Germany's pay TV platform Premiere has shown that it is very much still in business by sealing a long-term output deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and acquiring a film package from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.

In addition to providing Premiere with German TV premieres of such MGM titles as Legally Blonde, Barbershop and the new James Bond film Die Another Day, the Premiere/MGM deal also prepares the launch in the second quarter of 2003 for the first German language MGM film channel. This new service will focus on MGM productions from the 1980s and 1990s as well as featuring classics

Subscribers to Premiere Plus will be able to receive the new channel without any additional costs, while other Premiere subscribers can take out an individual subscription for the new service.

MGM is the fourth major after 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks and Universal to have agreed to new conditions with Premiere through direct negotiations. As Premiere's managing director Georg Kofler pointed out, "after a phase of uncertainty, the new Premiere is again an important and reliable partner in the German market for the major US studios."

Meanwhile, Premiere acquired a film package from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBIT) .giving it the German pay TV rights to such titles as Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, The Little Polar Bear (Der Kleine Eisbaer) and Training Day as well as the pay-per-view rights to Lord Of The Rings and Rush Hour 2.