Epix Announces 4K Plans, Possible Stand-alone Streaming Service

Epix plans to launch 4K content this year, possibly its own streaming service

By Kris Wouk February 28, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you have been shopping for a TV lately, you’ve probably noticed that unless you’re looking at TVs with screens under 32 inches, most models for sale these days are 4K TVs. Unfortunately, content has yet to catch up, leaving many of us watching plain old HD content on our fancy new 4K screens, though this situation is slowly improving as more content providers add 4K support. Now Epix has announced that subscribers will be able to watch its content in 4K starting later this year, according to Variety.

The MGM-owned network has yet to formally announce plans for when this content will arrive, but customers will be able to watch on-demand via the Epix apps available on various platforms like the Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. Obviously not all of the network’s content will be available in 4K, but early titles will include Star Trek Beyond, Transformers: The Last Knight, and the James Bond movies Die Another Day, Goldeneye, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The Epix original series Get Shorty will also be available in 4K.

While 4K does look noticeably better than HD content, you’ll notice an even bigger difference with high dynamic range (HDR), which boosts contrast and offers more vivid colors. While Epix has yet to commit to it, Sahran did hint at eventually supporting HDR as well.

Epix has other big plans moving forward as well. While it may not be this year, the company is considering launching its own stand-alone streaming service, as plenty of other cable networks have done. Similar to HBO Now and HBO Go, this would give customers who subscribe to the network through cable or a streaming service like Sling TV, and viewers who would rather pay for Epix on its own, options to watch the network’s content.

This wouldn’t exactly be unfamiliar territory for Epix, which dipped an early toe into the streaming waters by licensing its content to Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu over the years. “We were born with digital DNA,” Epix’s vice president and general manager Monty Sahran told Variety. “People forget that we were there first.”

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