Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Starz
Complete Coverage: TCA Summer 2016
Beverly Hills, Calif.-Chris Albrecht, CEO of Starz, drew on his long tenure running cable businesses during a TCA summer press tour executive session that covered topics like Emmy politics, the peak TV era, skinny bundles and the company's merger with Lionsgate.
The era of 400-plus scripted shows is wild, Albrecht said. But I try not to get caught up in what everyone else is doing because that's not what I'm hired to do. I'm hired to grow the shareholder value of Starz.
Related: Starz, 50 Cent Developing Superhero-Themed Series
Having been one of the main architects of prestige TV during his time at HBO, Albrecht still marvels at the pace of change. I've never experienced anything like it, he said. I take no credit for it happening. I'm swimming upstream just like everybody else is. Like many other execs at TCA, he poked Netflix, which kicked off the press tour by reminding everyone of its vast war chest. It'd be nice to have $6 billion to spend, Albrecht said.
By seeking innovative distribution deals and exploring minority-focused programming like Power and Survivors Remorse, which hasnt traditionally been a premium-cable hallmark, Starz has registered strong subscriber growth. As of the end of the second quarter, Albrecht said Starz was at 24.2 million subs and Encore about 32 million, placing Starz No. 2 behind HBO and ahead of Showtime. Stand-alone availability via Amazon and the company's own OTT app has also been encouraging, Albrecht said, though he did not reveal any numbers.
Related: Starz Renews The Girlfriend Experience'
It's not a horserace, Albrecht said. I have great respect for the folks at Showtime and what they do and the people who work on their shows. My point is that the Starz strategy is working and the conversation we have with distributors is that there are a lot of people out there who would like to subscribe to Starz, especially if it's packaged innovatively and in ways that are more affordable.
He added, As we've investigated the demographics of Starz fandom, we've found there are income brackets that might be challenged by the cable stack but would very much like to be Starz subscribers. With changes in the MVPD world and in the way we can distribute to potential subscribers, we find there's an audience out there.
Often outspoken, Albrecht became even more so when asked about the oversight of Starz shows by Emmy voters, notably Outlander, Power and Survivors Remorse.
Related: Starz Adds 200K Subs in Q2
He said the Emmy snubs were no surprise and expressed pessimism about an Americans-like breakthrough down the line. I don't think we'll ever break through with those shows, he said. I was part of the team that invented how to campaign for Emmy Awards. Trust me, it's not a level playing field. I spent years inside the TV Academy working it. It took a lot of money. And there's a certain momentum that goes along with that. That said, he added he remains incredibly proud of the work being done on our shows and it is award-worthy.
The TV Academy, he added, should have something that reflects this expansion [in the content pool] and not a continually reductive process that ends up with a longer list of losers and the same number of winners. Noting the company also went home empty-handed at the Golden Globes, he mused, What does it mean? I don't know. This is all silly.
The company's forthcoming merger with Lionsgate factored briefly into the session. From a content point of view, Starz will very much remain on strategy, and we'll be operating pretty much autonomously since it generates the bulk of the profit in the TV sector in the combined company, he said. Talent is the valuable currency in this business. IP comes through that talent. We will be able to be in business with that valuable currency and we will get better at monetizing that currency.
Related: Starz Sets Ending for Black Sails
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13 with guest ...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
04/12/2025
Lightware, a global specialist in AV connectivity, is looking back on a year defined by new advancements, strong collaboration and continued growth. Across the ...
04/12/2025
Riedel Communications today announced a new partnership with Haivision, a leading global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and visual col...
04/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann Engineering today announced a major milestone in their strategic collaboration, celebrating 20 successful broadband deployme...
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Starz 
