Starz Entertainment will soon offer such movies as Cars,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s ChestandTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in HD with the summer launch of three new Starz-owned HD premium services.
The company will offer HD mirror channels of the East Coast feeds of its Starz Comedy, Starz Edge and Starz Kids and Family, according to president and chief operating officer Bill Myers. The services will compliment the existing Starz HD channel, as well as the Starz and Encore HD On Demand services.
“Starz has always been a leader in terms of offering our customers more ways to enjoy our great movies,” Myers said in a prepared statement. “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.”
Myers hopes the additional Starz feeds will help to convince subscribers to watch HD content from cable. He said that while the number of HDTV sets sold every year has been growing, only one-half of HDTV owners use their sets to watch cable and satellite programming. Instead, consumers are watching HD broadcast channels and DVDs on their HD sets.
“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,” Myers said. “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.”
