Starz could go dark tonight for Verizon Fios subscribers, the network announced Wednesday. The two sides are engaged in an intense licensing negotiation, and with their current deal expiring at midnight ET, there’s a chance it will go dark for subs.
\n\nIn a statement, Starz said it “has been negotiating in good faith with Verizon on a distribution agreement” while Verizon, in its own statement, said “it is disappointing that Starz has chosen to publicly signal a potential channel removal while Verizon remains actively engaged in constructive discussions.”
\n\nThe premium service has actually shifted its business to more of a streaming model in recent years; the company closed the October-December quarter with 12.7 million U.S. streaming subscribers, up 370,000 customers from the previous period, with a total of 17.6 million across all platforms.
\n\nIn their statement, Starz warned that Starz channels, Starz On Demand and the Starz app were in danger of going away on Verizon Fios.
\n\n“Starz has been negotiating in good faith with Verizon on a distribution agreement that would ensure our shared customers continue to have uninterrupted access to Starz premium programming,” said Alison Hoffman, president of Starz Networks, said in a statement. “As an independent programmer…
Original source: https://variety.com/v/tv/