Chris Albrecht


Albrecht: Starz ‘believes in consolidation’

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht has said the premium cable operation does “believe in consolidation” after US studio Lionsgate Entertainment earlier confirmed merged talks between the companies. Albrecht declined to directly add colour to Lionsgate’s filing last month, in which Lionsgate said the pair was exploring a “potentially mutually beneficial combination”, but did admit that M&A […]

Starz makes first US D2C investment

Premium cable player Starz has made its first US investment in direct-to-consumer distribution by taking a stake in on-demand streaming service Fandor. Starz already has a Middle Eastern SVOD service, Starz Play Arabia, but has to this point not made any such plays in its home territory. However, it has now led a US$7 million […]

Starz chief Albrecht predicts consolidation

Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht has told TBI he expects consolidation in the content space to continue in the next couple of years. He has also revealed that all episodes of several upcoming series will all roll out, in full, on the Starz Play on-demand service, allowing subs to binge-watch shows ahead of their […]

Albrecht’s Starz system

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht gives Stewart Clarke his views on whether there is too much TV, why big names are flocking to work with his channel, and whether a merger with a rival such as Lionsgate Entertainment or AMC Networks is on the cards.   TBI: You have ramped up originals since you joined Starz […]

Global Facebook launch for LeBron James comedy

The second season of LeBron James-inspired basketball comedy Survivor’s Remorse has launched internationally on Facebook, as it will not be geo-blocked. The first episode of the second run of the Starz half-hour series and new Patrick Stewart comedy Blunt Talk have been made available around the world through the social media platform via James’s and […]

Starz plans Havana noir with Banderas

US cable channel Starz and Entertainment One Television are working up a Cuban-flavoured noir drama with actor Antonio Banderas. Havana Quartet, which comes from Cuban writer Eduardo Machado (Magic City), who is writing a pilot and will executive produce alongside banderas and Peter Naderman of Nadcon Film and Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny of Sienna […]

Starz confirms global SVOD service for 2015

US premium cable net Starz will launch its planned international subscription on-demand service next year, with initial investment in the project totalling around US$20 million. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht confirmed the plans in a conference call for Starz’s third quarter, saying: “We believe there is significant value in pay-premium channels, but value is being constrained […]

Starz greenlights second Outlander

Outlander, Starz’s new fantasy drama, has had a second season greenlit following the Ron D. Moore show’s debut last week. Sony Pictures Television is returning to produce the second season, which will be at least 13 episodes and be based on Diana Gabaldon’s second book in the Outlander series, Dragonfly in Amber. The drama launched […]

Starz, FremantleMedia work up American Gods

Starz is working with FremantleMedia North America to adapt Neil Gaiman’s urban fantasy novel American Gods for television. US premium cable channel Starz has tapped Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) to pen the pilot script and Michael Green (The River). The pair will executive produce along with author Gaiman and FMNA’s Thom Beers, Craig Cegielski […]

Starz power

Starz is investing more in programming, reaching out to specific segments of the audience and looking at expanding internationally. Its CEO, Chris Albrecht, tells Stewart Clarke about the premium cabler and its latest drama, Power, which rapper Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson exec produces. That Starz went to MIPTV in April with CEO Chris Albrecht and […]