In April, Starz took a cue from HBO Now and similar services and launched a standalone app, allowing cord cutters and anyone else without a cable or satellite subscription to watch its content for a monthly fee. The app launched on Apple TV as well as iOS and Android devices, but owners of other streaming boxes were left out.
Now the app’s potential audience has grown considerably with the launch of the Starz app on the Roku platform. As with other apps on the platform, this makes Starz available to owners of Roku devices like the Roku 4 and Roku Streaming Stick as well as Roku TVs.
Unlike HBO Now and HBO Go, there aren’t separate apps for cable subscribers and standalone customers. Instead, the Starz Play app has been retired from the Roku platform, and both cable users and cord cutters will use the same app. Customers can either authenticate using their cable or satellite subscription and have the app included for free as part of their programming package or pay $9 per month to use the service without any strings attached.
In addition to the base Starz channel, which features popular shows like Outlander and Power, movies and TV shows from Starz Encore and Movieplex are included as well, adding movies like The Equalizer, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Signs, and Never Been Kissed, and classic TV series like Magnum P.I., The Jeffersons, and Gunsmoke.
Original content has been a major focus for Starz as of late, and with Lionsgate’s $4.4 billion purchase of the network last month, it seems that will continue to be a major focus. Starz originals slated for 2016 include the TV series Outlander, Power, Black Sails, The Girlfriend Experience, Survivor’s Remorse, Blunt Talk, and Ash vs. Evil Dead, as well as the network’s first original movie, The Dresser.
The app is rolling out on Roku devices now, and if you aren’t already a subscriber and want to take a look, a 7-day free trial is available.
