Comcast, Starz Sign Multi-Year Distribution Deal

Starz Entertainment and Comcast Corp. announced June 29 that they
signed a new multi-year distribution agreement.

Financial terms
were
not disclosed, but the deal includes an agreement to distribute Starz'
authenticated online broadband offerings. Those offerings allow Comcast
customers who subscribe to Starz or Encore to watch movies and other
programming online.

"The agreement with Comcast extends and
expands our relationship in a way that benefits consumers and provides
Comcast with even more flexibility in presenting our programming," said
Bill Myers, Starz Entertainment's president and chief operating officer.
"We are extremely pleased to enter into an agreement with one of our
long-standing partners and provide them with a value-rich collection of
premium programming across multiple platforms."

Starz Online and
Encore Online each offer about 300 distinct moves and episodes of
original programming each month. About 80% of Starz Online content is in
HD. Starz titles include Up, Angels & Demons, District 9, Alice in
Wonderland, Dear John, plus such original series as Spartacus: Blood and
Sand, Party Down, and Gravity.

About 50% of the Encore Online
programming is in HD. Titles include Hancock, Step Brothers, and
Monsters Inc.
Starz also plans to launch MoviePlex Online later this
summer, with 120 movies and TV episodes including Parenthood, A League
of their Own, The Karate Kid and Revenge of the Nerds.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.