What could Amazon do with Epix? Could it be combined with IMDb TV?

Vulture

Amazon's $8.45 million deal to acquire MGM gives it control of the pay cable channel Epix. "I’ve already read speculation that Amazon doesn’t have a need for a linear channel, and perhaps that is true," says Josef Adalian. "But I wonder why it wouldn’t at least explore the idea of using a cable platform to drive folks to Prime Video? Epix doesn’t have a massive subscriber base — the last estimate I saw of its size a few years ago was 15 million customers — but it still generates revenue and could benefit from Amazon’s scale. As it is, the streaming version of Epix is available via the Amazon Channels subscription program. Why would Amazon just trash a brand, especially if the existing Amazon Studios team could take oversight of day-to-day operations? Or maybe the play is to just use the Epix name: I am pretty sure Amazon execs are looking to rebrand IMDb TV into something less awkward-sounding. Epix is currently a pay channel, but perhaps it becomes the name of Amazon’s main free TV service, with or without a cable component. (For that matter, the MGM Channel would also be a better name than IMDb TV.)" ALSO: Amazon could do to MGM what Disney did to Marvel with its 2009 acquisition.