East meets west as Sony buys MGM to double movie library

IT’S a deal that will cost $2.9 billion (E2.36bn) and make Sony the main player in the home- viewing box office stakes.

The entertainment giant has bought Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in a move that will double its film library.

Sony chairman Nobuyuki Idei’s plans to cash in on a growing market where films are downloaded to home computers.

Sony and three other investors have acquired LA-based MGM, the studio that filmed the James Bond and Rocky movies, and beat Time Warner to the deal. Viewers will be able to download films for $5 (4).

MGM’s library includes the world’s largest collection of post-1948 feature films with about 4,000 movies, including Dances With Wolves and Annie Hall. Sony owns Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, which has more than 2,500 film titles, including Dr Strangelove, Panic Room and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

“This deal is about who has the best content and who can deliver it to consumers,” said media expert James Brancheau. Fifteen years ago Sony bought Columbia Tristar Motion Pictures. The MGM deal paves the way for a venture with Comcast Corp, the world’s largest cable television operator, that lets viewers select and view movies via high-speed links.

“The industry is a few steps away from having televisions integrated to the internet,” Idei said last month.

“Any company that doesn’t adjust to change is taking a huge risk.”

The market for movies downloaded over the web may rise to $498.5m (407m) in 2010 from $1.6m (1.3m) last year, according to a study by researcher Informa Media, published in 2003.