Sinclair, MGM Partner on New Sci-Fi Diginet

Sinclair and MGM are partnering on a new diginet that will offer science-fiction programming, said David Amy, COO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and John Bryan, president of MGM Domestic Television Distribution, on Monday.

The new network, which has yet to be named, will premiere this fall and feature more than 1,500 hours of content provided by MGM. Sinclair will own the multichannel network, which will fall under the purview of co-COO Steve Pruett, while MGM will contribute programming.

The MCN will debut later this year and cover approximately 30% of the country at launch. MGM will contribute such TV series as Stargate, Poltergeist, Outer Limits, Dead Like Me and others.

Earlier Monday, Sinclair announced a partnership with Michael Eisner's Tornante to develop, produce and distribute original first-run programming.

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.