Starz Encore Packages Willis Multiplex Stunt
By IGNAZIO MESSINA -- Multichannel News, 11/4/2001 7:00:00 PM
Fans of Bruce Willis should consult their December pay TV listings, as he'll be at the center of a stunt that cuts across Starz Encore Group LLC's various multiplexes.
The premium-service purveyor will air eight of the actor's films across seven of its different Super Pak channels.
The initiative — dubbed "The Power of the Pak: Bruce Willis" — is a week-long event that leads up to the exclusive pay TV premiere of Unbreakable Dec. 15 on Starz.
"This is a vivid way of pointing out what you are missing if you don't have the whole Starz! package," said Starz Encore Group LLC entertainment president Robert Leighton. "This is not just about one channel, and the simple reason for that is that Starz is not just about one channel, so we took this collection of movies and spread them across seven."
The various Willis flicks will match the genre of the attendant Super Pak channel, said Jeremy Harris, Starz senior vice president of consumer marketing.
In addition to showcasing Unbreakable on Starz, the company has scheduled The Sixth Sense on Starz; Disney's The Kid on Starz! Family; Twelve Monkeys on Encore; Pulp Fiction on Starz! Cinema; The Last Boy Scout on Action; Color of Night on Mystery; and Breakfast of Champions on Starz Theater.
"If this were five years ago, and we were doing something like this, it wouldn't have made as much sense, because there was no access," Leighton added. "Now, because of digital-cable proliferation, this is at a point where it makes sense. We are not just shouting in an empty hall anymore."
The largest group of Starz subscribers with the most Super Pak channels receive the service through DirecTV, Leighton said, with those customers getting 10 of the 12 channels on average.
Starz plans another stunt for January around the premium-TV premiere of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which will include an original documentary on the history of martial-arts films from the genre's birth in Hong Kong to its present-day popularity.
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