Spartacus is coming to the app world soon, but he’s trailing Tony Soprano.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said yesterday that a new Starz app offering movies and original shows, such as “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” will be available for mobile devices starting in 2012.
Liberty Media-backed Starz will have to play catch up with Time Warner’s HBO Go app, which has been downloaded five million times since its launch in May 2011, offering shows like “The Sopranos.”
Like HBO Go, Starz’s app will require “authentication” and will only be available to Starz’s subscribers through their cable or satellite-TV company.
While rival streaming service Netflix is embedded in scores of devices and can be accessed via iPad and Android apps, premium services such as HBO and Starz are still negotiating with pay-TV providers to expand their online and mobile distribution.
HBO is still waiting on deals with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision while claiming 80 percent coverage in the US. Starz Online is available through Comcast, Dish and AT&T.
CBS-owned Showtime meanwhile only has deals with two distributors, Comcast and AT&T, for its online service Showtime Anywhere.