Starz Entertainment, LLC, (Starz), a premium movie service provider operating in the United States has selected TANDBERG Television’s MediaPath Secure Content Delivery System to deliver the content for its on demand services.

 

Starz which was using TANDBERG Classic MediaPath system and has now migrated to a new MediaPath system all without interrupting its affiliates and has plans to offer a wider selection of content to its subscribers. MediaPath supports MPEG-4 AVC, content file and metadata format.

 

Starz offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz and Encore brands with approximately 17.4 million and 31.6 million subscribers respectively. The new upgrade will aid Starz to deliver more content to its affiliates at faster rates with DVB-S2 satellite delivery and other enhanced features. Moreover, an enhanced user-interface provides easy access to the added functions and increased option.

 

Ray Milius, Senior Vice President of Programming and IT Operations at Starz Entertainment said, “Staying competitive in the entertainment business means offering what viewers want, often before they know they want it. For Starz, that means we are constantly seeking ways to expand our programming options and searching for new technology to increase our competitive edge."

 

He said that the company chose TANDBERG Television's (News - Alert) next generation MediaPath system, because it supports the bandwidth needed to handle the amount of titles and formats that Starz delivers and offers flexibility to scale from their current needs to accommodate future requirements.

 

According to the company, media assets can be delivered to receiver locations serving set-top boxes, PCs, and mobile media players using MediaPath. The system offers content providers, network operators, and their affiliates, a scalable, end-to-end solution for the secure point to multi-point delivery of non-linear digital HD and SD TV programs as well as any other file-based content including VOD programs, advertising, music, and games.

 

“To achieve our goals for this new version of MediaPath, creating a more efficient delivery method for content distributed to both traditional and new TV platforms wasn't enough. It also had to support the existing key features and new delivery methods simultaneously, allowing customers like Starz and their affiliates to migrate to the new system on their schedule, not ours," said Al Nuñez, President of the Americas,TANDBERG Television.

 

Tandberg (News - Alert) Television, part of the Ericsson Group, has been recently named as IPTV Vendor of the Year in the Telecom Asia Readers' Choice Awards. The award was presented at a ceremony at the Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong.