Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Starz Launches Video Download Service

Englewood Colorado-based Starz Entertainment Group said today that it has launched a new, Internet video download service called Vongo. The firm said that the new service provides video download applications and broadband services for playback on Windows PCs, laptops, and portable media devices. Starz made the announcement today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held in Las Vegas, saying that the new Vongo service is priced at $9.99 per month, and will allow for movie and video downloads and streaming of the Starz TV channel. Starz also said that Vongo will support specific pay-per-view titles for download separately. The new services is based on Microsoft's Windows Media video format, and will also be a part of Sony's new CONNECT video service. Starz also said that its current Starz Ticket offering that it launched in 2004 with RealNetworks will continue, but that it will focus on Vongo for broadband access.