Colorado Media Newsroom
August 24th, 2012, 04:39 AM
From the Denver Post:
Imagine a great city, a mayoral hopeful once said of Denver.
Now imagine a great city with a great pay-cable network based here.
Can you imagine Starz on par with Showtime and HBO?
Insiders are wondering whether Starz, the Colorado-based pay-cable company, will be gobbled up by a large corporation, now that it has been split from John Malone's Liberty Media.
Starz boss Chris Albrecht, the former head of HBO, sought to calm the troops in a meeting at the Meridian headquarters on Tuesday, at which he told the staff it is "financially advantageous" to keep the company's operations based here. Albrecht visits almost every other week; a spokesperson stresses there is no plan to relocate and there are hot titles in the pipeline.
This spring, David Goyer ("The Dark Knight Rises") will deliver "DaVinci's Demons," shooting in Wales and the first collaboration between Starz and BBC Worldwide. Next year, Michael Bay's pirate saga "Black Sails" and the Weinstein Co.'s "Marco Polo" are in store. "Vlad Dracula," from J. Michael Straczynski ("Thor") is in development. And Starz will keep "Spartacus" creator Steven S. DeKnight in-house with an overall development deal that includes the forthcoming "Incursion," a sci-fi, alien-fighting thriller. And next month sister network Encore will unveil "The Crimson Petal and the White."
But still, the mood inside Starz is understandably tense, as employees wait for the next shoe to drop.
It's possible Starz could become an independent TV production and distribution source. More likely, it will be swallowed by a bigger fish. Financial analysts are mulling which corporations are likely suitors to acquire the company. A media company? A streaming service? Someone else entirely?
Best guess: a multinational media conglomerate that doesn't already have a pay-cable branch.
Time Warner already has HBO; CBS Corp. already has Showtime.
What big media company has a studio but no pay-cable arm? Both Disney and Comcast/NBC fit that criteria. Starz is valued at around $2.8 billion. That might fit nicely into either portfolio.
Albrecht has told Starz investors the focus is on spending more on original programming. The goal is 50 hours of originals a year by 2014, a tall order.
The Denver area has benefitted from the presence of Starz ever since the network bowed on the old TCI (also under Malone) in 1994. Not only in terms of jobs, but as a creative presence, Starz is part of the local cultural landscape. The Starz Denver Film Festival is an important annual fixture, along with the attendant conferences, symposia and, not least, receptions.
On the tube, Starz is less well defined. The "multiplex" idea of Starz and Encore — so many channels, so many name changes — has always been confusing. Starz Cinema, Starz Family, Starz Comedy, Starz Edge, Starz multiplex moviepack superpack cluster. Not to mention Encore Western, Encore Love Stories, Encore Suspense, Encore Wam! and too many more. Someone needs to acquire, streamline, promote and have it make sense.
The real goal for Starz, as far as viewers are concerned, should be stepping up to the level of Showtime. In the old days, HBO owned the Emmys, the critical love and the pay-cable subscriber numbers. Then "Homeland" became the breakthrough original that proved Showtime could play in the big leagues, in terms of awards as well as subscribers and revenue. Now it's time for Starz to do the same.
"Spartacus" is a great draw for Starz, but it's a niche favorite, as "Dexter" is to Showtime. Neither of Starz's recent originals, "Boss" nor "Magic City," has risen to the "Homeland" level of dramatic greatness.
Starz means business with its focus on originals. As to quality, we'll have to wait and see.
Albrecht welcomed the Starz spinoff from Liberty as "the first step to unlocking the real potential growth opportunities for our businesses."
With luck, those growth opportunities will share the wealth with Colorado.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dp-lifestyles-columnists-joanne_ostrow/~4/6XfeJ6otgis
More... (http://feeds.denverpost.com/~r/dp-lifestyles-columnists-joanne_ostrow/~3/6XfeJ6otgis/ci_21377710)
Imagine a great city, a mayoral hopeful once said of Denver.
Now imagine a great city with a great pay-cable network based here.
Can you imagine Starz on par with Showtime and HBO?
Insiders are wondering whether Starz, the Colorado-based pay-cable company, will be gobbled up by a large corporation, now that it has been split from John Malone's Liberty Media.
Starz boss Chris Albrecht, the former head of HBO, sought to calm the troops in a meeting at the Meridian headquarters on Tuesday, at which he told the staff it is "financially advantageous" to keep the company's operations based here. Albrecht visits almost every other week; a spokesperson stresses there is no plan to relocate and there are hot titles in the pipeline.
This spring, David Goyer ("The Dark Knight Rises") will deliver "DaVinci's Demons," shooting in Wales and the first collaboration between Starz and BBC Worldwide. Next year, Michael Bay's pirate saga "Black Sails" and the Weinstein Co.'s "Marco Polo" are in store. "Vlad Dracula," from J. Michael Straczynski ("Thor") is in development. And Starz will keep "Spartacus" creator Steven S. DeKnight in-house with an overall development deal that includes the forthcoming "Incursion," a sci-fi, alien-fighting thriller. And next month sister network Encore will unveil "The Crimson Petal and the White."
But still, the mood inside Starz is understandably tense, as employees wait for the next shoe to drop.
It's possible Starz could become an independent TV production and distribution source. More likely, it will be swallowed by a bigger fish. Financial analysts are mulling which corporations are likely suitors to acquire the company. A media company? A streaming service? Someone else entirely?
Best guess: a multinational media conglomerate that doesn't already have a pay-cable branch.
Time Warner already has HBO; CBS Corp. already has Showtime.
What big media company has a studio but no pay-cable arm? Both Disney and Comcast/NBC fit that criteria. Starz is valued at around $2.8 billion. That might fit nicely into either portfolio.
Albrecht has told Starz investors the focus is on spending more on original programming. The goal is 50 hours of originals a year by 2014, a tall order.
The Denver area has benefitted from the presence of Starz ever since the network bowed on the old TCI (also under Malone) in 1994. Not only in terms of jobs, but as a creative presence, Starz is part of the local cultural landscape. The Starz Denver Film Festival is an important annual fixture, along with the attendant conferences, symposia and, not least, receptions.
On the tube, Starz is less well defined. The "multiplex" idea of Starz and Encore — so many channels, so many name changes — has always been confusing. Starz Cinema, Starz Family, Starz Comedy, Starz Edge, Starz multiplex moviepack superpack cluster. Not to mention Encore Western, Encore Love Stories, Encore Suspense, Encore Wam! and too many more. Someone needs to acquire, streamline, promote and have it make sense.
The real goal for Starz, as far as viewers are concerned, should be stepping up to the level of Showtime. In the old days, HBO owned the Emmys, the critical love and the pay-cable subscriber numbers. Then "Homeland" became the breakthrough original that proved Showtime could play in the big leagues, in terms of awards as well as subscribers and revenue. Now it's time for Starz to do the same.
"Spartacus" is a great draw for Starz, but it's a niche favorite, as "Dexter" is to Showtime. Neither of Starz's recent originals, "Boss" nor "Magic City," has risen to the "Homeland" level of dramatic greatness.
Starz means business with its focus on originals. As to quality, we'll have to wait and see.
Albrecht welcomed the Starz spinoff from Liberty as "the first step to unlocking the real potential growth opportunities for our businesses."
With luck, those growth opportunities will share the wealth with Colorado.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dp-lifestyles-columnists-joanne_ostrow/~4/6XfeJ6otgis
More... (http://feeds.denverpost.com/~r/dp-lifestyles-columnists-joanne_ostrow/~3/6XfeJ6otgis/ci_21377710)