Starz Play Titles Now Available on Netflix

As announced late last night, Netflix is adding more than 2,500 titles from Starz Play. The first titles are now live on the Netflix website and include an impressive number of recent releases. You can see the entire Starz Play selection by clicking here.

What do you think of the new additions to Watch Instantly?

Comments

[andyg8180]

I seriously have absolutely ZERO reasons to get Cable TV in my house lol... I LOVE IT!!

[JLO]

I about crapped my pants. Wow. Wow. I now have virtually no reason to leave my home or couch or change clothes for an entire weekend.

[Kane]

This is GREAT news!

[Chris O.]

Some excellent titles on that list. Great move by Netflix.

[Mac User]

This is gret that Netflix is adding good movies to their Watch Now List, but more importantly, when will it work for Mac users?

[Jack]

Lots of new releases. Very cool.

[Tom Miller]

This is great! I was getting a little bored with the current content. I checked the new selections and now I have a bunch more titles that I want to see! Keep up the great work Netflix!

[Meg]

Wow, this is awesome. Thank god for Roku!!

[JMGNYC]

I was so excited about this until I actually watched one of the StarzPlay offerings. The quality is unwatchable. It's way, way, WAY below Netflix's other WI choices. The best I can say about it is that at least they're marked as StarzPlay so I can avoide putting them in my queue.

[Quiet Desperation]

Mac User: They also announced Mac support for Watch Instantly before the end of the year.

[Dr. Quasius]

I'm connecting to the Starz content at 2 dots, and the regular Netflix content at 4. This is not caused by congestion as I can switch back and forth and see the difference.

I'm guessing the Starz content is hosted on different servers that pump out a lower bitrate feed. The quality is lower because of this, but I am more than satisfied anyway.

[iPoly]

I love it! That's so cool! The Starz movie selection is great!

[Jeff R.]

Here's your mac support. Read the third paragraph.

http://blog.netflix.com/2008/10/new-content-to-watch-instantly.html

[AnnR]

This is really good news. I got rid of cable months ago and sometimes I'd miss Starz but now I don't!

[Ted]

I've watched a smattering of movies both new and old from the new Starz selections, and as far as I can tell the quality is consistent with the regular Netflix Watch Instantly catalog. Just fine.

The only difference you'll notice is a brief Starzplay logo at the beginning that lasts a few seconds.

[dcxbox]

netflix needs to work a deal with the WWE for wwe 24/7 on demand (the cable on demand service) and wwe lgacy on demand (the wwe.com classics service) and add the new weekly tv programs a day after they air on tv.

wwe would be huge for netflix streaming, since they are the highest rated programs on cable tv.

then add hbo and showtime

showtime would be cool since they are moving away from hollywood movies and more into doing only showtime originals and boxing and mma.

[CTD]

Every one I've tried is of such low quality as to be unwatchable.

[~h]

Shift+ B during loading, raise ur video quality.

[Edward R Murrow]

Uh, if you don't have cable then you ain't watchin' Dodgers versus Cubs in HD. Let's go Dodgers!

[BOHICA]

AWESOME!! I do have a question though...Are these "Starz" movies permanent additions to the watch instantly, or will the "Starz" selections vary as they do on the network? The other question I had, for those of you who canceled the cable...Do you have children and if so, what do they watch?

[BOHICA]

AWESOME!! I do have a question though...Are these "Starz" movies permanent additions to the watch instantly, or will the "Starz" selections vary as they do on the network? The other question I had, for those of you who canceled the cable...Do you have children and if so, what do they watch?

[ZeroCorpse]

I don't have cable, and I don't have kids, but I'd like to answer BOHICA's question by saying "What the heck do you mean?"

I grew up in the 70s and 80s. We had THREE channels in our area. THREE. No cable. No home video. Just three channels- CBS, NBC, and ABC. We were thrilled when the local college boosted their PBS signal so we could pull it in. We were ecstatic when FOX came onto the scene (by then we had a VCR, but no cable yet-- It wasn't out where we lived).

So I have to wonder why you seem to think kids couldn't survive without 100 channels. That is crazy talk. Hell, if you have kids, you should be limiting their TV input anyway, and making them read books or go out and play. Anything but letting TV raise them. Disney Channel is NOT doing you any favors.

"What do they watch?" I'd imagine between Netflix, Internet, DVDs, and video games, kids have a hell of a lot more entertainment available to them than I did when I was a kid. If I wanted to watch a movie in the early 80s, I had to actually beg to go to the theater. Sheesh! Kids are spoiled today. Six broadcast networks (at least) in digital high definition, tons of other sources of entertainment, and you wonder what kids watch without cable?

To everyone else freaking out over the quality of the Starz offerings: Just remember that this JUST launched, and their servers are probably getting pounded hard. Give it time and it will even out.

[Cosmop]

Starz movies are mostly crap. I want the Skinamax movies for Roku.

[Shelley]

The quality of the new movies is just fine, and comparable to other Netflix movies. The Starz movies are showing as 4 dots with my two Roku boxes.

This was a terrific addition to the Netflix lineup. Best of all, when Starz refreshes, we should see fresh content on Netflix. A much better deal than trying to make arrangements with each studio.

[jmess5]

Love the new selection. But, I didn't see any permanent link on NF's website to these movie yet. Is this still a (almost) well kept secret or are they planning some big media release blitz in the near future?

[Quiet Desperation]

Huh. They have the *subtitled* version of Paprika. That's the first subbed anime I've seen on Netflix streaming.

[Gir]

Actually I ran into subbed anime right away on WatchNow. All the Yamoto movies are subbed, and I believe all the Project AKO episodes are too.

I find it irritating to not have the choice. I can't multitask while watching subtitled video.

[Dr. Quasius]

@Shelly: Really, because I'm getting 2 dots on the Starz content. The normal Netflix content is giving me 4.

[Spack]

"netflix needs to work a deal with the WWE "

Ummm... Or not

[Andrew Wickliffe]

Are all the Starz movies pan and scan or only some of them?
I was real excited for a minute, but this seems like a bunch of crap.

[tdischino]

@ZeroCorpse

because network TV sucks for kids. PBS is about the only thing I would let my kids watch that isn't on cable. Sprout, Noggin, DiscoveryKids are all quality programming for kids, that actually lessen the harm of letting the boobtube babysit your kids. Few or no commercials on those channels minimize the brainwash factor, and they actually try to provide content that educates. As a product of 70s-80s TV, I can see a difference in what is being provided.

[Flealick]

@Andrew:

I've seen pan-and-scan movies (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), letterboxed movies that fill my HDTV screen (The Hurricane), and hard-letterboxed films with bars on the side and top/bottom (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World). No way that I can see to tell what a particular movie is other than to start watching it.

Pan-and-scan sucks, but it's the poor picture quality that's really disappointing. I'm assuming I'm getting 2 bars, but I don't know how to tell on the Xbox (using VMCNetflix). I hear holding some keys down forces high-quality streaming; any way to do that on an extender?

[JParker]

The quality is not the same. I kept getting audio clipping in UnderDog last night. I'm guessing there are some transcoding issues between the broadcast masters and whatever they are streaming to the roku box.

I am seeing small bright line halfway down the screen with a simultaneous audio clip. As anyone seen this in any other StarZ movies. I have not seen this error previously with watch instantly.

[Gir]

I have to agree with others here; the StarZ movies seem to be coming through lower quality. I tried to watch one last night and got one dot quality on repeated attempts. I never get one dot. I tried a non-starz title and got three dots.

I watched the starz title anyway. I didn't experience any audio drop outs or video glitches, but the one dot quality was pretty bad.

[Alex]

I was so excited I called and cancelled cable!!!! This is so awesome and will be even better when they offer On-Demand for the major networks. GO NETFLIX!

[BOHICA]

Hey ZeroCorpse...RELAX!! My Grandpa walked up hill both ways to school, 5 miles through the snow. EVOLVE, no one gives a shit that we used to have 2 channels on the TV. Kids aren't spoiled, they are fortunate to grow up in an age when technology affords them the opportunity to develop their minds and motor skills at such an early age. If you have some mommy and daddy issues, keep them to yourself and let the adults have a conversation!

[brack]

Well Said BOHICA. ;)

And I agree too that new additions are awesone but the video quality on my 22" LCD using my PC (With 10MB/1MB Internet) simply does not compare to the normal Netflix titles. The movies thus far have all been quite blurry and appear to be low resolution. :(

I'll still watch them due to the selection and.. the audio quality has been good.

I get many of the more recent titles via on demand on my HDTV so the really good ones I'll watch there.
Here's to hoping for better quality to come!

[Harold D Miles Sr]

IT IS GREAT.

[Ishtar]

I read a quote from Bill Myers, President of Starz Entertainment, where he said that he doesn't expect this agreement to have a negative affect on their cable and satalite business because, "Over the next several years we clearly don't expect to see people leaving their big televisions and big screens to watch Starz Play. This is a complimentary service."

Someone should inform him that NETFLIX'S INSTANT WATCH CAN BE STREAMED TO BIG TELEVISIONS AND BIG SCREENS!

[Matthew]

@JParker, you are not alone buddy. Some of the Starz movies are broken, and I had the EXACT same problem you did with Underdog. The clipping happens at exactly the same spots every time.

I reprinted it here, so everyone at Roku can see:

http://forums.rokulabs.com/viewtopic.php?p=101276#101276