Coronavirus: Nat Geo's Genius Aretha postponed, FOX's Empire cut short without proper series finale, and M-Net's Billions and Black Monday getting mid-season breaks.

by Thinus Ferreira

As the impact of the spread of the global Covid-19 novel coronavirus increases in countries from the United States to South Africa more American-produced TV series are having to adjust with the shutdown of the TV industry now impacting National Geographic's Genius: Aretha, Showtime's Billions and Black Monday, and with FOX's Empire that will no longer have a proper series finale.

The biographical series, Genius: Aretha, with Cynthia Erivo in the lead role has been postponed and will no longer start in late-May 2020 on National Geographic (DStv 181 / StarSat 220) since the Fox21 Television Studios and Imagine Television Studios production shut down on 13 March with filming which hadn't completed. No new starting date exists.

"Production on National Geographic’s limited series Genius: Aretha remains suspended and it has become clear that the series will not be completed in time for our previously announced airdate," says National Geographic in a statement.

"We look forward to resuming work as soon as is possible and safe, and at that time will announce a new premiere date for later this year."

"We cannot wait to let Aretha's voice sing, and in the words of the Queen herself, 'Being the Queen is not all about singing, and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.' "

"In that spirit, we wish all of our viewers well in these challenging times, particularly those who are working in our communities to keep us all safe."

Meanwhile FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) already announced that it has been forced to postpone the 10th season finale of The Walking Dead zombie drama series.

AMC already pushed out the starting date of the spinoff series, Walking Dead: World Beyond that would have started on 12 April directly after the 10th season finale of The Walking Dead, also because of the coronavirus pandemic. AMC said that Walking Dead: World Beyond will now start "later this year". This series will be shown on SundanceTV (DStv 108) in South Africa.

Preproduction on the 11th season of The Walking Dead was already postponed as well.

Empire, with episodes of the 6th and final season currently on Thursdays at 20:45 on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) will also now end two episodes earlier with episode 18 on 7 May 2020 in South Africa instead of episode 20.

South African viewers are two weeks behind the United States and will see the 14th episode next week, with the promo for next week's 16th episode of Empire in America suddenly saying "Get ready for the shocking final three episodes of Empire", meaning that the series with Taraji P. Henson will end with the 18th episode.

The latest season of the Showtime drama series Billions (on M-Net (DStv 101) and Showmax) and Black Monday on 1Magic (DStv 103) haven't completed filming. The 5th season of Billions will show the first 7 episodes, and the second season of Black Monday will start but then end mid-season, with the rest of the episodes of both series that will be broadcast later.

AMC pulls Chris Hardwick's Talking shows from AMC and Sundance TV following abuse allegations.

AMC has pulled presenter Chris Hardwick's off the air and suspended his Talking shows from AMC which are seen in South Africa and across Africa on the AMC and Sundance TV (DStv 108) channels following allegations of abuse from one of his ex-girlfriends.

Shows like Talking Dead about The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, and the expanded Talking with Chris Hardwick have been shown on AMC and Sundance TV.

AMC in a statement says "while we assess the situation, Talking with Chris Hardwick will not air on AMC".

It follows after Chris Hardwick's ex-girlfriend, Chloe Dykstra published a lengthy essay on Thursday last week, claiming that she was subjected to sexual assault during their 3-year relationship.

Chloe Dykstra wrote about how she was blocked from going out at night, having male friends or speaking in public places and that she was the victim of sexual and emotional assault by Chris Hardwick.

Chloe Dykstra also claimed that Chris Hardwick blacklisted her in the industry and called companies she worked for "to get me fired by threatening to never work with them".

In a statement Chris Hardwick says "these are very serious allegations and not to be taken lightly which is why I've taken the day to consider how to respond. I was heartbroken to read Chloe's post. Our three year relationship was not perfect - we were ultimately not a good match and argued - even shouted at each other - but I loved her, and did my best to uplift and support her as a partner and companion in any way and at no time did I sexually assault her".

"For several weeks after we broke up, she asked to get back together with me and even told me she wanted to have kids with me, 'build a life' with me and told me that I was 'the one', but I did not want to be with someone who was unfaithful".

"I'm devastated to read that she is now accusing me of conduct that did not occur. l was blindsided by her post and always wanted the best for her."

OOH, AWESOME. Ridley Scott's new epic-looking British navy period drama, The Terror, coming to AMC and SundanceTV on DStv and Kwesé TV from 27 March as an Express from the US title.

The amazing looking new premium TV period drama, The Terror, produced by Ridley Scott, will be coming to South African and African viewers simulcast on both AMC (Kwese TV 130) and Sundance TV (DStv 108) from 27 March at 21:00, and as an Express from the US title.

South African viewers will see the big-budget series a whole month before the United Kingdom, where The Terror only starts on 24 April, as the first of 2018's most anticipated new premium TV series of the year.

The terrific new limited-series period drama from Scott Free Productions, Emjag Productions and Entertainment 360 in association with AMC Studios, is based on Dan Simmons's 2007 book by the same name.

The Terror will start on 26 March in America, and literally at the same time in South Africa and Africa where pay-TV subscribers will be able to see the 10 episodes it in high definition thanks to AMC Networks International that in 2016 snapped up the drama series for an exclusive premiere playout next month on AMC Global's channels in territories across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.

The Terror will have with new episodes every Tuesday until 29 May, with a cast including Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, Ciaran Hinds, Matthew McNaulty and Nive Nielsen as the enigmatic Lady Silence.

The Terror's teaser trailer looks incredible and tells the tale of the British Royal Navy's perilous voyage in 1847 into unchartered territory and the various crews' desperate attempt discover the Northwest Passage sea route in the frigid Arctic Ocean through the Canadian Arctic archipelago.

The Terror, playing out as a bit of a horror story since it's done by Alien director Ridley Scott, is inspired by a true story with the drama series that will have viewers really at the edge of their seats with treacherous conditions, dwindling and limited resources, dwindling hope, fear of death, somewhat of a supernatural mystery and several secrets and shocking revelations as crews are pushed to the brink of extinction.

While everything starts out fine, soon the ships are trapped in the ice and people start dying. Frozen, isolated and stuck at the end of the world, The Terror shows all that can go wrong when a group of men, desperate to survive, struggle not only with the harsh elements, but with each other.

While desperately searching for a way through, the crews are attacked by a mysterious predator that stalks the ships and their crew in a suspenseful and desperate game of survival.

Meanwhile various in-fighting and political, naval intrigue are playing out aboard as each of the top-ranking naval officers are scheming for various reasons, while Lady Silence is trying to protect her land and her people.

The real expedition to discovery the Northwest Passage led to more than 120 crew members inexplicably disappearing. That of course has led to a lot of speculation over the year of just what exactly happened on board.

After almost 175 years of searching, the ships were discovered by arctic research groups in 2014 and 2016.

The Terror was filmed in Budapest and is named for one of the two British ships, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror that undertook the perilous journey.

"The Terror captures a rare combination of fascinating history, complex and flawed characters, the inextinguishable human spirit and the horror and promise of an uncharted world,"says executive producers and co-showrunners David Kajganich and Soo Hugh in a statement.

"We are looking forward to bringing viewers into this world."

Here is the teaser trailer for The Terror:



Here is a fascinating, must-watch, pre-season behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Terror:

The Walking Dead on FOX renewed for 8th season; DStv subscribers will have to switch to StarSat to catch Fear the Walking Dead and aftershow Talking Dead from November.

AMC has renewed The Walking Dead shown on FOX for an 8th season as well as the aftershow Talking Dead on AMC just before the start of the zombie drama's upcoming 7th season.

South African viewers will be able to watch the 8th season of The Walking Dead on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) in late-2017 that will have 16 episodes. The 8th season premiere will mark the series' 100th episode.

With MultiChoice killing off the AMC channel on DStv, only StarSat subscribers will be able to watch the companion aftershow series, Talking Dead, that airs on the AMC channel from after mid-November.

AMC still airs on DStv channel 140 until 11 November, but the channel that shows the spin-off zombie drama series Fear the Walking Dead, already renewed for a third season, and the talk show Talking Dead will only remain accessible to StarSat subscribers on channel 115 from after that.

Meanwhile the 7th season of The Walking Dead will premiere on FOX this coming Monday morning, 24 October, for South African and African viewers at 03:30 in the morning as a simulcast with the American airdate.

The Walking Dead's 7th season will then roll out its first episode again later on Monday night at 21:00 in its regular weekly timeslot.

DStv and StarSat subscribers can watch the second season of Talking Dead: Fear Edition from today on AMC on Mondays at 20:45 with presenter Chris Hardwick.

The premiere episode of The Walking Dead's 7th season is set to reveal which main character villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has chosen to kill off in the 6th season finale cliffhanger, although its a certainty that it won't be the lead character of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) who is definitely safe.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, more," says AMC boss Charlie Collier in a statement announcing the 8th season renewal of The Walking Dead.

"What a joy to partner with Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple and some of the hardest-working people in television to bring The Walking Dead to the fans. And, most important, thanks to those fans for breathing life into this remarkable series right along with us."

The FOX Networks Group (FNG) will once again show episodes of The Walking Dead internationally in over 125 territories, including South Africa and across Africa, 24 hours after the season launch on AMC in America.

As in previous seasons, the 7th season of The Walking Dead will be shown in two parts with the first 8 episodes from this coming Monday, and the second batch of 8 episodes from February 2017.

BREAKING. New zombie drama, Fear The Walking Dead, a massive hit for AMC Networks International's AMC on DStv and StarSat.

New zombie drama and The Walking Dead spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead is a massive hit right out of the box for AMC (DStv 140 / StarSat 115) which now has instant must-watch, appointment television on Monday nights.

Fear the Walking Dead which made its monster debut on Sunday night in America on AMC and was shown on Monday morning at 03:10 on AMC in South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv and On Digital Media's StarSat and again in its regular primetime timeslot of 20:00, logged an astounding 10.1 million viewers in the United States.

The viewership - 6.3 million of them in the desired 18-49 adult demographic - instantly propelled Fear the Walking Dead to the number one drama series premiere in pay-TV history in America which is a new ratings record.

Fear the Walking Dead produced by AMC Studios now holds the record as the most watched series premiere of any TV drama in pay-TV in the United States.

It's also history-making and highly significant for South Africa's TV and pay-TV industry, and here's why.

Although Fear the Walking Dead received barely any marketing and publicity push before its debut in South Africa today, it means that South African viewers are getting a premium brand-new TV drama, which is instantly a primetime hit, virtually simultaneous with the United States, but accessible on several lower-tiered, non-premium satellite pay-TV bouquets.

StarSat subscribers get AMC - and therefore Fear the Walking Dead - included on the StarSat Smart package for R149 per month. DStv subscribers on all packages get access to AMC - down to the cheapest DStv EasyView for R39 per month.

It means that DStv, StarSat and AMC can market and promote the hit zombie drama to virtually the  entire existing pay-TV subscriber base in South Africa.

For AMC, run by AMC Networks International Zone (AMCI Zone), Fear the Walking Dead represents a massive upgrade and and opportunity in South Africa and Africa to elevate the channel's brand and awareness of it.

The channel changed and rebranded from the stale, library title filled MGM channel to AMC only from December 2014 and can now suddenly boast the year's latest biggest TV hit, eclipsing M-Net's Game of Thrones and FOX's Empire.

Fear the Walking Dead gives AMC not just buzzy appointment television in primetime over the next few weeks but dramatically elevates the channel proposition and the AMC brand.

With the new new premium drama hour AMCI Zone which will get the chance to showcase and perhaps expose new viewers to the channel for the first time who might not have channel hopped to AMC before.

Now having a premium, first-run drama express from the United States and the year's biggest pay-TV hit is somewhat ironic for AMC, given that MultiChoice, when it was added as the MGM channel just over a year and a half ago in November 2013, initially didn't want to give the channel to its top-tiered DStv Premium subscribers but soon relented following a public backlash.

MultiChoice said at the time that the repeat filled MGM wasn't intended for DStv Premium subscribers but realised that "Premium customers would like to have the full range of channels available on their package".

Imagine the outcry now if higher-tiered pay-TV subscribers like DStv Premium customers were blocked from seeing and following the start of the latest zombie apocalypse.

"Thank you and congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers and the entire cast and crew of Fear the Walking Dead," says Charlie Collier, president of AMC in a statement.

"Fear the Walking Dead delivered record-breaking numbers that are all the more special in this era of time-shifted viewing and audience fragmentation."

"To have a companion series to the number one show on television driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity and pop cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating. Of course none of it is possible without the fans, whose passion leads to these remarkable results," says Charlie Collier.

"It is extremely exciting that we are broadcasting such fresh and interesting shows," says Ian Woodrow, the head of content at StarSat in a statement about Fear the Walking Dead.  "We have a whole new line-up of content with Fear the Walking Dead leading the way."

Fear the Walking Dead is a spin-off prequel set in Los Angeles and will follow the start of the zombie outbreak with a first season of 6 episodes starring Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane and Ruben Blades.

It will be followed by the 6th season of The Walking Dead starting on 11 October in America and shown very soon after on FOX International Channel's FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131).

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 14 April 2015.

A furious open letter to the SABC and VVM.
SABC and legal firm VVM trashed for sending a SMS to someone who doesn't even have a TV, saying the person is in contravention of the Broadcasting Act and that the person must call them.  "Firstly, if you think I owe you money, you can call me, don't send me a 'please call me'. Especially if I have no clue who you are".


SABC's famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng personally undo changes at Lesedi FM.
It's your non-TV story of the day: Hlaudi Motsoeneng brought his "wrecking ball approach" to the SABC's Sesotho radio station Lesedi FM last week; when he was done he had reversed half of the decisions made by Lesedi FM station manager Puleng Thulo who has immediately been removed.


Britain's Sunday Times TV magazine furious at Sky Atlantic over Game of Thrones.
Sky's Sky Atlantic channel didn't invite Sunday Times TV to the media launch event of Game of Thrones and Sunday Times TV is trashing Sky Atlantic.

The SABC is hunting down its own staff who leaks to the media.
Minister of communications Faith Muthambi tells parliament that the SABC staff investigation over leaks is "currently under way".

Spoilers are coming.
HBO is investigating the leak which saw the first 4 episodes of the new 5th season of Game of Thrones end up online and downloaded thousands of times already on torrent sites.
Vanity Fair looks at why the ending of the first episode of the new season is different than in the books. Esquire tells how it was filming that final fiery scene.
Creator George R.R. Martin talks about that flashback scene right at the beginning of the new season.
Some people held their phones in front of their TV's and streamed Game of Thrones as its shown on their TV sets over social media through their cellphones.
And a cool story: A bit of an explanation for what the opening sequence of Game of Thrones really is and illustrates.


BCCSA receives official complaint over SABC News' Eben Jansen.
An official complaint has been received by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) after last week's shocking outburst and rude on-air behaviour of the SABC News (DStv 404) anchor Eben Jansen who has been taken off the SABC air indefinitely.


Musicians out in the cold after M-Net and MultiChoice shut down Channel O.
Artists - especially in East African - now wonder what's next?

China's StarTimes is starting to wrestle away exclusive sport content from MultiChoice's DStv.
The broadcasting of some motorsport, boxing and Germany's Bundesliga soccer is going to StarTimes' satellite pay-TV platform.

No double-barrel dismounts in the unisex toilets. Bygones.
The cast of Ally McBeal (including the Biscuit) reunite at The TV Land Awards to receive the Groundbreaking Award.

The Walking Dead spin-off, Fear The Walking Dead, is going to start on AMC (DStv 140 / StarSat 115) 24-hours after America.
South African viewers will see episodes later this year very quickly after America on "AMC Global" as AMC actually refers to the AMC channel seen in DStv and StarSat in South Africa.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 28 March 2015.

The new The Walking Dead spin-off will be called Fear The Walking Dead.
Fear The Walking Dead will be seen in South Africa and Africa on MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital  Media's (ODM) StarSat on the AMC channel who will have the spin-off zombie drama.

Top Gear producer will not press charges against Jeremy Clarkson.
Oisin Tymon will not make a case against the fired presenter of Top Gear on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) after the violent attack which saw the BBC sack Jeremy Clarkson.

Does the SABC fall under the Companies Act?
The SABC as a public broadcaster falls under the Broadcasting Act. Yet the minister of communications Faith Muthambi says the SABC falls under the Companies Act which is used as the excuse for her and the SABC board to purge and get rid of SABC board members at will.

The Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to intervene over DStv price hikes.
As anger continues over MultiChoice's increase from April for DStv subscriptions, the NBC says it had received several complaints DStv subscribers in Nigeria.

David Duchovny is nervous about the return of The X-Files.
Says "I'm amazed that there's still an appetite for it and I'm touched".


Fired SABC board member Rachel Kalidass says its unlawful.
After Rachel Kalidass and Ronnie Lubisi were both dumped from the SABC board on Thursday, Rachel Kalidass says "the removals are motivated by malice and it is a purge" and that the Companies Act is wrongly used to get rid of SABC board members.
The unstable SABC board has now lost 6 members since the middle of 2014.


Disney Junior (DStv 30X) is making Fancy Nancy a TV show.
The children's book seeries about a girl who always dresses up is becoming a TV series.

Masi Oka will be back for Heroes: Reborn.
The Hawaii Five-0 star will be back in the miniseries reboot of Heroes.

Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes talks The Gilded Age.
After the announcement that Downton Abbey is done after 6 seasons, the creator and writer says the new period drama for American television is "looming large in my future".

New season of Sherlock "frightening".
The 4th season of the British Sherlock on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) is "frightening, tough" and filled "with emotional upheaval".

The upcoming Killing Jesus on National Geographic Channel is shallow.
The Boston Globe says Killing Jesus which will be shown in South Africa on National Geographic Channel (DStv 181) on Sunday 5 April at 19:10 is "lackluster" and is "terribly overbaked".

Empire is the first black TV drama that isn't being "ghettoized".
The hit drama on FOX's (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) idea's about race "operate at a higher idea of difficulty".

The Walking Dead spin-off will not be seen on FOX in South Africa but on AMC on DStv and on StarSat with episodes shown 24 hours after the USA.

You're reading it here first.

The as-yet-untitled upcoming spin-off zombie series of The Walking Dead will be broadcast on AMC (StarSat 115 / DStv 140) in South Africa and not on FOX with episodes which will be shown within 24 hours here after the United States, once the new drama starts later this year.

The impact for South African pay-TV subscribers is negligent since the recently renamed and rebranded MGM channel, now AMC since December 2014, just like FOX, is carried on both MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat.

The big winner however is AMC, from AMC Networks International Zone, which is dramatically strengthening its channel positioning and brand in South Africa, and getting its first-ever "event television" type show.

The new The Walking Dead spin-off produced by AMC Studios, is set in Los Angeles and will definitely run for at least two seasons. It will focus on new characters and new stories, with a first season of 6 hour long episodes.

AMC acquired the international television rights to the spin-off show and will broadcast episodes - similar to The Walking Dead on FOX which concludes its 5th season at the end of March - within 24 hours after episodes premiere in the United States, similar to what FOX and M-Net has been doing with certain tentpole TV shows.

The only drawback is that South African viewers won't be able to see the new The Walking Dead spin-off in high definition as has been the case with FOX which is an HD channel on DStv.

Viewers will also not have to juggle trying to watch two shows - the drama series won't overlap and will always be shown during different times of the year.

Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert from The Walking Dead are the executive producers of the new series.

"We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the number one show on television," says Charlie Collier, AMC president in a statement.

"From the beginning of The Walking Dead, we've been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did 'turn'. Through this new series, we're going to find out," says Charlie Collier.

"I'm very grateful that we now have the opportunity to tell this amazing story and show the fans that we really haven't scratched the surface yet when it comes to The Walking Dead," says Robert Kirkman.

TOLDJA! MGM channel on DStv and StarSat rebranding and changing to AMC from 1 December, launching AMC VOD and adding TV series.

The MGM (DStv 140 / StarSat 115) channel on MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes South Africa's StarSat satellite pay-TV platforms will rebrand on 1 December, AMC Networks International Zone just announced, as TV with Thinus reported early this morning.

AMC Networks International announced the global name-change for its MGM channel in August and said that MGM will rebrand globally in all the different territories before the end of the year.

The MGM to AMC change originally planned for November according to sources who spoke about it in August, was then moved to December.

After my story this morning, AMC Networks International Zone just issued a statement saying that it "will rebrand MGM channel as AMC from 1 December across sub-Saharan Africa".

Alongside the new AMC TV channel which will now carry TV series and no longer just movies like MGM, there will also be the launch of a video-on-demand (VOD) service called AMC VOD and "TV Everywhere" services to multiple devices.

South African TV viewers with DStv and StarSat will be able to watch TV series like the just-cancelled drama series The Divide, and the reality show Game of Arms about American arm wrestling, as well as movies from the film library of MGM. 

AMC will however start to expand the movie catalogue beyond just MGM's film valut, to include movies from Sony and the Paramount film libraries.

The Divide will start on AMC on 5 January 2015 at 20:00 with new episodes weekly.

Game of Arms will start on AMC on 2 December at 20:00 with new episodes until 16 December and then again with new episodes starting on 6 January 2015.

"With the introduction of AMC to the African market, our aim is to satisfy the local audience's growing appetite for high-quality international content including original series as well as a wide selection of popular Hollywood movies," says Louise Cottrell, the vice-president for affiliate sales for AMC Networks International Zone in a just issued statement.

MGM channel to change to the AMC channel in November on both DStv and StarSat; will add drama series and wider range of movies.

You're reading it here first.

MGM (DStv 140 / StarSat 142) on MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital Media's (ODM) StarSat platforms will be changing to AMC in November this year TV with Thinus can reveal, although a specific date in November is not yet known.

AMC Networks International announced the global name-change for its MGM channel last week and said that MGM will rebrand globally in all the different territories before the end of the year.

Once MGM changes to AMC in November for South African viewers, the rebranded and repositioned TV channel will add more movies from Sony and the Paramount film libraries beyond just the MGM movie vault.

AMC Networks International will also add TV shows produced by AMC Studios like the dramas Halt and Catch Fire and The Divide to MGM which until now has been a movies only channel.

"We intend to reproduce our United States strategy, expanding AMC's brand throughout the world and creating a new way of distribution our original content," Ed Carroll, operations director at AMC Networks, said last week in a statement..

"The international interest in our productions, plus movies from the main production houses to complete our schedule, means a great opportunity to make AMC an international entertainment channel," saisd Bruce Tuchman, AMC global's president, in last week's statement.

AMC Networks International runs channels on DStv and StarSat like CBS Reality, CBS Drama, CBS Action, JimJam, Extreme Sports Channel and MGM - which will now become AMC in November.

BREAKING. MGM channel on MultiChoice's DStv and ODM's StarSat renamed AMC, will add TV shows and bigger movie range before end of 2014.

MGM (DStv 140 / StarSat 142) on MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital Media's (ODM) StarSat platforms is changing its name and will be changing from MGM to AMC soon, and will in addition to that start to add movies from the Paramount and Sony film libraries and will also start to show TV dramas.

MGM on DStv and on StarSat will change to AMC within months and before the end of this year as AMC Networks International starts to replace MGM where it is internationally broadcast with locally versioned channel feeds - such as the MGM seen in Southern Africa on DStv and StarSat.

MGM as AMC will also start to show TV series, like the new series Halt and Catch Fire and The Divide, produced by AMC Studios, which will be shown on AMC internationally, in an exclusive first TV window.

The quick rebranding of MGM follows the renaming of Chellomedia which runs MGM, to AMC Networks International in June after AMC

Besides films from the MGM vault, the MGM or now AMC channel will soon start to also broaden its range of titles and add films from the Paramount and Sony libraries.

"We intend to reproduce our United States strategy, expanding AMC's brand throughout the world and creating a new way of distribution our original content," says Ed Carroll, operations director at AMC Networks.

Some of AMC's productions, such as Breaking Bad have been among the most pirated content ever and their local broadcasting on other TV channels in the world have drawn million of viewers. Following such interest, AMC Networks International wants to attaining rapid worldwide success with the MGM to AMC rebrand.

"The international interest in our productions, plus movies from the main production houses to complete our schedule, means a great opportunity to make AMC an international entertainment channel," says Bruce Tuchman, AMC Global's president.

AMC Networks International runs channels on DStv and StarSat like CBS Reality, CBS Drama, CBS Action, JimJam, Extreme Sports Channel and MGM - or now AMC.