Starz Launches on iOS and Apple TV as Standalone Streaming Service for $8.99 Per Month

[mattopotamus]

Cord cutting is always a YMMV. I was paying $128 a month with uverse for 24mbps internet and a good channel lineup, granted a lot I did not watch.

Now I pay $70 for 1gbps internet, $14.99 for HBO, and $11.99 for Netflix, so $97. That saves me $30 a month and everything I watch is covered.

 

[Carlanga]

Starz only available in U.S, it's a start.. hope will be available in more places. Definitely gonna buy Apple TV now

I would! And the same people who don't want to pay money for overpriced services like Netflix and HBO, after all Starz was the one started the mini-series trend like Marco Polo and Game Of Thrones

Marco Polo is Netflix and game of thrones is HBO

 

[BJMRamage]

And this is why you need to start NOW getting up from in front of your Apple TV one night a month and attending your local city council meetings to tell them to get rid of franchising exclusivity for internet and TV providers. The only thing that is going to stop the cable providers from continuing to screw the consumers over is if there is competition.

BOY, if showing up and making a statement did anything in government, local-state-federal, then that would be SO AWESOME!!

MD is a very gerrymandered state...on all levels. My county government is DEEP into the pockets of developers and big businesses. We have watched and heard them listen to public opinion only to vote the same way they intended anyway. the police system here puts in who they want. Thankfully the ONLY kicker was Verizon Fios coming into the county...where Comcast and another smaller cable company previously 'owned'. it wasn't until FIOS came that suddenly Comcast gave what they advertised for years but never "had in my area". FIOS and COMBATS/Xfinity have the same [basic] quality and price here. so it is just a matter of price-warring between them on contract.

My parents finally got cable (technically FIOS) just last month and got the FIOS build-your-own TV package and it sucks. they were told they'd be getting "x" channels and don't.


I really think Internet providers should give unlimited data but based on speed. You want 10Mbps fine, you can split it between internet, streaming, TV, Phone how you wish. You want faster speeds or more speed to split between devices, upgrade to faster internet. Basically all the Triple Play packages use the same input, it just gets split once in the house to different devices.

 

[69Mustang]

Don't be so hard on yourself. You're not undeserved.

Ha! One little letter can change the whole game. Under served.

 

[rdlink]

BOY, if showing up and making a statement did anything in government, local-state-federal, then that would be SO AWESOME!!

MD is a very gerrymandered state...on all levels. My county government is DEEP into the pockets of developers and big businesses. We have watched and heard them listen to public opinion only to vote the same way they intended anyway. the police system here puts in who they want. Thankfully the ONLY kicker was Verizon Fios coming into the county...where Comcast and another smaller cable company previously 'owned'. it wasn't until FIOS came that suddenly Comcast gave what they advertised for years but never "had in my area". FIOS and COMBATS/Xfinity have the same [basic] quality and price here. so it is just a matter of price-warring between them on contract.

My parents finally got cable (technically FIOS) just last month and got the FIOS build-your-own TV package and it sucks. they were told they'd be getting "x" channels and don't.


I really think Internet providers should give unlimited data but based on speed. You want 10Mbps fine, you can split it between internet, streaming, TV, Phone how you wish. You want faster speeds or more speed to split between devices, upgrade to faster internet. Basically all the Triple Play packages use the same input, it just gets split once in the house to different devices.

It's not easy making local government accountable. But it's possible. Hell, it can be a healthier, cheaper and more rewarding activity than watching TV or surfing Facebook.

I agree with your point about unlimited data vs. speed. When I buy a data package from a provider they sell me a size of pipe for a specified period of time. To come back later and put data caps on it is unfair IMO, and should be illegal. I've maintained that for years.

 

[mlody]

Is the Starz app also available on previous ATV generations?

 

[Mackinjosh]

Who on earth would pay $9/month for starz? maybe $9/year?

Just saw 7 movies that I and my kid would want to watch. To do so via digital rentals would cost well over 30 dollars. If their movie selection is going to always be this good, 9 dollars a month is a steal. Definitely a far better proposition than HBO at 15 dollars and the incredibly lackluster Showtime at 12 dollars.

 

[mattopotamus]

Marco Polo is Netflix and game of thrones is HBO

I think the person you quoted meant they started the Mini series trend, like the shows Game of Thrones and Marco Polo. Those are not mini series though, so I am confused by his comment. Maybe he meant the mini-series trend like True Detective?
[doublepost=1459872459][/doublepost]

Just saw 7 movies that I and my kid would want to watch. To do so via digital rentals would cost well over 30 dollars. If their movie selection is going to always be this good, 9 dollars a month is a steal. Definitely a far better proposition than HBO at 15 dollars and the incredibly lackluster Showtime at 12 dollars.

I just looked, and their movie selection does seem pretty good. A lot of movies that I kind of wanted to see, but would not have paid to see them. HBO on the other hand gets the movies that I actually did pay to see.

 

[acctman]

DSL and Cable company data caps will be lowered and price will start to increase.

Also after you purchase Netflix for movies, Hulu for local tv, 1 or 2 premium live movie services (HBO, starz, etc)... You'll be at the cost of what cable would cost.

 

[garylapointe]

Is Starz a $8.99 a month service if you have cable or is it one of many channels that comes with a block of channels when you update to a higher tier level (premium) with your cable?

Gary

 

[mattopotamus]

DSL and Cable company data caps will be lowered and price will start to increase.

Also after you purchase Netflix for movies, Hulu for local tv, 1 or 2 premium live movie services (HBO, starz, etc)... You'll be at the cost of what cable would cost.

That is what you would think, but I just got an email from ATT that they increased my cap from 500gb to 1tb for free. If I want for $30 a month I can make the cap unlimited.

 

[Gasu E.]

A la carte supporters are going to slowly realize that getting what you want may not be the prize they think it is. Content owners are probably giddy. They will continue to get revenue from cable providers and revenue from cord cutters. Cable providers will get additional revenue from those exceeding their data caps. In a lot of cases the content provider and the cable company are the same entity.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. From a personal perspective, there's no advantage in a la carte. Four individuals with disparate tastes... my bill would be murderous trying to accommodate all those viewing habits. YMMV

I think the winning game for cable-cutters will be to subscribe to each of these services one month out of each year, then binge.

 

[mattopotamus]

DSL and Cable company data caps will be lowered and price will start to increase.

Also after you purchase Netflix for movies, Hulu for local tv, 1 or 2 premium live movie services (HBO, starz, etc)... You'll be at the cost of what cable would cost.

yet you get the premium stations that you want vs paying an extra cost for netflix, hbo, showtime.
[doublepost=1459873032][/doublepost]

I think the winning game for cable-cutters will be to subscribe to each of these services one month out of each year, then binge.

That is what my coworker does. She gets showtime when the show she watches ends, for 1 month only. Same thing with HBO.

 

[Gasu E.]

I would! And the same people who don't want to pay money for overpriced services like Netflix and HBO, after all Starz was the one started the mini-series trend like Marco Polo and Game Of Thrones

I hope that's satire...

 

[redscull]

And yet another batch of content becomes available without a cable service.

Cable companies might be raking it in today, but they're doomed over the long haul.

Except there is only one way for me to get a fast enough connection to stream data from services like this, and that's via the single cable internet provider in my area, and their data caps do a good job of encouraging me to watch shows on their "free data" cable tv service rather than streaming.

 

[mattopotamus]

Except there is only one way for me to get a fast enough connection to stream data from services like this, and that's via the single cable internet provider in my area, and their data caps do a good job of encouraging me to watch shows on their "free data" cable tv service rather than streaming.

That is a really big caveat. I am thankful I live in a major city. I have options, and can get Gigabit speeds from multiple providers. They are also giving generous data caps with unlimited options.

 

[2010mini]

Most of them benefit from the internet provider part; so they will continue afloat for few more years... I guess
[doublepost=1459866299][/doublepost]We are still missing an option to stream live sports independently (without prior cable or satellite subscription). Not a big fan of starz but in terms of available movies it might be a good complement to my Netflix subscription

Ummm..... You can stream NBA, NHL, MLB, Soccer, Tennis, Cricket without a cable subscription right now. Plus you get some NFL games free OTA.

 

[BJMRamage]

It's not easy making local government accountable. But it's possible. Hell, it can be a healthier, cheaper and more rewarding activity than watching TV or surfing Facebook.

I agree with your point about unlimited data vs. speed. When I buy a data package from a provider they sell me a size of pipe for a specified period of time. To come back later and put data caps on it is unfair IMO, and should be illegal. I've maintained that for years.

it can be rewarding and a very eye-opening thing to do/watch.

Wife and I used to be on Boards at our church and help there...now wife is on HOA board and that is quite the undertaking.
We'll be watching some friends of ours (kids about our age) who are going the cord-cutting way and testing the waters.

 

[mattopotamus]

Ummm..... You can stream NBA, NHL, MLB, Soccer, Tennis, Cricket without a cable subscription right now. Plus you get some NFL games free OTA.

This. Most big sporting events are on major networks, which are free OTA. For the NFL that means 2-4 day games on Sunday and Sunday night football is OTA (NBC) or works with the NBC sports app.

 

[BuffaloTF]

$35 for three channels. Premium ones, I know. But this "a la carte" TV thing doesn't seem to be off to a promising start.

Might save you a few bucks though depending on how much your provider would charge. I think DirecTV fetches 18 for HBO and 12 for Starz and Showtime, each.

 

[flux73]

People complaining about the pricing are forgetting one MAJOR thing. On cable, you can't turn the services on/off at will. With a la carte, you can subscribe to a channel for just one month, watch whatever you want, then turn it off. Plus, it doesn't require you to subscribe to channels you don't want. Last year, I watched Game of Thrones for a couple months, one or two other HBO movies, and then turned off my subscription until now when GoT is starting up again.

 

[2010mini]

Good. I've been waiting for this for a while. I don't have starz as part of my paid tv package. But between a friend of mine and my subscriptions we get all the channels by sharing our logins.

 

[nburwell]

Starz movie content is pretty good, so I'll definitely be jumping on this and download the app to my ATV4 later today. It'll put my iTunes gift cards to good use.

PS - I'm surprised that Starz doesn't have a free trial period like HBO, Showtime, Hulu, etc.

 

[aray182]

Does Starz have an app for those who get it through their cable package?

Yes, you can either purchase a subscription or sign in to your cable provider in-app

 

[mattopotamus]

Starz movie content is pretty good, so I'll definitely be jumping on this and download the app to my ATV4 later today. It'll put my iTunes gift cards to good use.

PS - I'm surprised that Starz doesn't have a free trial period like HBO, Showtime, Hulu, etc.

pretty shocked by this as well. I am going to give them a try nonetheless.