Starz to launch movie download service

• Cable network Starz Entertainment Group LLC said it plans to launch an Internet movie download service Tuesday, backed by partnerships with Microsoft and Sony, amid a race to offer more videos over high-speed Internet connections.
• The service, called Vongo, follows the debut of Apple Computer Inc.'s (Research) iTunes video service, which ignited interest across the media sector to make more video programming available at any time and anywhere outside of the living room.
• Vongo is not the first movie download service -- CinemaNow Inc. and the Hollywood studios-backed Movielink have been around for about five years.
• But it is one of the first to offer a rotating slate of feature films, which currently play on its cable channel, on PCs and portable media devices for a monthly fee.
• "This is more of an amoeba that needs to grow," Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group, said.
• Vongo, which will rely on Microsoft's (Research) Windows Media technology to provide copyright management and the ability to let customers watch movies on portable media devices, will also play a role in the evolution of Microsoft's portable media software technology.
• The service will be mentioned in Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' speech this week at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Starz executives said.
• Starz has access to about 40 percent of all first-run Hollywood films made available to cable subscription services such as Time Warner Inc.'s (Research) HBO and Viacom's (Research) Showtime.
• The cable network has deals for exclusives on new releases from Walt Disney Co. (Research) and Sony, typically a year after movies have been released in theaters.
• Vongo differs from the entrenched competitors which mostly offer movie download rentals on a pay-per-view basis.