It’s Spring and a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of — cord cutting? Or, if you follow the scuttlebutt, a lot of young men might have never signed up for a traditional pay TV service in the first place.
“We are moving into a period of change, where we will move away from a homogeneous, one-size-fits-all, ‘take the big bundle’ environment, to an … environment where the consumer will have more selection,” Drew Borst, senior equity research analyst, global investment research at Goldman Sachs, observes.
So, it’s not a huge surprise that premium pay TV programmers like HBO and Showtime are aiming straight at consumers who might want to bypass the traditional bundle as a way to access programming. Joining the over-the-top team today is Starz, which is launching its subscription streaming service directly to consumers for $8.99 per month.
Users can get access to more than 2,400 selections each month, including series like “Outlander,” “Power” and the upcoming “American Gods” as well as movies — including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” later this year.
“Our programming will now be more widely available to the 20 million broadband-only homes of cord nevers, cord cutters and cord shavers, including Millennials and other underserved consumers who need other viable subscription service options,” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht says.
The standalone Starz service allows for up to four users to watch simultaneously and virtually unlimited downloads, according to the company. It is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV, with the app supporting universal search through the Siri Remote. The new app also is available through the Google Play Store for a variety of Android-supported devices.
“We believe this innovative app will also help fortify the broadband business of many of our traditional distributors and be even more appealing for inclusion in future video bundles,” Albrecht adds.
Starz subscribers from cable, satellite and telco partners also can authenticate and view the programming via the app.