Starz Entertainment Group LLC will provide more than 1,500 movies per year from its library to Comcast Corp. for its Comcast On Demand video-on-demand service under terms of a deal announced Tuesday.
The two parties said the agreement -- which they called the single-largest VOD-movie-content agreement to date -- also covers the launch of two new Starz premium-movie channels on Comcast systems and extends the affiliation agreement between the two companies into the next decade.
Comcast said it will offer digital-cable customers who subscribe to Starz 325 movie titles per month and Encore customers 250 per month, all at no additional charge, which, at $3-$4 per movie, means potential savings of up to $1,000 per month.
The MSO added that it will make available free-of-charge 100 of the 250 Encore movies as part of a new digital-cable package that will be the gateway to VOD for subscribers.
“This is the most important movie deal Comcast has ever done, and it is further evidence of our commitment to giving customers the most choice and the best content on television," Comcast chief operating officer and Comcast Cable Communications Inc. president Steve Burke said in a prepared statement.
"Going forward, we'll continue to leverage our superior two-way platform to differentiate our products and deliver the ultimate entertainment experience," he added.
“This agreement will also give us a long-term relationship with the largest cable company in the country and provides a fabulous launching pad for two new channels,” Starz CEO Robert B. Clasen said in a prepared statement.
