Starz Network Unveils New Logo, Name and Programming Strategy
Starting April 5, Starz is getting a facelift, featuring a new logo and new tagline - 'Starz: Obsessable."
Sibling Cabler Encore is also joining Starz under the same umbrella, also renamed, as Starz Encore, which will air previous seasons of Starz's original series alongside a library of classic films. All of Encore's multiplex channels will also carry the Starz name going forward.
This will equal to 14 Starz-branded channels. The network continues to build its subscriber-base with its original programming strategy which aims at under-represented audiences such as women and African-Americans.
The network has taken Showtime's spot to become the number 2 pay cabler with 23.6 million subscribers. Starz moves towards a digital viewership much in the same way as HBO and Showtime have been working toward.
"I liken it to taking the house down to the studs and rebuilding it," Starz global marketing and product planning president Jeffrey Hirsch said. "Every aspect of the house when you movie in has to be done. So all of that stuff is on that same timeline."
Shows like Outlander inspired the 'Obsessable' tagline, on the back of immense fan engagement for that and other original series'. "We just kept seeing on social, 'I'm #obsessed,' whether it was on the Starz pages or on our show pages," said Alison Hoffman, Starz executive vice president of marketing. "We thought there was something there."
Source; Variety
