DISNEY - STARZ TO OFFER HIGH-DEF MOVIES ON FOUR CHANNELS

STARZ TO OFFER HIGH-DEF MOVIES ON FOUR CHANNELS

Starz pay-TV channels plan to launch three new high-definition movie outlets beginning in September via corporate sibling DirecTV, the companies announced on Tuesday. The three channels -- Starz Comedy HD, Starz Edge HD, and Starz Kids & Family HD -- will join the existing Starz HD channel. Among the movies set to air on the channels are Disney's Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Sony's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. In a statement, Starz sales and marketing chief Ed Huguez said, "Lack of programming has for years hampered the growth of high-definition television. DirecTV's leadership role and recently announced breakthrough offering -- including the new HD channels from Starz -- is a landmark development that will open the HD era." Starz and DirecTV are subsidiaries of John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. There was no indication whether Starz was negotiating with cable companies to carry the HD channels.

06/06/2007