Starz begins outlandish adventure

US cable network Starz is lining up a new scripted franchise after putting a fantasy adventure series from Sony Pictures Television (SPT) into development.

Chris Albrecht

SPT and Battlestar Galactica exec producer Ron Moore earlier this year teamed up to adapt the Outlander books written by Diana Gabaldon. Story Mining and Supply Co is on board to produce the series.

Now Starz has added the project to its development slate as the final season of its original scripted series Spartacus is due to launch in January.

Chris Albrecht, CEO of Starz, confirmed the network had picked up Outlander during a conference call to discuss parent Liberty Media’s Q3 2012 financial results.

“I am pleased to announce on this call a newly secured development project from our partners at Sony Television,” he said. “The historical fantasy series Outlander is based on the best-selling, award-winning series of novels from Diana Gabaldon.”

Gabaldon had earlier alluded to the fact SPT was speaking to premium cable channels such as Starz when she revealed the studio had started work adapting her novels.

She wrote on Facebook: “Yes! It is true; while final contracts aren’t yet signed, we do have a deal with Sony Pictures for development of a cable TV (as in HBO, Netflix, Starz, Showtime, whatever… that kind of thing) series.”

Liberty Media yesterday reported a 3% year-on-year revenue increase up from US$540m to US$555m for the third quarter. Net income for the three months to September 30 this year stood at US$1bn, up from a loss of US$42m this time last year. The turnaround in profit was attributed to earnings from affiliate businesses including Live Nation and Barnes & Noble.

At Starz, which also houses the Encore movie channel, revenue for the third quarter increased 3% to US$400m year-on-year, boosted by a 9% rise in subscribers to 20.8 million from 19 million in Q3 2011.

“On programming, Spartacus: War of the Damned, Da Vinci’s Demons, Magic City and The White Queen give us a strong pipeline of exclusive Starz originals that will kick off early next year,” Albrecht said.

Earlier this year Liberty Media revealed plans to spin-off Starz as a separate company, which will be completed by the end of this year, the financial statement noted. The results follows a number of changes in senior management at the company in the past week.