STARZ! HD Added to VOOM(SM) HDTV Service - Offers Commercial-Free, New Hit Movies in

[Gregg Lengling]

New STARZ PlusPack Offers 8 STARZ! and Encore Channels, Including East and West Feeds of STARZ! HD for Only $14.90 Per Month
Industry-First Carriage of Leading HD Hit Movie Channel on DBS Platform


ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and JERICHO, N.Y., Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Starz Encore Group LLC (Starz) and VOOM, the high-definition (HD) television service from Rainbow DBS, Cablevision Systems Corporation's satellite division, announced that VOOM has become the first satellite operator to launch STARZ! HD, the Hi-Def version of STARZ!, the premium channel that is "#1 in New Hit Movies."
VOOM carries both the East and West Coast feeds of STARZ! HD, in addition to the standard definition versions of STARZ! (East), STARZ! Family (East), Encore (East), Love Stories (East), Mystery (East), and Action (East), as part of its new STARZ PlusPack, available for only $14.90 per month with the VOOM service.

"STARZ! HD is a perfect addition to the impressive array of HD programming VOOM has assembled. Movies have always been the locomotive driving DBS. In the world of Hi-Def this will continue to be the case," said Starz Encore Group President of Sales & Marketing Robert B. Clasen. "At an attractive price point for both STARZ! HD feeds and a host of other Starz channels, VOOM is positioned with a very strong movie-based PlusPack with STARZ! -- the home of: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,' 'Finding Nemo,' 'Chicago,' 'Anger Management,' and more."

"The HD format provides the ultimate showcase for movies, which is why we are so pleased to be the first DBS company to offer STARZ! HD," said Mickey Alpert, chief operating officer of Rainbow DBS. "VOOM customers will now have access to even more great movies the way they were meant to be seen and at a great value when STARZ! HD is combined with a number of additional great SD channels from Starz in a VOOM Plus Pack."

STARZ! HD, transmitted in wide-screen 16x9 1080i with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, is the Hi-Def version of the flagship STARZ! service, showcasing a mix of recent Hollywood hits and other popular films.