Reports are that STARZ CEO Chris Albrecht has been tasked with raising $1 Billion of off balance sheet financing for original programming. This is yet another confirmation that original programming will continue to be the tentpole of the premium service business.
In 1975, when HBO launched as the first national premium service, the idea of showing Hollywood titles on a round robin basis made sense. TV viewers had little alternatives other than local broadcast stations and a handful of nascent cable nets. Early VCRs were just starting to come on the market. Fast forward to today and between online viewing, retail and rental; not to mention cable VOD, the consumer has a variety of methods to receive Hollywood titles.
So it is no surprise that premium services continue to stress the importance of original programming, whether it is True Blood on HBO, Dexter and Nurse Jackie on Showtime or the slate of programming that STARZ is looking to produce with the new financing. A large part of the reason STARZ brought Albrecht on broad is as a result of his experience with original programming while he was at HBO.
This latest foray by STARZ is a natural and necessary step in their evolution. Although they have aired some original programming along the way, it was never to the same extent as HBO and Showtime. This is a great opportunity for STARZ to really shine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment