Starz’ New PC Platform
'Vongo’ Offers 1,000 Premium, Pay-Per-View Titles for Download
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 1/8/2006 7:00:00 PM
Starz Entertainment Group hopes its Vongo subscription Internet movie and entertainment service will usher in a new era of multiplatform video options for consumers.
Vongo received a big endorsement last week from Microsoft Corp., which showcased the broadband service as part of its new Windows Media Center software at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Vongo promises to deliver more than 1,000 movies within Starz’s premium service library, as well as current pay-per-view films over the Internet for playback on Windows-based PCs, laptops, TVs and select portable media devices, according to Bob Greene, senior vice president, advanced services for SEG.
$9.99 RETAIL
The service, which will retail for $9.99, will run alongside Starz’s current on-demand service StarzTicket, a similar movie service offered through RealNetworks Inc. Greene would not reveal subscriber figures for that $12.95 monthly subscription service, but said it was successful enough for Starz to offer a more robust on-demand presence on the Internet.
Vongo will also compete with a similar Internet-based movie services from Movielink and CinemaNow, as well as mail-order movie-rental services from Blockbuster Inc. and Netflix Inc.
Through Vongo’s consumer-friendly user interface, subscribers will have unlimited access to more than 1,000 movies and video selections, including extreme sports and other entertainment shows, as well as a live, streaming Starz TV channel. Members will be able to download movie and video selections to three eligible devices of their choice per account — conceivably a PC, laptop and portable player.
The service will feature first-run, classic and film favorites such as Hitch, The Incredibles, National Treasure, Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Finding Neverland from Walt Disney Pictures, Miramax Films, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia TriStar, and Revolution Studios. Starz executives said the service will also draw films exclusively from Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema.
Along with Starz titles, Vongo also wants to offer select popular PPV titles for $3.99 per movie, but at press time the programmer had yet to reach any studio deals. Greene hopes to entice operators looking to boost their Internet-based services with Vongo, although Starz has yet to sign any distribution pacts with MSOs.
As part of the launch, Starz will team with several hardware partners, including Sony — through its Sony CONNECT video service — and Microsoft.
DEMO AT CES
To that end, Microsoft’s Media Center division director Joe Bellifiore demonstrated Starz’s Vongo service last Wednesday at CES, as well as Microsoft’s new “Vista” operating system that will run CableCard technology.
A CableCard from local cable operator Cox Communications Inc. enabled Bellifiore to show an high-definition version of Starz’s title The Aviator on the Windows Media Center software.
“Based on the evolution of the digital-entertainment space, we believe that Vongo will be the critical component in a new entertainment ecosystem,” Greene said.
Matt Stump contributed to this story.
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