tv . for other uses see starz disambiguation . starz launched february 1 1994 ; 22 years ago 1994 02 01 owned by starz networks starz inc. picture format 1080i hdtv hd feeds downgraded to letterboxed 480i for sdtv sets slogan obsessable country united states language english spanish via sap audio track ; some films may be broadcast in their native language and subtitled into english broadcast area nationwide headquarters meridian colorado formerly called starz 1994 2005 sister channel s starz encore movieplex timeshift service starz east starz west starz cinema east starz cinema west starz comedy east starz comedy west starz edge east starz edge west starz kids & family east starz kids & family west starz in black east starz in black west website www.starz.com availability satellite directv 525 starz east ; sd hd 526 starz west ; sd hd 527 starz kids & family hd 528 starz comedy hd 529 starz edge sd hd 530 starz in black sd hd 531 starz cinema hd 1527 starz on demand dish network 350 starz east ; sd hd 351 starz west ; sd hd 352 starz edge sd hd 353 starz cinema 354 starz comedy sd hd 355 starz in black 356 starz kids & family sd hd cable available on most u.s. cable systems consult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability iptv verizon fios 340 347 sd 840 hd at & t u verse 902 starz east ; sd 903 starz west ; sd 904 starz edge sd 906 starz in black sd 908 starz cinema sd 910 starz comedy sd 912 starz kids & family sd 1902 starz east ; hd 1903 starz west ; hd 1904 starz edge hd 1906 starz in black hd 1910 starz comedy hd 1912 starz kids & family hd starz stylized as starz from february 1994 to march 2005 1 starz from march 2005 to april 2016 2 and starz since april 2016 pronounced stars is an american premium cable and satellite television network which serves as the flagship property of the starz networks cable networks division of starz inc. starz s programming features mainly theatrically released motion pictures and some first run original television series . the headquarters of starz and its sister networks starz encore and movieplex are located at the meridian international business center complex in meridian colorado . 3 in july 2015 starz s programming was available to approximately 30.816 million television households 26.5 % of cable satellite and telco customers in the united states 30.219 million subscribers or 26.0 % of all households with pay television service receive at least starz s primary channel . 4 contents 1 history 2 channels 2.1 list of channels 2.1.1 background 2.2 other services 2.2.1 starz hd 2.2.2 starz on demand 2.2.3 starzplay 2.2.4 starz on amazon prime 3 programming 3.1 movie library 3.1.1 former first run contracts 3.2 television series 3.2.1 original programming 3.2.2 acquired programming 4 other ventures 5 branding 5.1 network slogans 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit starz was launched at 8 00 p.m. eastern time on february 1 1994 primarily on cable systems operated by tele communications inc. ; the first two movies aired on the network were dramas released in 1992 respectively scent of a woman 5 and the crying game . the network was originally operated as a joint venture between tci and liberty media both companies were controlled by john malone with tci owning a 50.1 % controlling interest in the channel . 6 starz made its debut as the first phase of a seven channel thematic multiplex that was launched by encore over the course of the succeeding eight months with the remaining six channels being launched between july and september 1994 . 7 8 the multiplex was intended to only include six channels however on may 31 1993 encore acquired the pay cable rights to telecast recent feature films from universal pictures released after that year ; as a result tci liberty decided to create an additional encore service to serve as a competitor to hbo and showtime . 7 the network carried the moniker encore 8 in its on air branding as part of a numbering system that was used by encore s multiplex channels . 9 early trademark filings indicated that tci liberty originally proposed names including applause and stars for the service the s in the latter was ultimately changed to a z in the final naming . starz focused more on recent feature films while encore focused on films released between the 1960s and the 1980s before adding recent film fare itself in july 1999 . it also held the television rights to releases from carolco pictures fine line features and its sibling studio new line cinema and the walt disney company owned studios touchstone pictures hollywood pictures and miramax . films from those studios were not carried on starz until 1997 after disney s output agreement with showtime for its non family oriented films concluded . the network restricted the scheduling of films that contained graphic sexual or violent content to late evening and overnight time periods . 10 starz s availability was mainly limited to tci s systems at launch debuting with a one month free preview available to prospective subscribers ; it would eventually sign its first major carriage agreement outside of the tci group through a deal with continental cablevision in september 1995 . 11 in june 1997 comcast signed an agreement to carry the network on its pennsylvania and new jersey systems to replace philadelphia based prism after that network shut down that october following the loss of its and sister network sportschannel philadelphia s sports programming to comcast sportsnet philadelphia . 12 13 the network gained carriage deals with many other major u.s. cable and satellite providers by the early 2000s particularly with the adoption of digital cable allowing for providers to add channels that they even with capacity expansions of up to 60 channels previously had limited room to carry . starz was available to an estimated 2.8 million pay television subscribers by 1996 only one million of whom had subscribed to a cable or satellite provider other than tci . 14 as a startup network starz endured major losses during its early years with total deficits topping us 203 million and annual losses of us 150 million by 1997 . it was predicted to lose an additional us 300 million in revenue before it was predicted to break even . 15 partly in an effort to get the network s substantial losses off its books tci announced a deal on june 2 1997 in which it transferred majority ownership of the corporate entity that operated starz encore media group to sister company liberty media ; tci retained a 20 % minority ownership interest in encore media group . liberty media assumed the former company s stake in the subsidiary in 1999 following tci s merger with at & t corporation . 6 16 starz logo used from april 7 2008 to april 5 2016 . by may 1998 starz maintained a subscriber base reaching 7.6 million households with a cable or satellite television subscription . 17 encore media group was later renamed the starz encore media group in 2000 . 18 as part of a corporate restructuring plan in 2003 starz encore group eliminated 100 jobs in its nine regional offices and closed four of the offices outright . 19 on march 25 2005 the starz encore group corporate entity was renamed starz entertainment . on november 19 2009 liberty media spun off starz and encore into a separate public tracking stock called liberty starz . 20 on january 1 2010 chris albrecht joined starz llc as its president and chief executive officer overseeing all of the starz entities including starz entertainment overture films anchor bay entertainment and film roman 21 albrecht had served as president of hbo from 2002 until he was fired in 2007 following his arrest on assault charges . 22 on august 8 2012 liberty media announced that it would spin off the liberty starz subsidiary into a separate publicly traded company . 23 the spin off of the subsidiary was completed on january 11 2013 with liberty starz changing its name to starz inc. as a result . 24 on april 5 2016 starz was rebranded and added all the encore channels to its moniker therefore increasing the starz channel lineup to 14 starz movie channels . its main channel was rebranded starz encore and carries reruns of starz originals in addition to films . 25 26 on june 30 2016 lionsgate agreed to acquire starz inc. for 4.4 billion in cash and stock . 27 channels edit list of channels edit depending on the service provider starz provides up to twelve multiplex channels six 24 hour multiplex channels all of which are simulcast in both standard definition and high definition as well as a subscription video on demand service starz on demand . starz broadcasts its primary and multiplex channels on eastern and pacific time zone schedules . the respective coastal feeds of each channel are usually packaged together though most cable providers only offer the east and west coast feeds of the main starz channel resulting in the difference in local airtimes for a particular movie or program between two geographic locations being three hours at most . the premium film services encore and movieplex which are also owned by starz inc. operate as separate services ; as such subscribers to one of the services do not have to subscribe to any of the others . some providers offer encore and movieplex s multiplex channels on a separate digital cable tier from starz . however encore and depending on its carriage movieplex are frequently sold together in a package with starz . channel description and programming starz the flagship channel ; starz features hit movies and first run films from hollywood blockbusters to independent films and international pictures . the main starz channel commonly premieres recent theatrically released hit movies debuting on the channel within a lag of between eight months to one year on average from their initial theatrical release on most friday nights at 9 00 p.m. eastern time as part of a weekly feature film block called the starz friday night feature premiere originally airing on saturday nights until 2013 and known as starz saturday opening night until 2002 and starz saturday premiere from 2002 to 2013 . the channel also airs some original series with newer episodes airing primarily on saturday nights . starz cinema starz cinema carries films outside the mainstream cinema incorporating critically acclaimed studio and independent releases and arthouse films ; starz cinema was launched in may 1999 . starz comedy starz comedy focuses on lighthearted films of varying comedic genres including slapstick romantic comedies and dramedies . it took over the channel space of starz kids on march 25 2005 ; the channel s launch was postponed for three years as starz originally planned to launch starz comedy as a separate multiplex channel in 2002 . 28 starz edge starz edge features films aimed at young adults in the 18 to 34 age demographic . it was launched in 1996 as starz 2 and was rebranded as starz theater from 1999 until march 25 2005 ; in its previous incarnations the channel s format incorporated a limited selection of films scheduled in a format mirroring the showtime scheduling used by movie theaters . starz in black starz in black focuses on black cinema and urban entertainment carrying a mix of first run hits classic and pan african films and original productions . launched in 1997 as a joint venture with black entertainment television bet starz in black was originally known as bet movies starz 3 until 2001 when bet opted out of the venture during its purchase by viacom then owner of rival premium