Starz to Launch Three HD Movie Channels
NGLEWOOD, CO, May 4, 2007 - Satnews Daily - Starz Entertainment plans to launch three additional high definition (HD) channels, bringing to four the total number of HD channels offered by the company.
President and COO Bill Myers said the three new channels offered in HD will be East Coast feeds of Starz Comedy, Starz Edge and Starz Kids & Family. They will complement the existing Starz HD channel, which is available in East and West Coast feeds, (as well as the Starz On Demand HD and Encore On Demand HD services). The new channels are expected to launch by the end of this summer.
Myers noted that while the number of HD television sets sold every year has been growing, only half of HDTV owners use their sets to watch cable and satellite programming. Instead, he pointed out, they use their sets for other purposes, such as watching DVDs and broadcast channels.
HD set owners that do subscribe to cable and satellite programming are among multichannel video’s most valued customers in terms of ARPU (average revenue per unit). Research shows that there is significant demand for HD content from the premium networks, even more so than for sports programming.
“Starz has always been a leader in terms of offering our customers more ways to enjoy our great movies,” Myers said. “We pioneered in digital transmission, multiplex, on demand and online. We will now be able to offer the largest package of HD movie channels of any widely distributed programming service, and the only one featuring first-run hit movies.”
“Working with our affiliates, we will make a major effort to convince HD set owners that their televisions are good for more than just watching DVDs. With our great lineup of HD movies, On Demand HD services, and now with four HD channels, Starz is well positioned to spearhead those efforts.”
Myers said that additional HD channels will roll out in the coming years as more programming becomes available from the studios in the HD format. “The three new HD channels together with Starz HD will present a robust lineup of HD content to satisfy our HD customers. They will be able to see such great films as Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in full HD.”
Starz Entertainment is the exclusive subscription TV and broadband provider of first-run films from leading Hollywood studios including Walt Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Overture Films, Revolution Studios, Miramax Films, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Pixar, TriStar, Screen Gems, Sony Classics and Warren Miller Films. Select first-run theatrical films from The Weinstein Company, IFC and Yari Film Group are also available for subscription television and broadband exclusively on Starz Entertainment services. A vast collection of classic and favorite titles are provided by a wide array of other Hollywood studios.
As one of the largest content aggregators in Hollywood, Starz Entertainment has access to thousands of theatrical films that it makes available on the Starz services and Vongo.
Starz Entertainment offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz and Encore brands with 15.5 million and 27.3 million subscribers, respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels. It is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group (NASDAQ: LCAPA, LCAPB).
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