Starz Entertainment announced yesterday plans to launch the company’s 5th high-definition channel, Encore HD. The channel will present movies unedited, commercial free, and in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Encore HD is scheduled to start July 2008, made available by Starz in an East Coast feed for its affiliates.
Starz will be providing its affiliates with up to six high definition movie channels that include: Starz HD (East), Starz HD (West), Starz Comedy HD, Starz Edge HD, Starz Kids & Family HD, and Encore HD.
Encore HD will present newer release movies and recent hit films in what they are calling “True HD”. Some movies to be broadcast on the channel include: The Mummy, Independence Day, Cars, Click, The Guardian, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Contact, Dances With Wolves, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Backdraft, and Remember The Titans.
Ed Huguez, executive vice president, sales and affiliate marketing said “Encore HD On Demand has proven to be one of the more popular offerings on the VOD platform in terms of usage, we expect strong interest from consumers and customers in this new channel. Encore HD will be a ‘must have’ for those who love movies in HD.”
The standard-definition channel now has 31 million subscribers, many of which will be able to migrate to the HD channel.
