Liberty Media, parent company of Starz Entertainment, has hired former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht to be the new President & CEO of Starz. The premium movie service provider is similar to HBO and Showtime; and, its main brands include Starz and Encore, which own 17 and 30 million subscribers, respectively.
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The news is worthy of note, because in addition to being the chief content architect at HBO – bringing in shows like Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and Entourage – Albrecht was also the organization’s main MMA proponent.
Albrecht left the organization in 2007, and the subsequent talks between the UFC and HBO failed to materialize a deal.
Note: This should not be taken as a sign that Starz will become interested in MMA, but rather a reminder that business agreements often succeed or fail on the basis of an entity’s ability to gain support and coalition build within an organization. The loss of a key supporter can often derail an agreement, because it destabilizes the entire support group.
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