Epic has subscription pay TV rights to new releases and movies from its partners’ libraries, and Netflix will have access to them 90 days after their premium pay TV and subscription on demand debuts. According to Epix, distribution rights to these films are usually pre-sold to pay TV for as long as 9 years after their theatrical release.

"Adding EPIX to our growing library of streaming content, as the exclusive Internet-only distributor of this great content, marks the continued emergence of Netflix as a leader in entertainment delivered over the Web," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "The EPIX deal is an example of the innovative ways in which we’re partnering with major content providers to broaden the scope and freshness of choices available to our members to watch instantly over the Internet.”

Mark Greenberg, president of EPIX, added,  "Netflix is an incredibly popular service and we welcome them as our newest distribution partner. We are pleased to be able to continue our mission of bringing consumers the movies where they want to watch them, while satisfying the differing needs of cable, telco and satellite operators. This deal also underscores the tremendous value of our offerings in the marketplace."

The more deals like this Netflix is able to make, the better it will do against the increasing amount of competition it faces. Netflix already has a similar deal in place with Starz. 

MGM says it will post old episodes of its "American Gladiators" program to YouTube on one channel.

MGM will also post full-length action films like "Bulletproof Monk" and "The Magnificent Seven" along with clips from popular movies like "Legally Blonde." The content will be free to watch and ad supported.

The move is a step away from what YouTube has been known for, short-form video clips. The Google owned video-sharing site is now taking on Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal and Fox which shows full-length TV shows and movies.

YouTube reached a similar agreement in October with CBS to host full-length archived shows, including "Star Trek," "Young and the Restless" and "Beverly Hills 90210."

"We believe in comprehensiveness, and we want to have deals with everybody," said Jordan Hoffner, the director of content partnerships for YouTube. "We want to be able to give users the most content possible."

YouTube has been experimenting with full-length shows from cable channels HBO and Showtime but its agreement with MGM puts it in more direct competition with Hulu.

YouTube will likely be looking for similar partnerships in the future as it looks to boost its advertising revenue.

Nikki Finke reports, "I’ve heard that Semel is seriously kicking the tires at New Line and has already had a confab with Time Warner about it. . . .  As for MGM, you may remember that Semel was seriously thinking of heading that beleaguered studio back in 1995 when Ron Perelman was thinking of making a run at it."

It’s hard to know how to take this news; the entertainment industry isn’t something on which we’ve kept an especially close eye.  The idea of Semel’s involvement didn’t seem to disturb Finke, though, and she made clear that New Line’s founders deserve to get fired.  So that’s a decent start.

In other New Line- and MGM-related news, Guillermo del Toro is supposedly in talks to direct both "The Hobbit" films.  The release dates are a long ways off – 2010 and 2011 – but if they turn out either well or badly, it could have us forming a definite opinion on Semel’s involvement.