Starz announced that STARZ PLAY, the authenticated online TV Everywhere service for STARZ premium subscribers, launched successfully today on the Xbox One® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. STARZ PLAY is the first U.S. premium pay TV authenticated online service to launch successfully on both the Xbox One and Xbox 360.

STARZ PLAY Launched Today on Xbox One (“Outlander” Available for Sampling Now for All Xbox One Owner ...

STARZ PLAY Launched Today on Xbox One (“Outlander” Available for Sampling Now for All Xbox One Owners). (Photo: Business Wire)

The Xbox One is the second video game and entertainment console deployment for the Starz TV Everywhere service and another extension that brings the popular app and experience directly to the television. STARZ PLAY is available now in the United States as a free download in the Xbox Marketplace. STARZ PLAY launched on the Xbox 360 in December 2013.

The company’s other authenticated online services, ENCORE PLAY and MOVIEPLEX PLAY, are progressing in development and expected to launch on Xbox One by year-end 2014. ENCORE PLAY and MOVIEPLEX PLAY launched on the Xbox 360 in March 2014.

“Starz is very pleased to complete our development work on the Xbox One for STARZ PLAY ahead of schedule and offer a dynamic and rich user experience that takes advantage of many of the platform’s capabilities,” said Michael Thornton, Chief Revenue Officer of Starz. “STARZ PLAY has been a great success on the Xbox 360 platform with downloads and usage surging shortly after launch. Satisfaction and engagement of our subscribers has been tremendous. With an even more powerful user interface and improved voice and gesture support with Kinect, Starz has developed a robust STARZ PLAY experience on Xbox One that showcases and enriches our unmatched lineup of premium movies and STARZ Original series.”

The series premiere for the latest addition to the STARZ Original series lineup, “Outlander,” is available now for complimentary sampling on all supported platforms and devices with the free STARZ PLAY app.

The PLAY service device support is now available on a wide array of platforms for displays big and small including the Xbox 360 and Xbox One for TV viewing, PCs/Macs, and personal devices including iPhone, iPad & iPod touch and several Android handsets, tablets and other platforms including Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, NOOK HD, NOOK HD+ and select Google Nexus devices including the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10. For a complete list of supported devices, please visit assets.starzplay.com/devices.

STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY offer robust online monthly access to approximately 1,500 of the premier movies, originals, and additional TV episodes from the respective Starz premium services. Provided at no additional monthly charge, the three authenticated online PLAY services provide a suite of easy-to-use, online viewing options for STARZ, ENCORE, and MOVIEPLEX subscribers to enjoy the quality original programming and commercial-free movies offered on the respective STARZ, ENCORE, and MOVIEPLEX services.

STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY and MOVIEPLEX PLAY are accessible through 3G/4G cellular, Wi-Fi, and broadband connections. The PLAY services have a recommended minimum required bandwidth of 1Mbps, and a minimum 2.5Mbps for an optimal viewing experience. The STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY PC/Mac® interfaces are available at www.starzplay.com, www.encoreplay.com, and www.movieplexplay.com respectively.

More about the PLAY Services

STARZ PLAY offers more than 400 monthly selections, including 300 movies comprising first-run films from Disney (Frozen, Thor: The Dark World, Saving Mr. Banks, Monsters University) and Sony (American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Grown Ups 2, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones) and other great films from a wide selection of Hollywood studios, and 100 episodes of exclusive STARZ Original series, including “Outlander,” “Power,” “Black Sails,” “Da Vinci’s Demons,” and “Spartacus.” ENCORE PLAY offers more than 1,500 monthly selections, with 300 movies and select series (Underworld: Evolution, Mr. Deeds, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Unbreakable, “Murphy Brown,” “Magnum, P.I.”). MOVIEPLEX PLAY (American Gigolo, Look Who’s Talking, Throw Momma From the Train, Hannah and Her Sisters) offers additionally about 200 movies every month.

With simple and intuitive layouts and designs, the STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY applications offer fun and easy ways to enjoy the wide range of premium content offered on the STARZ, ENCORE, and MOVIEPLEX channels and services.

Family members can “PLAY” everything from great family films to the epic tale of “Outlander” and the dramatic energy of “Power,” on many new platforms in addition to television. Resume functionality allows the user to seamlessly pick up from where they left off in watching a great movie or TV show on any registered device in the account.

Easy set-up of parental controls provides families with options for limiting content accessibility. Menus, screens and commands are optimized for touchscreens to provide a fun, but efficient, means to drop down and swipe through the quality content selection and viewership controls. Facebook and Twitter integrations let fans talk about the latest episode of their favorite STARZ Original series or big hit movie.

About Starz

Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of June 30, 2014, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 55.9 million subscribers, including 22.0 million at STARZ, and 33.9 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.