Comcast Xfinity customers that had subscribed to Starz will have to sign up for the services separately on Feb. 11.
Starz carriage agreement with Comcast was set to end on Dec. 31, but the two reached a new deal on Dec. 23 that kept the service available to the cable operators video customers through the series finale of popular drama Power. That finale aired on Feb. 9 and the network has announced plans for three new spinoff series from the show.
Starz will no longer be a part of Xfinity’s premium lineup as of Feb. 11. After that time Xfinity customers who still want Starz will have to purchase the premium service’s app, which retails for $8.99 per month.
According to people familiar with the deal, Comcast and Starz continue to work on providing a path and incentives for an orderly transition of shared customers to a la carte. That includes offering those customers transitioning out of packages to subscribe to the Starz app for $5 per month for six months, rising to $8.99 per month after the promotional period.
The Dec. 23 agreement also included a deal for Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit to license Starz and its parent Lionsgate Entertainment content for its Peacock streaming service. NBCUniveral also agreed to license its content to Starz in the U.S. and its international streaming service, Starz Play.
Related: Peacock Shows Its Plumage
Earlier last year, Comcast expanded its carriage deal with premium service Epix, which triggered some speculation around the fate of its Starz deal. Epix has since been added to those Xfinity packages.
