Starz Encore is an American premium television channel owned by Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Starz Entertainment Corp. (a namesake of the network) and headquartered at the Meridian International Business Center complex in Meridian, Colorado, United States. Launched as Encore on April 1, 1991, its programming features mainly older and recent theatrically released feature films, although some of its multiplex channels also carry acquired television series. It is the sister channel of Starz and MoviePlex.
, Starz Encore's programming was available to approximately 34.026 million U.S. households that had a subscription to a multichannel television provider (30.918 million of which receive Starz Encore's primary channel at minimum). Prior to 2018, Starz Encore outpaced HBO for the largest subscriber reach of any American premium channel. (According to February 2015 Nielsen estimates, Starz Encore had 40.54 million pay subscribers vs. HBO's 35.8 million subscribers.)
Starz Encore has a higher subscriber base than its competitors and sister channels because, although Starz and Starz Encore are often sold together in a singular package, some digital cable, telco and satellite providers offer the Starz Encore multiplex separately from Starz as part of an a la carte tier in which it is packaged with other commercial-free and advertiser-supported film-oriented channels (such as MGM+, FX Movie Channel and LMN). Therefore, Starz Encore subscribers do not necessarily have to subscribe to Starz in order to receive the channel.
History Early focus on 1960s, 1970s and 1980s movies Encore launched at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on April 1, 1991, on four cable systems that were operated by Tele-Communications Inc. (both TCI and Liberty Media, both of which jointly owned Encore initially, were controlled by John Malone). The channel debuted with an introduction by founder John Sie, who served as the president of the network from its launch until 1999 and CEO until his retirement in 2004, which was then followed by Encore's first movie telecast, the 1980 comedy film 9 to 5. Encore was the first major American premium channel to debut in almost 11 years, since Cinemax launched on August 1, 1980 – at the time of Encore's launch, Cinemax, HBO, Showtime and The Movie Channel were its only competitors (Encore was the only upstart premium channel that managed to gain any headway with those services; other premium channels that debuted prior to Encore's launch, such as Spotlight and Home Theater Network, were unable to compete with those four channels and would eventually shut down during the prior decade).
Initially, Encore focused on movies released primarily during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with some releases from the 1950s mixed in; the channel was formatted similarly to American Movie Classics at the time, with hosted introductions leading into the movie presentations. Breaks between films on Encore during its early years were quite lively, consisting less of promotions and more of trivia and nostalgia, fitting in with Encore's motto "The Movies of Your Life." The channel even ran an interstitial during breaks within its daytime schedule that informed viewers about programs that were scheduled to air on competing premium channels that evening in prime time. The channel had initially broadcast films from Warner Bros. Pictures (owned by Time Warner, which ironically is the parent company of rival pay services HBO and Cinemax), Columbia Pictures/TriStar Pictures, Orion Pictures, 20th Century Fox, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Paramount Pictures (which also ironically came under ownership of Showtime and The Movie Channel's then-parent company Viacom in 1994), Turner Entertainment, and MGM/United Artists. The channel was formatted as a "mini-pay" service, available to subscribers for a $1 monthly fee.
TCI initially offered Encore as a negative option, in which customers were required to notify TCI if they declined to subscribe to the channel full-time after an introductory offer, or TCI would automatically add on a $1 charge to their monthly bill, which would have then increased to $4.95 per month by May 1992. The negative option fee led to lawsuits filed against TCI by ten states, eventually causing the company to back away from utilizing the billing method for the channel. Many other cable providers were reluctant to offer Encore in its early years due to concerns that it would cannibalize subscriptions of other premium services. However, Sie positioned the channel as such that would bolster the growth of what had been a lagging pay television industry, as premium channels had been seeing a steady decline in subscribers overall since the late 1980s.
Around the time of its launch, there was some debate as to whether Viacom or TCI originally conceived the idea for Encore; Viacom executives insisted that TCI lifted part of the idea from Viacom-owned Showtime Networks (which would launch a similarly formatted mini-pay service, Flix, in August 1992). In a 1991 interview with Multichannel News, John Sie said that TCI brought up the Encore network concept as a way to revitalize Showtime, either by launching a new tertiary pay service from scratch, or overhauling the format of Showtime sister network The Movie Channel. Incidentally, TCI made a failed bid to acquire a 50% ownership stake in Showtime in 1989. Encore had increased its subscriber base to an estimated 7 million subscribers nationwide by 1996.
On January 1, 1997, Encore launched a new pay service called MoviePlex (originally named "Encore Plex" for its first few months on the air) which replaced a Liberty Media-owned network called INTRO Television, that ran blocks of programming from other cable channels. Until it adopted a separate film schedule on August 1, 2011, MoviePlex originally carried programming blocks from Encore's multiplex channels (which differed from that day's actual schedules for each channel to exclude R-rated movies) on a rotating day-to-day schedule. On June 2, 1997, TCI announced a deal in which it would transfer majority ownership of its Encore Media Group subsidiary to sister company Liberty Media, due in part to the significant profit losses incurred by Starz following that channel's launch – TCI retained a minority 20% ownership interest until its 1999 merger with AT&T Corporation, when Liberty Media assumed full ownership of the Encore Media Group. By May 1998, Encore had a subscriber base of 11.4 million homes with cable or satellite television.
Format change with addition of recent movies
As the channel aged, it adopted a more conventional presentation style: first in 1998, Encore began to carry two exclusive first-run feature film broadcasts each month, then Encore shifted its focus to hit movies as part of a major rebrand of the channel on May 24, 1999, primarily incorporating recent films, but with notable classics mixed in as well. By this point, Encore advertised itself as guaranteeing to air "a great movie every night", even setting up a special 1-800 number in which a $2.50 refund would be given to unsatisfied subscribers.
Encore eventually began to be sold as a hybrid service, offered as either a premium channel or a digital basic network depending on the provider, retaining the uncut and commercial-free nature of its programming. Through this change in distribution, the channel was eventually available in 25 million homes nationwide by September 2005. On November 19, 2009, Liberty Media spun off Starz and Encore into a separate public tracking stock called Liberty Starz. On August 8, 2012, Liberty Media announced that it would spin off Liberty Starz into its own separate, publicly traded company. The spin-off of the subsidiary was completed on January 11, 2013, with Liberty Starz changing its name to Starz Inc. as a result.
On April 5, 2016, Encore and its other multiplex channels were rebranded as Starz Encore, unifying the network under the brand umbrella of the channel that Encore ironically spun off in September 1994. With the rebranding, Starz Encore also began to carry reruns of Starz original comedy and drama series within its schedule.
On June 30, 2016, Lionsgate agreed to acquire Starz Inc. for $4.4 billion in cash and stock; the acquisition was completed five months later on December 8.
Channels
List of channels Depending on the service provider, Starz Encore provides up to thirteen multiplex channels – eight 24-hour multiplex channels, five of which are simulcast in both standard definition and high definition – as well as a subscription video-on-demand service (Starz Encore On Demand).
Starz Encore broadcasts its primary and multiplex channels on both Eastern and Pacific Time Zone schedules. The respective coastal feeds of each channel are usually packaged together (though most cable providers only offer the east and west coast feeds of the main Starz Encore channel), resulting in the difference in local airtimes for a particular movie or program between two geographic locations being three hours at most.
Channel Description and programming Starz Encore The main "flagship" feed; Starz Encore features movies from the 1970s to the present day including blockbuster movies, first-run films and some anime films. Starz Encore Classic Starz Encore Classic features a broad mix of classic movies along with some off-network television series from the 1970s to the 1990s; due to its carriage of the latter, it is one of only four Encore channels that currently airs series programming (consisting of sitcoms and drama series that air during the morning and primetime hours). The channel originally launched on July 1, 1994, as Love Stories, and focused on romantic comedy and drama films; it was renamed Encore Love on March 25, 2005. Encore Love was reformatted under its current name and format on December 2, 2013. Starz Encore Action Starz Encore Action focuses on action movies, martial arts films and horror movies; it also previously carried anime feature films (most with more intense violent content than those currently seen on Encore Family) until 2008. Starz Encore Action was originally called simply Action from 1994 to 2005. Starz Encore Suspense features mystery and suspense films as well as detective movies and series, film noir and neo noir. It is one of only four Encore channels that currently airs series programming (consisting of mystery series that air during the late evening hours). The channel, which has maintained the same format since its launch, was originally called Mystery from 1994 to 2005 and was later renamed Encore Mystery from 2005 to 2011. Starz Encore Family Starz Encore Family features live action, animated and anime films targeted at family audiences. Films broadcast on the channel are primarily rated G or PG (or the equivalent TV-Y, TV-G, TV-Y7 and TV-PG), although Encore Family does run select films with a rating of PG-13 or TV-14. Prior to its original launch on September 12, 1994, the channel had the working title Tweens, before its name was changed to WAM! America's Youth Network (later called WAM! America's Kidz Network from 1997 to 2005 and then Encore Wam from 2005 to 2011) prior to its launch; the "WAM!" name was chosen through a naming contest, serving as an acronym for "What Adults are Missing". As WAM!/Encore Wam until 2008, the channel also ran imported series aimed at children and teenagers during the daytime hours. Starz Encore Westerns Starz Encore Westerns features a mix of classic and contemporary western movies, as well as reruns of popular western series from the 1950s to the 1970s. It is one of only four Encore channels that currently airs series programming (consisting of classic western series thar air during the morning and late afternoon hours). The channel was originally called Westerns from 1994 to 2005.