Comcast has decided to drop the MGM HD channel on June 1, the cable operator has confirmed to the TV Answer Man.

A Comcast spokeswoman declined to give a reason for the cancellation other than to say its carriage contract with MGM HD is expiring and “we don’t plan to continue to carry it.”

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MGM HD, which launched in 2007, has been available on Comcast systems since 2008.

The channel, which is owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), features older movies from the MGM library such as The Pink Panther, A Shot In the Dark, The Manchurian Candidate (pictured above), The Stranger, Mulholland Falls, and Something Wild.

MGM HD is currently available on DIRECTV, U-verse, PlayStation Vue, and several smaller cable systems. But Comcast’s decision to drop MGM could make it more difficult to survive in the increasingly competitive category of niche channels.

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, has more than 20 million video subscribers.

— Phillip Swann