BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With more than 1 million subscribers since launching in Spring 2016 as part of the STARZ OTT offerings, the STARZ app is more than just the home for groundbreaking STARZ Original series including “Power,” “Outlander,” and “American Gods,” and feature films totaling more than HBO and Showtime*. Starz has significantly invested in its app and OTT programming over the past 14 months, growing its content offering by more than 125 percent to 5,500 titles. All of the STARZ OTT programming remains available for multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs) to provide their STARZ subscribers through their respective on-demand platforms.
Much of the content increase from 2,400 has been accomplished with the acquisition of strategically complementary programming that reinforces the STARZ value proposition. Additions to the deep library of popular kids TV series episodes on the app include “Bob the Builder” and “Thomas and Friends,” as well as nearly 300 Spanish-language movies and telenovela episodes, including the Colombian “El Cartel de los Sapos” and the Colombian critical and ratings success “La Promesa,” as part of the company’s outreach to underserved audiences.
Kids programming has grown tenfold to-date since the app launch with nearly 1,250 television series episodes and movies. Old childhood favorites and recent series account for the growth with favorites including “Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot,” “The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3,” “Eloise, The Animated Series,” “Yu-Gi-Oh,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Adventures of Paddington Bear,” “Sonic The Hedgehog,” “Sabrina, The Animated Series,” and “Now You Know,” (July 1 debut) which combines puppetry, animation and live-action, enlisting high-profile experts to seek answers to questions asked by real-life kids.
Starz has committed to plans that will further grow the app/OTT/on-demand content offerings by an estimated 40 percent to nearly 7,700 total selections by the end of the year, including more than 60 distinct kids series titles, including “The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss,” “The Cat in the Hat (TV specials),” “Jim Henson’s The Storyteller,” “Naruto,” “Garfield and Friends,” and hundreds of selections that are both for kids and Spanish-language audiences.
“Starz continues to invest in programming for STARZ subscribers to continue to reinforce the best value proposition in the marketplace today,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, Chief Operating Officer at Starz. “With both streaming and download viewing options, the STARZ app offers flexibility and is a tremendous value for all ages and audiences that enjoy premium, commercial-free viewing.”
Since the launch of the STARZ app, kids programming selections have grown to include more than 1,100 television series episodes and movies available for download or streaming. By the end of 2017, the volume is expected to reach more than 2,000 with additions of “Alf,” “Speed Racer: The Next Generation,” “Kid Diners,” and “Zatch Bell!”
Spanish-language content on the STARZ app is expected to reach more than 700 by year end with the addition of movies including I’m So Excited from acclaimed Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar; Oscar®-nominated movies Chico and Rita and No starring Gael Garcia Bernal; as well as telenovelas and kids series episodes including “Exploradores de la Historia,” which uses humor and clever animation to teach kids history in a unique and immersive way, and “Horacio y los Plasticines,” which blends puppetry and animation in a colorful series for young viewers.
About the STARZ App
Launched in April 2016, the STARZ app offers STARZ original programming and hit movies including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Inside Out; and television series including “Magnum, P.I.,” “Diff’rent Strokes” and “Gunsmoke.” A single app destination for subscribers who want to stream or download STARZ premium content, the app has achieved more than 1 million subscribers since April 2016. In December 2016, the STARZ app was named by Apple® as one of Apple TV's® "10 Best Apps of the Year," and has consistently ranked in the Top 10 Entertainment Top Grossing category on iTunes since its launch.
The STARZ app is offered on a variety of devices such as: select Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Apple TV, iPhones and iPads running iOS 8.0 or higher, Roku®, Sony Android TV, as well as most Android phones, tablets and TV devices. For a complete list of supported devices, please visit www.starz.com/settings/faq. STARZ subscriptions can be purchased directly on Starz.com or through the Samsung App store within the Smart Hub across select Samsung Smart TVs; Amazon Appstore, App StoreSM, Google Play or Roku for $8.99 per month with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers.
STARZ subscribers also receive instant access to more than 5,500 selections available via the app each month, including STARZ hit series ranging from “American Gods,” “The White Princess,” “Power,” “Survivor’s Remorse,” and “Outlander;” to Hollywood hits and popular movies including Ghostbusters, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Inferno, The Shallows, Don’t Breathe, Concussion, The Good Dinosaur, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Ratatouille.
STARZ subscribers from participating cable, satellite and telco partners can also authenticate and view STARZ content in the app including every episode of every season of the best of STARZ’s original programming, as well as the biggest, most extensive movie library of all the premium subscription networks in the U.S.*
About Starz
Starz (www.starz.com), a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B), is a leading global media and entertainment company that provides premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television networks and produces and distributes content for worldwide audiences, including its investment in the STARZ PLAY Arabia OTT service. Starz is home to the flagship STARZ® brand and STARZ ENCORE channels and provides high-quality, entertaining premium subscription video programming with 17 premium pay TV channels and associated on-demand and online services, including the STARZ app. Sold through U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, telecommunications companies, and other online and digital platforms, Starz offers subscribers more than 5,000 distinct premium television episodes and feature films every year and up to 1,500 every month, including STARZ Original series, first-run movies and other popular movie and television programming.
*Source: STARZ, HBO and Showtime counts based on SNL Kagan data, 4/2017
