Starz goes OTT with AT&T

Starz drama Outlander

US cablenet Starz has launched on telecoms giant AT&T’s OTT platform DirecTV Now, offering new and past episodes of its original series for US$8 per month.

The initial launch features such series as Outlander, Power and American Gods, alongside movies including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Inside Out and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

“With DirecTV Now, AT&T is opening up barriers to entry that prevented a wide swathe of audience from accessing our groundbreaking slate of originals and we are thrilled to work with them,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, chief operating officer at Starz.

In addition to VoD content, three live premium channels – Starz, Starz Encore and Starz Kids & Family – are also being made available on DirecTV Now.

AT&T launched DirecTV Now towards the end of last year to offer on-demand programming and access to more than 100 live-streaming channels from the likes of 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company.

In related news, AT&T Audience Network has greenlit a second season of sports documentary series Religion of Sports.

The new episodes will air later this year exclusively on DirecTV, DirecTV Now and AT&T U-Verse.

The second season will explore sports including soccer in Germany, rugby in New Zealand and basketball in LA.