• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 20, 2008

The coming pay-TV channel from Viacom, MGM and Lionsgate made it official Monday, hiring former Showtime executive Mark Greenberg to head the venture as president and CEO.

The venture--set for the fall of 2009--looks to launch what's billed as "a next-generation premium television channel and video on demand service." It will offer films from the libraries of the three partners (Viacom is a partner via its Paramount division) as well as original series.

Greenberg was executive vice president at Showtime, with oversight over strategy, new business and digital media as well as other areas.

Notably, Greenberg also headed affiliate relations. The Viacom-MGM-Lionsgate venture has yet to sign any deals with MSOs to give it distribution.

But Viacom chief Philippe Dauman said at this week's Cable Show in New Orleans that he's had "good conversations" with cable operators and expects to make announcements in the coming weeks, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Last week, Greg Maffei--who heads Liberty Media, which operates the Starz and Encore brands that would compete with the new venture--suggested the challenger would have a difficult time landing distribution, since it is seeking $2 to $3 per subscriber from MSOs. Maffei added that "consumer demand" could be soft with Starz, HBO and Showtime already in the market.