Bad.’ The series captures the rise of the personal computing era in the early 1980s, during which an unlikely trio – a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy – take personal and professional risks in the race to build a computer that will change the world as they know it. The 10-episode series is created by Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers and executive produced by showrunner Jonathan Lisco (‘Southland’) and Gran Via Production’s Mark Johnson (‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Rectify,’ ‘Diner,’ ‘Rain Man’) and Melissa Bernstein (‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Rectify’). Filmed on location in Atlanta, the series stars Lee Pace (‘Lincoln,’ ‘Pushing Daisies’) as Joe MacMillan, Scoot McNairy (‘Argo’) as Gordon Clark, Mackenzie Davis (‘Smashed’) as Cameron Howe, Kerry Bishé (‘Argo,’ ‘Red State’) as Donna Clark and Toby Huss (‘Cowboys & Aliens’) as John Bosworth. 

‘The Divide’ is an eight-episode series written by and co-created by the Academy Award and Emmy nominated Richard LaGravenese (‘Behind the Candelabra,’ ‘The Fisher King,’ ‘Water for Elephants,’ ‘The Ref,’ ‘The Bridges of Madison County’) with Tony Goldwyn (‘Scandal,’ ‘Conviction,’ ‘Justified,’ ‘Damages,’ ‘Dexter’) co-creating the series and directing the premiere episode. ‘The Divide’ is a thought-provoking and suspenseful drama that explores the personal cost of morality, ambition, ethics, politics, and race in today's justice system through the eyes of Christine Rosa played by Marin Ireland (‘Homeland,’ ‘Boss,’ ‘Side Effects’), an impassioned caseworker with The Innocence Initiative, and Adam Page played by Damon Gupton (‘The Newsroom,’ ‘Prime Suspect’), an equally passionate district attorney and political rising star.