Starz, Encore Present Spring Freeview to Nearly 50 Million Homes

Nearly 50 million cable, satellite and telco video subscribers will be able to watch the series finale and series starter of a pair of Starz original shows this weekend as part of a nationwide freeview.

Starz will offer the Starz and Encore premium channel packages for free from April 11-15 to households across the country, including subscribers to AT&T U-verse TV, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Dish Network and, Verizon FiOS TV, among many other regional multichannel affiliates. Dates and availability of channels vary by distributor.

During the freeview period, video subs will be able to watch the finale of gladiator series Spartacus: War of the Damned on April 12 at 9 p.m., which will serve as a lead-in to the premiere of new entrant DaVinci’s Demons at 10 p.m.

Starz will also air such exclusive first-run theatricals as Hope Springs, The Amazing Spider-Man, Men In Black 3, and Sparkle.

For its part, Encore will be featuring such movies and originals as Friends with Benefits, Ghostbusters, Finding Nemo, The Smurfs, Jack and Jill, and Hindenburg: The Last Flight.

The spring free preview comprises up to 24 Starz and Encore channels, as well as Starz on Demand, Starz HD on Demand, Encore on Demand and Encore HD on Demand services.

AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS TV  subscribers can watch the all of the Starz and Encore channels and 400 on-demand titles from April 11-15.

DirecTV and Dish subscribers will have free access to all of the channels from April 12-14. Moreover, DirecTV subs will offer 20 Starz movies on its on-demand platform during the preview.

Cox will offer all Starz linear channels, including  Starz HD, plus Starz and Starz HD on Demand from April 12-14.

Other participating affiliates include Bend Broadband, Blue Ridge Communications, Choice Cable TV Puerto Rico, Conway Corporation, DirecTV Puerto Rico, Fidelity Communications, Hawaiian Telecom, HTC Digital Cable and Service Electric Cable TV.