Starz and RealNetworks Launch First Subscription Premium Movie Service for
Broadband
Available for High-Speed Customers, STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies Offers 100
+ Movie Slate Including Blockbusters “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse
of the Black Pearl” and “Finding Nemo”
High-Quality, Convenient, Secure, On-Demand System Provides Best Way to
Combat Illegal File Sharing
Powered by RealPlayer 10 Technology, STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies Offers
Business Travelers and Consumers the Ability to Enjoy Hit Movies on the Road
Englewood, CO. and Seattle, WA — June 14, 2004 — RealNetworks, Inc.
(Nasdaq: RNWK) and Starz Encore Group LLC (Starz) today announced the
immediate availability of the first premium subscription movie service
delivered over high-speed broadband connections to PCs. Offering major,
recently released motion pictures, the service, called STARZ! Ticket on
Real Movies, is available at http://movies.real.com or www.starz.com.
STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies gives subscribers unlimited access to a
rotating library of premium, major motion pictures for only $12.95 per
month. Unlike pay-per-view services, STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies does not
charge a separate fee each time a movie is downloaded. Offered in
RealVideo 10 and through RealPlayer, movies will take as little as 20
minutes to download depending on the speed of the subscriber’s broadband
service. Additionally subscribers will have access to a streamed version
of the STARZ! linear service, marking the first time a premium movie
channel has been delivered simultaneously over broadband.
“Starting today, Starz and Real are delivering a breakthrough service that
gives broadband consumers a new way to watch movies whenever and wherever
they want,” said Rob Glaser, founder and CEO, RealNetworks “As the leader
in consumer media subscription services delivered over the Internet, we=92re
proud to be partnering with Starz to deliver yet another first to
consumers. Our Rhapsody service has already given hundreds of thousands of
broadband consumers the ability to listen to what they want, whenever they
want it, for one simple monthly price. STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies now
offers the same great benefits to broadband consumers who love movies.”
“In the cable and satellite world the ‘all you can eat=92 subscription
business model has proven to be much more popular than the transactional
pay-per-view model,” said Starz chairman, founder and CEO, John J. Sie.
“We are pleased to bring consumers STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies, which we
believe will fit well with subscribers=92 viewing habits and drive deploymen=
t
of high-speed broadband services We are also confident that the quality of
the broadband-delivered product will live up to the high standards
consumers have come to expect from Starz services.”
With Real’s Helix DRM, STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies is a secure service
that is both flexible for consumers yet offers solid protection for content
owners. “We have long been opposed to piracy, having seen the havoc it has
caused in the music industry. Offering a legal, high-quality, convenient
service at a great value is the best way to prevent illegal file sharing
and put the movie industry on the right path,” Sie noted.
Hundreds of Major Movies
STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies showcases at least 100 movies at all times and
includes hit films and favorite Hollywood classics from major studios.
STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies offers a weekly movie rotation of
approximately 25% of the movie lineup to ensure that new films are
regularly available. Hollywood studios supplying films to STARZ! Ticket on
Real Movies include Disney, Universal, MGM, Sony, Fox, New Line, Revolution
Studios and Miramax. Movies available over the first couple of weeks of
the STARZ! Ticket on Real Movie service include:
*Major hit motion pictures: Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean: The
Curse of the Black Pearl, Freaky Friday, Hulk, Gangs of New York, Chicago,
2 Fast 2 Furious, and Bringing Down the House
*Upcoming new titles include Lost in Translation, Mona Lisa Smile, Under
the Tuscan Sun, and Spy Kids 3: Game Over.
*Classic films including Taxi Driver, Alien (Director’s Cut), The Poseidon
Adventure, and A Raisin in the Sun.
The films are available in eight thematic categories so that customers can
easily access the type of movie they want. The categories include comedy,
action, drama, love stories, thriller, kids & family, Black STARZ! and
classics. Also included are movie extras such as celebrity interviews and
outtakes for some movies.
The service is available to consumers in the United States with a broadband
connection speed of at least 600 Kbps. This requirement, delivering the
best consumer experience, enables consumers to quickly download movies and
watch movies instantly on the streamed version of STARZ! linear service.
Consumers can watch movies on their PC or on a television linked to a PC
with an S-video cable. Other features of the service include:
*DVD functionality — fast-forward, rewind and pause
*Ability to view with RealPlayer in full screen or theater mode
*Flexibility in location — subscribers can download movies to as many as
three personal computers
*Subscriber-set parental controls based on movie rating
*Ability to schedule downloads overnight to maximize bandwidth usage
RealPlayer 10 and Helix DRM Provide Highest Quality and Security
STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies is delivered using RealNetworks high-quality
RealPlayer 10 technology for the best viewing experience. Content is
protected with Real’s Helix Digital Rights Management to give customers
seamless access to their video selections while protecting the rights of
content owners.
About Starz
Starz is the largest provider of premium movie services in the United
States with approximately 154 million pay units. Starz offerings include
the Starz Super Pak, with up to 13 digital movie channels and more than 750
movies per month, Starz On Demand, the only on-demand pay TV subscription
service available on the cable and satellite platforms, and its broadband
equivalent, STARZ! Ticket (sm). Starz also offers a suite of advanced video
offerings, including STARZ! HDsm , Encore HDsm, and Starz On Demand HDsm.
Starz is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation (NYSE: L,
LMCb), www.starz.com.
About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and
software including the award-winning Rhapsody Internet jukebox service and
RealPlayer 10. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming
and download RealNetworks’ consumer software at http://www.real.com.
Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use
RealNetworks’ products and services to create and deliver digital media to
PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks’ systems
and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.