Starz will expand its Power universe by developing a prequel series that follows the origins of popular Power characters Ghost and Tommy.

The Origins series is the fourth spinoff of the Power franchise, following Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force. Power’s original Ghost and Tommy characters were played by Omari Hardwick and Joseph Sikora, respectively. Sikora reprised that role in Power Book IV: Force, which is currently filming its third season in Chicago. 

“As we approach the 10-year anniversary of Power, it is incredible to witness the enormous connection our fans have with the Power universe,” Starz president of programming Kathryn Busby said in a statement. “We can’t wait to see how Origins will further evolve this dynamic franchise while bringing fresh, gripping and expansive storytelling to our audience.” 

Sascha Penn will serve as executive producer for Origins, along with Courtney Kemp, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Mark Canton. 

Separately, Starz said Ghost will return for a fourth and final season on June 7 and released a Ghost preview. The seasons' 10 episodes will be split up, with the second part beginning on September 6.

“This explosive season of Ghost is a fitting crescendo in a decade of an immensely popular franchise -- fans will not be disappointed,” Busby said in a release. “While this marks the conclusion of one chapter, our commitment to the Power universe endures with more compelling storytelling on the horizon.”

Starz has renewed its drama series Power Book III: Raising Kanan in advance of its December 1 season three premiere.
 
The series, the second spinoff series from Starz's Power franchise, has already begun production on its fourth season. Power Book III: Raising Kanan tells the origins of Power character Kanan Stark and his entry into the criminal world through his mother, who ruthlessly runs the family's drug empire, according to Starz.

Also Read: ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Returns; ‘Thriller 40’ Hits Screens: What’s Premiering This Week (Nov. 27-Dec. 3)

MeKai Curtis stars in the series along with Patina Miller, Omar Epps, London Brown and Malcolm Mays. Power creator Courtney Kemp serves as executive producer for Power Book III: Raising Kanan along with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Sascha Penn, Mark Canton, Chris Selak and Kevin Fox. 

“We’re thrilled to continue Kanan Stark’s story, and for fans to see how the events of his formative adolescent years continue to mold him into the cold-hearted villain they were first introduced to in Power," Starz original programming president Kathryn Busby said in a statement. "We are quite sure that after viewers see the battle lines being drawn between Raq and Kanan on this epic upcoming third season that they will demand more.” 

Starz will continue to build on its Power universe with the September 1 second season rollout of Power Book IV: Force.

The series will continue to follow popular Power character Tommy Egan, played by Joseph Sikora, as he looks to conquer Chicago’s drug world after cutting ties in New York, according to the network. 

Power Book IV: Force also stars Isaac Keys, Lili Simmons, Shane Harper, Kris Lofton, Carmela Zumbado, and Manuel Eduardo Ramirez.

The series is executive produced by Gary Lennon, Courtney Kemp, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Mark Canton, Terri Kopp and Chris Selak.

Starz has renewed Power Book IV: Force for a second season. The show, a Power spinoff about Tommy Egan leaving New York and elbowing his way into the Chicago drug game, debuted February 6, and the premiere had 3.3 million multiplatform views, the network said, a Starz record.

Joseph Sikora portrays Egan. “As Tommy leaves New York after losing Ghost, LaKeisha and the only city he's ever known, he makes a quick detour to close an old wound that’s been haunting him for decades,” goes the Starz description. “What was supposed to be a quick stop turns into a labyrinth of family secrets and lies Tommy thought were long buried.”

“Fans have been eagerly awaiting Joseph’s return as the iconic Tommy Egan and from the show’s record-setting debut, it was clear right away that they want to see another season of him taking on this new city,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, president and CEO at Starz. “We are thrilled to have Joseph back in the Power Universe and to be expanding the world with a new tapestry of power players brought to life by our fantastic cast.”

Isaac Keys, Lili Simmons, Gabrielle Ryan and Shane Harper are also in the cast. 

Gary Lennon will be showrunner and executive producer in season two. Power Book IV: Force is executive produced by Courtney A. Kemp, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Mark Canton in addition to Lennon. The Power universe series are executive produced by Kemp through her production company End of Episode, Jackson through G-Unit Film and Television, and Canton through Atmosphere Entertainment MM. Terri Kopp and Chris Selak will also executive produce. 

Lionsgate Television produces the series. ■ 

Starz has renewed its Power spinoff series Power Book III: Raising Kanan for a second season prior to the drama series' July 18 premiere.

The series, the second spinoff from the Power universe behind Power Book II: Ghost, follows the early years of Power character Kanan Stark, portrayed in the original series by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, said the network. The series stars Patina Miller, Mekai Curtis, Omar Epps, London Brown, Malcolm Mays and Hailey Kilgore.

Sascha Penn will serve as executive producer alongside Jackson and Courtney Kemp, said Starz.  

“One season isn’t enough to tell the coming of age story of Kanan Stark and his mother, Raq, a fierce and successful woman who is a force of nature,” Starz president and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch said in a statement. “The anticipation globally for more of the Power universe made it clear that the Kanan story needs to continue.” 

When Starz’s hit series Power concluded its sixth and final season in February 2020, it finished as one of the top-rated series on premium TV and the platform’s most-watched series among African American viewers. 

Power, with its diverse cast, was the network’s most successful series, but it wasn’t Starz’s only inclusive show. The programmer, in fact, overindexes on people of color and women featured in lead roles when compared to the rest of the industry, with such dramas as the Power spinoff Power Book II: Ghost, as well as P-Valley, Outlander, Hightown and American Gods, according to UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers. 

Other shows formerly on the service — such as Vida, produced by Tanya Saracho and featuring a predominately Latin cast; the LeBron James-produced Survivor’s Remorse; and The Spanish Princess, developed by Emma Frost — offer evidence that Starz is no Johnny-come-lately in its on-screen commitment to diverse images and storylines. 

CultureX Awards: Google’s Juanjo Duran: Leveling the Playing Field for Diverse Programming | Viewers See More of Themselves in ‘Access Hollywood’ | Juan Williams Brings an Alternative Voice to Fox News

Not willing to sit on its diversity laurels, Starz in February announced its intentions to lead the diversity conversation both in front of and behind the camera through its #TakeTheLead campaign, which sets out to create a template for how the industry can achieve its representation goals. The network’s continual commitment to diversity and inclusion has earned Starz the CultureX Corporate Commitment to Inclusion in Television Award. 

“It’s our corporate responsibility to really try to make an impact in society and to improve representation on and off the screen so that the Hollywood world looks more like the world we live in today,” Starz president and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch said. “It’s not just a tagline — it’s who we are and what we do everyday. It’s really our single focus in terms of the organization.” 

Sharing Best Practices

Starz plans to launch a series of “Transparency Talks” with various media organizations and featuring thought leaders versed in diversity to discuss best practices toward improving inclusion efforts. The talks will culminate later this year in the Starz Summit, which will showcase the company’s own commitment to creative diversity through offering opportunities to the next generation of voices. 

“We hope that we have great participation from the industry and the public, and really bring great conversation and debate around these topics,” Hirsch said. 

Starz looks to lead by example. A recent report from the Center for Scholars & Storytellers shows just how Starz has executed its vision for greater ethnic and gender representation in all aspects of the company. 

More CultureX Conversations: ‘CultureX’ to Celebrate Diversity, Inclusion | Byron Allen Wants to Save the World | Charting the Course of TV Representation

The report found that, on-air, 63% of series leads for Starz’s original series are people of color, more than 78% above the industry’s average. Further, 57.9% of character leads in its series are women, well above the 45.2% industry average. 

“We have a very specific programming mandate to showcase narratives about women and underrepresented audiences on air,” Hirsch said. “I think it’s really important that if we are going to serve that audience, you need to show that you are authentic to that mission.” 

Behind the camera, nearly 50% of Starz show directors are people of color — 77% more than the industry average — and 43.7% are women. More than half of the network’s showrunners are women, and 47.1% of the executive producers for its shows are people of color, both well above the industry average. 

Behind-the-Scenes Efforts 

The network’s mandate to foster more diversity within its company also extends to the executive offices, Hirsch said. Three quarters of its executive leadership team are women, with 50% of those women people of color. 

He added the numbers are a great starting point, but he hopes to continually improve on them going forward. “It’s a mandate that we use to make all of these decisions in the company,” he said. “I do believe that these numbers will continue to increase as we start to put more shows on the air that fit our mandate.” 

Indeed, already in development for Starz is another Power spinoff, Raising Kanan; the Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson-produced series Black Mafia Family; as well as new drama series Shining Vale from writer Sharon Horgan and starring Courteney Cox; The Serpent Queen, based on the life of French Queen Catherine de Medici; and comedy series Run the World, created by African-American producer Leigh Davenport. 

“I’m very excited about the slate of programming and I’m eager to get into it,” Hirsch said.” 

 Starz will look to take a leading role in the television industry’s diversity and inclusion efforts with the launch of its #TakeTheLead initiative featuring monthly discussions on the topic as well as an industry-wide summit, according to Starz President and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch.

The network’s move is bolstered by a recent report from UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers that says the premium service’s commitment to diversity has led to 75% of its executive leadership team being women, with people of color representing 50% of those executives. The study also reports that 63.2% of the leads in Starz’s original series are people of color, and 57.9% are women. Behind the camera, 54.6% of showrunners at Starz are women and 45.5% are people of color. 

Starz will kick off its series of “Transparency Talks” in April, which will feature discussions with organizations and thought leaders from around the country. The talks will culminate in the Starz Summit later this year which will showcase the company’s creative diversity and commitment to the next generation of voices, according to network executives.

Hirsch spoke about Starz’s diversity commitment to Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead. He also provided a preview of the network's upcoming 2021 programming slate.

Read Also: Starz Streaming Subscribers Reach 14.6 Billion Globally

What are you looking to accomplish with the #TakeTheLead initiative? 

TakeTheLead is really who we are and what we do with our deep-seated, ongoing commitment to narratives by, about, and for women and underrepresented audiences. For us, we think we can make a really positive impact in society. It’s our corporate responsibility to really try to make an impact in society and to improve representation on and off the screen so that the Hollywood world looks more like the world we live in today. We're just really excited to kind of step up and start trying to be a role model for [the industry].

Was there a particular moment or issue that spurred Starz to develop the #TakeTheLead initiative?

I think we’ve been talking about this for a long time. It goes back eight years when we started to develop original programming and made a decision to focus on fresh and underrepresented voices as a way to differentiate the company, and it built from there. We're at the point now, based on everything going on in the world and the success that we've seen, that we feel like we have a responsibility to highlight what we're doing and how we're doing it and help others. The Transparency Talks are a great way of working with the [companies and people] that we're partnering with, whether it's Melissa [Goodman, Director of Advocacy at the ACLU of Southern California] or Colleen [Bell, Executive Director of the California Film Commission], to bring a lot of these issues to the forefront, to have great conversations and to bring unique perspectives that will then culminate in the Starz Summit that will bring it all together. We think that's a really responsible and great way for Starz as a corporate citizen to highlight ways that we do things differently or to help folks with other perspectives to see that this can be done and done well.

What stands out the most to you from the UCLA survey?

We have a very specific programming mandate to showcase narratives about women and underrepresented audiences on air. I think it's really important that if we are going to serve that audience, you need to show that you are authentic to that mission. So I'm pretty proud of the fact that 63% of our series leads are people of color, 54% of our showrunners are women and 48% are people of color. Also 49% of our directors are people of color and 45% are women, but I think that number should be two up to two-thirds because we want to have a lot more representation in the director's chair, and we'll be working towards that. I'm really proud of the fact that 75% of my direct reports are women, and half of them are people of color. I'm very proud of what we've been able to build there in leadership.

How do you continue to build on that momentum within Starz, and what does the network’s 2021 slate look like in terms of development within continued restrictions due to the pandemic?

We've got 15 shows up and running in production -- two in the U.K., one in Scotland, one in Prague, one in New York, one in Chicago, one in North Carolina, three in Atlanta, one in L.A. and so on. We’ve got great protocols in place, and the talent, crews and employees are following those protocols to stay safe. We’re continuing to push forward on production. We started and completed two shows last year during the pandemic that will come on air shortly. We feel really good about the production of our shows. We're coming into I think the strongest slate in the history of Starz starting this summer. I'm really excited about the Power spinoff [Raising Kanan]; I’m excited to see [Black Mafia Family]; I’m really excited to see what producer Katori [Hall] does with season two of P-Valley, and we have Shining Vale from Sharon Horgan with Courteney Cox. I’m very excited about the slate of programming and I’m eager to get into it.

In general, how do you see the industry bouncing back from the pandemic? How long before we get back to some sense of normalcy?

I don’t think we ever get back to normal as in where we were. I think we've all learned and adapted during the pandemic. I think there are new models that have shown that we can distribute content differently and all continue to be successful. So I think that will continue the evolution of [streaming], and time shifting viewership will continue. Now that we have all of the broad-based streaming services launched with the exception of Paramount Plus, the competition for that first SVOD service in the home will be fierce over the next 18 to 24 months, which I think puts Starz in a really unique position as a premium add-on and to be a partner to all of those companies. We’ve become an even more important part of the ecosystem in the new world, so I'm excited about that as well.

Stars has renewed Power spinoff Power Book II: Ghost for season two. Courtney A. Kemp is the creator and showrunner. She executive produces alongside Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. 

Power Book II: Ghost premiered Sept. 6. 

“The success of Ghost right out of the gate is a tribute to the quality of Courtney’s storytelling, the strength of the Power franchise and the loyalty of our incredible fans,” said Christina Davis, president of programming, Starz. “What Courtney, Curtis and their team have accomplished in creating the Power Universe is nothing short of extraordinary. It is a privilege to be able to continue the journey of Power with the audience and we look forward to delving deeper into this world in exciting new ways for many seasons to come.” 

More: Starz Extends 'Power' With Spinoff Series

The premiere season of Ghost is broken in two, with the mid-season finale airing Oct. 4 and five more episodes airing later this year. 

“I am incredibly humbled by and grateful for the response from our Power fans -- the best fans in the world, period,” said Kemp. “To have our fans return -- and bring new viewers to the first spinoff in the Power Universe -- is a dream come true. Back in 2012, 50, Mark [Canton] and I were warned that a premium series with leads of color would never work for a global audience. But we've proven everyone wrong -- and thanks to Starzplay, we have fans in the UK, France, Mexico, Brazil and beyond, all plugging into the Power Universe.”

Power ran for six seasons before its finale earlier this year. 

“When I had the idea to create the Power Universe I knew there were going to be many levels to its success,” said Jackson. “I am glad the fans agree. I am looking forward to releasing Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force soon.”

Kemp and Jackson executive produce along with Mark Canton, Chris Selak and Danielle De Jesus, Shana Stein and Bart Wenrich.

Starz is part of Lionsgate. 

Comcast Xfinity customers that had subscribed to Starz will have to sign up for the services separately on Feb. 11.

Starz carriage agreement with Comcast was set to end on Dec. 31, but the two reached a new deal on Dec. 23 that kept the service available to the cable operators video customers through the series finale of popular drama Power. That finale aired on Feb. 9 and the network has announced plans for three new spinoff series from the show.  

Starz will no longer be a part of Xfinity’s premium lineup as of Feb. 11. After that time Xfinity customers who still want Starz will have to purchase the premium service’s app, which retails for $8.99 per month.

According to people familiar with the deal, Comcast and Starz continue to work on providing a path and incentives for an orderly transition of shared customers to a la carte. That includes offering those customers transitioning out of packages to subscribe to the Starz app for $5 per month for six months, rising to $8.99 per month after the promotional period. 

The Dec. 23 agreement also included a deal for Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit to license Starz and its parent Lionsgate Entertainment content for its Peacock streaming service. NBCUniveral also agreed to license its content to Starz in the U.S. and its international streaming service, Starz Play.

Related: Peacock Shows Its Plumage

Earlier last year, Comcast expanded its carriage deal with premium service Epix, which triggered some speculation around the fate of its Starz deal. Epix has since been added to those Xfinity packages. 

Starz announced several new cast members for its Power spinoff series, Power Book II: Ghost.

Several cast members from Power -- which ended its six-season run Sunday with the series finale -- will join the Power Book II: Ghost cast, including Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq St. Patrick, Shane Johnson as Cooper Saxe and Naturi Naughton as Tasha St. Patrick, according to Starz.

They will join previously announced cast members Mary J. Blige and Cliff "Method Man" Smith as part of Power Book II: Ghost, which follows Tariq as he navigates his new life, in which his desire to shed his father’s legacy comes up against the mounting pressure to save his family, according to Starz. Previews for Ghost say it is coming this summer.

Other cast members include Daniel Bellomy (The Real MVP: The Wanda DurrantStory); Paige Hurd (The Oval, Hawaii Five-O); Melanie Liburd (This is Us, Gypsy); Justin McManus (Star); Woody McClain (The Bobby Brown Story, The New Edition Story); Lovell Adams-Gray (Coroner, Slasher) and LaToya Tonodeo (The Oath).

Power Book II: Ghost is one of four Power spinoff series set for Starz: Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel taking viewers to the 90s with the Kanan Stark character; Power Book IV: Influence follows Rashad Tate, played by Larenz Tate, in his pursuit of political power; and Power Book V: Force shows Tommy Egan, played by Joseph Sikora after he leaves New York.

Starz president of programming Carmi Zlotnik is leaving the company after nearly 10 years at the helm, the network confirmed Monday.

Zlotnik, who oversaw the development and production of such Starz hits as Power, Outlander and Vida, will leave his post by the end of the month to “pursue new creative endeavors,” according to network officials. Zlotnik will continue to consult with Starz to support the transition.

Carmi joined Starz in 2010 after a stint at IMG as head of operations for Global Media. While at Starz, he had a hand in developing several of the network’s biggest shows while fulfilling the network’s strategy of reaching under-served audiences. Along with African-American targeted Power and female skewing Outlander, Zlotnik also oversaw the development of such original shows as American Gods, The Girlfriend Experience, The White Queen, and Black Sails.

“Carmi’s track record speaks for itself. He has been a valued member of the Starz team for nearly a decade, helping to build the Starz original programming team and strategy from the ground up while also serving as a great creative partner, mentor and friend to so many,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, Starz president and CEO. “We remain grateful to Carmi for his contributions and commitment to Starz throughout his time here and wish him continued success in his next chapter.”

Cable networks and streaming services will kick off 2020 with a number of new and returning series.

On tap for New Year’s Day is the return of BBC America’s iconic sci-fi series Doctor Who, while Netflix debuts two original series Messiah and Spinning Out.

On Jan. 4, Netflix will resurrect an iconic vampire legend in Dracula, a new series co-produced by the BBC. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting this week on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Jan. 2 -- Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning (documentary) -- Lifetime

Jan. 3 -- Anne With an E (returning series) -- Netflix

Jan. 5 -- Power (returning series) -- Starz

Lionsgate-owned Starz Wednesday warned of a potential its 17 channels could be dropped by Comcast next month after the MVPD announced an expansion of its deal with Epix.

The expanded deal calls for Comcast to add MGM-owned Epix to to select Comcast Xfinity TV premium packages on Dec. 10 and a newly launched suite of ScreenPix channels on Dec. 12, featuring uncut and commercial free movies channels from the Epix library, including ScreenPix; ScreenPix: Action; ScreenPix: Westerns; and ScreenPix: Voices, a channel dedicated to diverse voices.

To make room for the Epix channels, Starz says Comcast is considering dropping the premium service and related channels from its lineup as of Dec. 11. 

Starz Wednesday released a statement saying that it had been diligently working with Comcast to reach a “fair market distribution agreement with Comcast Xfinity” but the MVPD has ignored “industry precedent and has demonstrated a total disregard for its customers, communities, suppliers and other stakeholders.”

The Starz statement added: “In response, we must now alert our millions of Comcast subscribers that they will soon lose all 17 Starz channels, including Starz and Starz Encore along with our on-demand and online services without receiving any refund from Comcast for the loss of an irreplaceable premium programming lineup.”

Comcast responded that it is “continuing to negotiate to reach a deal with Starz that makes sense for us and our customers before our current deal expires, but we have been unable to do so at this time. Over the last decade, the video marketplace has evolved dramatically, with more and more streaming and direct-to-consumer offerings marketing themselves as an alternative to traditional cable. We have seen the streaming marketplace grow from essentially two services to dozens of significant OTT platforms, with more launching all the time. Starz has chosen to change its business model in response to these trends by making its content available a-la-carte on Amazon Prime and Roku and selling its service direct to the consumer through the Starz app. All we are asking for is the same treatment for our customers.”

Comcast has complained about Starz's distribution strategies before. In 2016 the MVPD objected to the $8.99 per month Starz app, which also doubles as the premium service’s authenticated “TV-everywhere” extension. Comcast has declined to authenticate the Starz app for its subscribers.

Starz also battled with Suddenlink and Optimum parent Altice USA over the app's pricing, leading Altice in 2018 to drop Starz services for five weeks before finally reaching an agreement. 

RELATED: Starz, Altice Reach Carriage Deal 

If dropped, Comcast subscribers would lose access to Starz original series such as Power, currently in its final series run, and Outlander, as well as thousands of movies. Finding a way to resolve the dispute will be a key objective for Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch, the former Time Warner Cable executive who was promoted from chief operating officer last month. Lionsgate also has reportedly been exploring a possible spinoff of Starz.

For Epix, the deal offers more distribution for its premium services. “I’m thrilled to welcome this new chapter in Epix’s relationship with Comcast,” Epix president Michael Wright said in a statement. “We have a shared commitment to providing viewers an unmatched experience and are excited for Xfinity TV customers to experience Epix’s lineup of new original series.” 

Pictured: 50 Cent (left) and Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch at a Madison Square Garden premiere of Power. Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Starz.

Starz has promoted former network COO Jeffrey Hirsch to president and CEO, the network said Thursday.

Hirsch, who joined Starz four years ago and was promoted to COO in 2016, will oversee business and programming strategy for Starz. Hirsch, who has been running the network since the March departure of former CEO Chris Albrecht, has overseen the increase of Starz’s domestic subscriber base to 24.7 million from 23.5 million and has continued growing the Starz OTT service, currently at 4.4 million subscribers, according to the network.

RELATED: Starz President/CEO Albrecht is Leaving

Since Lionsgate’s acquisition of Starz in December 2016, Hirsch -- a former Time Warner Cable executive who joined the company in July 2015 as president of global marketing and product development -- has played a lead role in integrating Starz into the Lionsgate family and exploring opportunities for the two companies’ combined suite of OTT offerings, according to the network.

“Jeff continues to lead Starz’s transformation into one of the world’s premier subscription platforms,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer in a statement. “He has a clear strategic vision, great understanding of where our business is headed and strong relationships that will all contribute to Starz’s continued strong growth and evolution.

On the original programming front, Hirsch has already greenlit three new series, including female produced/written shows Dangerous Liaisons, dark comedy Shining Vale and a Power spinoff series starring Mary J. Blige in a lead role. In addition, Hirsch has greenlit a third season of drama series The Girlfriend Experience.

A number of scripted series will make their return with new episodes this week as the summer television season winds down.

Starz’ Power will debut Aug. 25 with its sixth and final season, while on the same day Showtime’s The Affair premieres its fifth and last season. HBO’s Ballers will also bow its fifth season on Aug. 25 along with the fourth season of Hallmark Channel’s drama series Chesapeake Shores.

Also returning this week for its final season is Netflix's controversial drama series 13 Reasons Why, premiering Aug. 23.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting this week on cable networks and streaming services:

Aug. 21 -- American Factory (documentary) -- Netflix

Aug. 21 -- Ghost Hunters (reality) -- A&E

Aug. 23 -- Jawline (documentary) -- Hulu

Aug. 24-- Hitsville: The Making Of Motown (documentary series) -- Showtime

Aug. 25 -- On Becoming a God In Central Florida (comedy series) -- Showtime

Starz has released the official video trailer for the sixth and final season of its popular drama series Power.

The series, which returns on Aug. 25, follows series protagonist James "Ghost St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) as he seeks vengeance after being betrayed by his former drug partner and brother in arms Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), according to the network. Also starring in the series are Lela Loren, Naturi Naughton, Rotimi, Alani “La La” Anthony, Jerry Ferrara, Shane Johnson, Michael Rainey Jr. and Larenz Tate.

Power is executive produced by Courtney Kemp, Gary Lennon, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Mark Canton, Randall Emmett, Shana Stein and Bart Wenrich. 

Starz will end its most watched drama series Power with the show's upcoming sixth season, which launches in August, the network announced Thursday.

The series will finish with a 15-episode sixth season debuting Aug. 25, the network said. Power, which is executive produced by Courtney Kemp and Curtis “50-Cent” Jackson, is the second most-watched original drama series on premium cable networks behind Game Of Thrones, and the number one rated show among African-American viewers, according to Starz.

Starz president of programming Carmi Zlotnik in a statement hinted about potential Power spinoffs in the near future.

“Season six brings us to the end of what we know is just the first chapter of the Power story. However, as one chapter comes to an end, another will begin,” said Zlotnik. “Courtney Kemp and 50 Cent have created a world rich with complex and dynamic characters and there are a number of stories we plan to tell as we continue to explore and expand the Power universe.”

The upcoming season will mark the directorial debut of Jackson, as well as the return of director Anthony Hemingway (The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story), who helmed the first two episodes of the series when it debuted in 2014 and will helm the show’s finale, according to Starz.

The series stars Omari Hardwick, Lela Loren, Naturi Naughton, Joseph Sikora, Rotimi, Alani “La La” Anthony, Jerry Ferrara, Shane Johnson, Michael Rainey Jr. and Larenz Tate.

RELATED: Courtney Kemp, 50 Cent discuss their hopes and vision for Power's future (Video). 

Premium service Starz has succeeded in part by creating original content targeting underserved audiences, from its most-watched series Power, targeting African-Americans, to its freshman hit Vida showcasing the Hispanic and LGBTQ communities. Starz president of programming Carmi Zlotnik recently spoke to Multichannel News about the network’s continuing efforts to offer quality, original programming to diverse audiences, as well as the challenges that cable networks face in an uncertain, changing television environment. Here’s an edited transcript of their conversation.

MCN: Is Starz where you want it to be at this moment with regards to the breadth and diversity of programming?
Carmi Zlotnik: I’m really proud of the programming that we have on the air, but it’s never at a point of being finished; it’s always a work in progress. We’re looking to mean more things to more people, and we’ve got a lineup of shows that has really worked in terms of our strategy of going after underserved audiences. We have Outlander, Power and American Gods that have all performed great. Vida and Sweet Bitter have been very targeted and reached their audiences. So now we’re looking at the next wave of programming and thinking about what the possibilities are for our channel, which seem limitless.

MCN: Who are some of the underserved audiences that haven’t been addressed by Starz’s current lineup?
CZ: One of the things we’re working on is The Continental, which is coming out of the John Wick universe, and we’re really excited to get a show that should have huge appeal across a broad spectrum. I think that’s also an important goal for our channel.

MCN: Power remains your most-watched show. Why does it continue to attract audiences?
CZ: It’s a great story with great casting and great execution. I think [creator and executive producer] Courtney Kemp has written complex characters in a world that has real consequences to it. When I think about the performances that are going on there, Omari [Hardwick] is just fantastic in the way that he can embrace this character of Ghost. I think Joe [Sikora] is a huge fan favorite. Lila [Loren] and Tori [Naturi Naughton] have their fan bases, and the way that the show has evolved in Courtney Kemp’s hands is just impressive to see. The story goes to places that you never thought possible, and even I as an executive who’s done a lot of TV am continually amazed at Courtney’s ability to write herself into a corner and then write her way out.

MCN: What challenges do networks continue to face in a very crowded and unpredictable environment?
CZ: I think the key is to differentiate. You’ve got to look at what everybody else is doing and then do something different. I think the key question you have to ask yourself is, “What have I not thought of? What is out there? What voice, what story, what character, what way of presenting and executing has not been tried?” You’ve got to continually push that edge.

The Fifth Season of Power, the edgy street drama on Starz, is underway. The series depicts the glamorous lifestyles of the rich in Manhattan, juxtaposed with dodgy figures in the international drug business. 50 Cent is an executive producer and is in the cast as well, playing Kanan, thuggy frenemy to main character James “Ghost” St. Patrick, who is working to go legit after a heady run in street crime.

The fourth season of Power averaged 9.3 million multiplatform viewers. Created by Courtney A. Kemp, the show has averaged 7.4 million viewers throughout its run, growing each season. “It’s our most-watched show,” Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht said.

In this golden age of TV, what makes a hit is determined by the wattage of the star, and few shine like Queens-born Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent. The rapper, who exploded on the hip hop scene with the album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003, is now rocking TV, and is the engine behind Power’s success. “He’s smart, he’s focused on business, he’s creative and he’s hard-working,” Albrecht said. “He really understands the industry, and understands the audience. This guy is the consummate professional.”

Albrecht describes 50 Cent as “an idea machine and a talent magnet.” He has a number of shows in development at Starz, including BMF, short for Black Mafia Family, and Vanguard. He’s also executive producer on The Oath at Sony Crackle, that network’s most watched new original drama that explores the world of gangs and secret societies within police ranks.

Kemp calls him “the heart and soul of the show” and a “hands-on” executive producer. “He reads every script, watches every cut, and has strong relationships with the actors and the crew,” she said. “He’s the crew’s biggest cheerleader and everyone loves working with him. He’s early every day he’s required on set — never been late, no entourage, no attitude.”

Head of G-Unit Film and Television, 50 Cent will direct the Power season six premiere. He picks his projects carefully: “I’m a guy who’s really conscious of only wanting to be a part of projects that have that artistic integrity and that you’re proud of later.”

Days before season five of Power kicked off, 50 Cent spoke with Multichannel News in his Midtown Manhattan office about that show’s allure, his other projects, and why Power might be more of a hit than Game of Thrones. An edited transcript follows.

MCN: The subway I rode over here was decked out in Power advertising. What’s that like for you, a guy from New York, to see a subway ad or a billboard for your show?
50 Cent: It’s great. Even with music [before], seeing billboards and stuff like that, it was like, yoooohhhh — a different kind of excitement. Now it’s the subway, and the last season, we had a lot of [ads on] tour buses. The connection to New York is important. We decided to make it a character in the show, instead of just making it a location. New York is a melting pot — you find every kind of person here.

MCN: What about the new season has you excited?
5C: There’s no one who can’t get hurt. So it is really capturing the lifestyle. The person that was least expected to get killed, got killed last season. The Raina character, she was the only innocent person in the whole show. [Laughs.] Like, completely innocent, she was the only one.

MCN: I can’t believe you’re laughing! Raina got killed!
5C: It was crazy! But Courtney, she’s really calculated. It’s a skill set to think that far in advance. When we started, she had the season arc until season six. Now it’s just putting the colors in and doing the details of it.

MCN: I want to get a better idea of what you bring to Power as an executive producer. Are you weighing in on the scripts?
5C: I read [the scripts] before we start, get the season arcs early on, each character’s arc, and then I communicate with the talent. I spend more time troubleshooting things before they actually get bad between the acting talent and the production itself. They’ve been playing these characters for five years. I feel like they know the character as well as the writer does, and they don’t understand where it’s going a lot of times. Sometimes the actors have their own ideas of how they would do something or how they feel at different points. They don’t want to say it to Courtney, because she’s the boss. If you say it, and it doesn’t go over the right way, then she has an issue with you. And you don’t want that ... You don’t want to go to work under those circumstances.

For my character, I’ll ask, can I say this like this? Because the way it was written, it may be difficult for me to get it out. It’s just word changes; I’m not trying to alter what’s actually happening. If I change it around to make me more comfortable, I don’t feel like I’m actually acting. I’ll go sit in the writers’ room. I want to hear how they’re thinking when they’re putting it together so I can make legitimate arguments. Having me play a recurring character gives [actors] comfort with talking to me, [rather] than talking to an executive. They think, “I can tell him, he’ll understand, because he’s under the same circumstances as an actor.”

MCN: Why has the show been successful?
5C: People identify with the flaws in the characters. And the pacing of it makes it unique. The first season was a lot slower because Courtney was establishing the characters. Then it sped up in the second season.

And I think we’ve achieved what a lot of programs haven’t, [defying] the laws of cinema, the laws of Hollywood, that say the elite can’t die. Bruce Willis don’t die, Sylvester Stallone can hang off a chopper [and not die]. Moving trains, all these things can happen and they will be fine.

MCN: So with your various businesses — music, vodka, clothing — where does the TV work rank?
5C: You see the money they give you in television — oooo, it’s exciting. It’s good. When that happens, you go, “Whoa, wait a minute — I gotta prioritize things a little different.” I’m making a lot of money from television. I have three projects in development at Starz.

I have The Oath at Sony Crackle; we’re approaching season two. I have a few other projects just floating, but I have some things right now that I know are potentially bigger than what I’m working on. I have BMF, Vanguard and a third series at Starz that’s really good.

MCN: Do you feel like Power has gotten fair treatment from the awards people?
5C: No. Absolutely not. I didn’t care about the awards in my music career. I had the largest debut hip hop album, and my first television project is the highest rated show on the Starz network. Now, all of a sudden, they’re listening a lot harder when I’m talking to try and figure it out. It’s difficult to hit the bull’s-eye. The targeted audience demo, boom! Got it. After Power comes out like that, the executives working on Empire at Fox borrow from the marketing to [launch] it. And to be honest with you, if I was an executive at Fox, I would’ve borrowed from the marketing also. It’s not reinventing the wheel, we want to make something that works.

MCN: Does it bother you that the awards people have not given Power more respect?
5C: It does. It made me focus on the numbers. If they don’t acknowledge you, then you go, “OK, I’m gonna make it the biggest show.” They gave me additional energy for marketing purposes. Because if you know you created something that’s great, and then people just decide not to acknowledge it, you go, now I’m gonna promote it and make it the biggest show. Like, I have nothing to do but this now.

Do you know how difficult it is to make the No. 1 show? The only thing you could say is ahead of it is Game of Thrones. But that’s not as big a hit as Power is for Starz because, if you look at the Game of Thrones effects budget, how much money they’re spending just on effects — I’d rather be the Starz network and have Power than spend the money that has to be spent to have the hit over there.

MCN: Have you had a mentor in the television business?
5C: I looked at [film producer] Avi Lerner’s model initially. He wouldn’t even read the script, [but would ask], Will Stallone do it? He knows what he can sell. Without a frame of film being shot, he knows what he can actually get from the territories that he is selling it to.

MCN: If you could change one thing about television, what would it be?
5C: No one has ever delivered a script and [the network] said, this is fucking great — just leave it. Music — simplicity is the key to your hit. So, “Go shorty, it’s your birthday,” that’s not rocket science. It just comes out organically when the music is in front of you. You write your idea, take the time to get the idea out, and it’s right! And you submit it, and they feel like it’s their job to change it. So they’ve got to change it. They give you notes and they change it around.

MCN: What are you watching?
5C:Billions. Without being in the financial space, you can embrace the idea and make it real. The girl with the short hair [Asia Kate Dillon], she’s like a robot. It’s interesting, her choices in how to play the character.

MCN: What made you want to work in television?
5C: [Making a season of] premium cable is like making 10 films, 10 R-rated feature films. I would do network television. Obviously, it’s got great financial upside. But premium cable is as graphic as our culture is.

MCN: Since Power first premiered, do you feel like the white audience is more open to a show with a black cast than they were back in 2014?
5C: Absolutely. But I wasn’t trying to make a black show. I was just trying to make a great show.

When Starz launched its gritty, urban drama series Power in 2014, it was unclear whether viewers would embrace the exploits of a drug kingpin turned nightclub owner.

Fast forward to today, and Power -- the brainchild of producer Courtney Kemp and rapper/entrepreneur Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson -- has gone on to become Starz's most-viewed series, and the most watched series on premium cable among African-Americans.

In this 2016 interview. Kemp and Jackson discuss their hopes and vision for Power's future. 

Starz has renewed its popular drama series Power for a sixth season, the network said Tuesday.

The series, from creator, executive producer, and showrunner Courtney Kemp and executive producer Curtis ’50 Cent” Jackson, will return for its fifth season on July 1, according to the network. 

"As Power wraps production on season five, we want to acknowledge and thank our spectacular Power team for producing another great season,” said Starz president of programming Carmi Zlotnik in a statement. “We are also pleased to announce a pick-up for season six.”

Power, which stars Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton and Lela Loren, averaged 9.3 million multiplatform viewers per episode in its fourth season and is the most watched franchise for Starz, averaging 7.4 million multiplatform viewers for all four seasons, the network said.

Last month, Emmy Award-winning director Ava DuVernay — in accepting the NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year — saluted by name several of her fellow African-American directors and producers currently helming cable, broadcast and streaming TV series, before stating a sentiment felt by most everyone in the packed Los Angeles auditorium: “This is our time.”

Arguably, at no point in the history of television has the influence of African-American women been felt so much, both in front of and behind the camera. Scripted series, movies and documentaries created by African-American women are making a lot of noise as the ranks of actresses, directors, writers and producers continue to increase across all platforms.

From DuVernay’s OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network-produced series Queen Sugar to HBO’s sophomore comedy show Insecure from star/producer Issa Rae to Courtney Kemp’s successful Starz series Power and Lena Waithe’s new Showtime drama The Chi — which received a second-season commitment last week — black women are getting a chance to tell their stories from the screen, the director’s chair and the writing room.

Related:Keeping TV One in Front on the Movement|Black History Month: What to Watch

‘Black Women Are Amazing’
“The world is catching up to what we knew all along; black women are amazing, and they create powerful characters on-screen,” Connie Orlando, executive vice president and head of programming for BET Networks, said. “It’s much more than a movement — I think the world is finally seeing the talent black women have, as well as the breadth of stories that we haven’t told yet and need to be told.”

Some of those African-American female-helmed shows have gone on to win hardware for their creators during the recent wave of industry awards shows.

• Along with her Image Awards accolade, DuVernay earned an Emmy Award last September for her Netflix documentary 13th.
• Waithe was the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series for her work on Netflix’s comedy series Master of None.
• Kemp’s Power took home three NAACP Image Awards, while Janine Sherman Barrois (TNT’s Claws) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (Fox’s Shots Fired) won Image Awards for outstanding writing.

Shows directed and produced by or featuring African-American women in lead roles continue to proliferate on the television landscape — and not just on African-American targeted networks BET and TV One.

General entertainment networks like WE tv, OWN, VH1 and Bravo have developed both scripted and reality content featuring black female stories and images — from Braxton Family Values to Greenleaf to Love & Hip Hop to Real Housewives of Atlanta, respectively — that have resonated with viewers across all demos.

“If this were 20 years ago, people would say, ‘Well, there’s Issa Rae, and that’s all we need,’ ” Phoebe Robinson, co-executive producer and co-host of HBO’s comedy special 2 Dope Queens, said. “But now Insecure can exist along with [theatrical film] Girls Night Out and 2 Dope Queens. This is a great time for creative content and I just think it will keep changing for the better.”

MCN Original Video: Content Spotlight on '2 Dope Queens'

And, as the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements continue to affect change within the entertainment industry, African-American women are increasing their own numbers on the small screen.

Black female actresses in speaking roles comprised 19% of all female lead roles during the 2016-17 TV season, up from 16% in 2015-16, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.

Black women were well-represented within the 13% of African-Americans directing television episodes during the 2016-17 season, part of a record 22% of all television episodes directed by people from ethnic minority groups during the period, according to the Directors Guild of America.

Actress China Anne McClain (Disney Channel’s Descendants 2) said she sees a change in the environment as more acting opportunities are becoming available to African-American actresses.

“I really hope it’s not just a trend,” said McClain, who currently stars in The CW’s superhero series Black Lightning. “I hope it’s a movement that’s actually changing because it’s very important to represent real life on television.”

MCN Original Video: One-on-One in 2 With China Anne McClain

The recent success of African-American women behind the scenes in particular has yielded unprecedented long-term development deals. In August 2017, Netflix shocked the television world by luring prolific showrunner Shonda Rhimes away from ABC — where she developed the network’s successful Thursday-night lineup of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder — and signing her to a multiyear production deal.

Starz last May signed Power creator Kemp to an exclusive, multiyear development deal. Starz programming president Carmi Zlotnik compared Kemp to veteran broadcast TV producer David E. Kelley — a “full-package” showrunner with multiple talents.

Heading into its fifth season this summer, Power — led by Kemp and co-creator Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson — is not just the most watched show among African-American viewers on premium cable. It also is the third highest-rated premium show behind HBO’s Game of Thrones and Ballers, according to Starz.

Kemp “has transcended the role of writer to become a showrunner in the sense that she’s got the creative ability, she’s now got the management ability and she’s a great spokesperson for her show,” Zlotnik said. “Those three things make up the trifecta to me, and you don’t always get those altogether.”

Zlotnik said there will be more high-profile development deals with African-American female producers and directors similar to those for Kemp and Rhimes, as the industry looks to capitalize on the appeal of diverse stories and images.

“I think we’re going through a sea change where inclusion and empowerment are expectations, not special gifts,” the Starz executive said. “I think that it’s not just because the industry sees the social benefit, but I think they see the business benefit.”

That certainly rings true in looking at overall viewership trends for television content. Adult African-American women watch 51 hours, 36 minutes of television a week, well above the 36 hours, 38 minutes viewed by all adult women, per Nielsen’s recent African-American Diverse Intelligence Report.

Further, African-American women gravitate toward TV shows with celebrities or multidimensional characters of color, with all top-rated cable and broadcast shows among black women featuring either predominately black casts or a black lead.

Show like Fox’s Empire and OWN’s The Haves and The Have Nots, for example, rank among the top five highest-rated shows among the group, according to the report.

“This audience hadn’t been spoken to in the way that they’re being spoken to today,” said OWN president Erik Logan. “Reaching [African-American women] was one of the driving factors for why Oprah wanted to have a network, and I think if you look at the success that we’re having by talking to that audience and others are having by trying to speak to that audience as well, I don’t see that there’s going to be a day or time where that just goes away.”

OWN has three shows among the top 10 most-watched shows among black women during the 2016-17 season: The Haves and the Have Nots; the DuVernay/Winfrey-produced drama Queen Sugar; and If Loving You Is Wrong, according to Nielsen.

With other targeted shows like the drama Greenleaf, which features Winfrey in a recurring role, as well as OWN’s new relationship dramedy series Love Is ___, Logan said the network is well positioned to effectively reach an audience that distributors will continue to covet going forward.

“We now are creating content for a segment of women — specifically African-American women — who watch a lot of television and have not seen themselves on the screen in the way that they are seeing themselves now,” Logan said. “By continuing the relationship that we have with them and continuing to put programming on so that they can see themselves, it’s going to be one of the driving factors of OWN’s success in the coming years.”

BET last September rebranded its Centric TV network as BET Her, the first cable network primarily targeting African-American women. It’s the perfect platform to develop original content for that audience, including the return of the Queen Latifah-produced docuseries From the Bottom Up, Orlando said.

“It serves as the focal point for current events, given the moment that we’re in right now in entertainment with #MeToo, and we have big plans for the network’s original content,” Orlando said.

Lots of Project Activity Now
A number of projects created and produced by African-American women have recently launched or are slated to debut later this year on cable, including TV One’s documentary series Two Sides from Emmy award-winning actress Viola Davis, as well as upcoming projects from Power’s Kemp (ABC’s Get Christie Love), Mara Brock Akil (OWN’s Love Is ___) and Misha Green (HBO’s Lovercraft Country).

Also, the pool of talented African-American women actresses, producers, writers, directors and showrunners will also expand as opportunities open up on all platforms.

2 Dope Queens’s Robinson said that streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube are also providing opportunities for African-American women to showcase their talents. The 2 Dope Queens format, hosted by Robinson and Jessica Williams, started as a podcast before HBO picked it as a four-part special; part one debute on Feb. 2.

“What’s great is now instead of waiting for the gatekeepers to choose what goes in front of viewers, we have choices,” Robinson said.

Added BET’s Orlando: “Now that these women have a chance to tell their stories there’s no turning back because you can’t deny the quality and the commitment of these talented women in front of and behind the camera.”

Actor/director Tyler Perry took to Facebook Tuesday to chastise Altice USA for removing Starz from its systems as part of an ongoing carriage dispute between the two parties.

Related: Altice Fires Back at Starz FCC Petition

Perry referred Altice USA's customers upset over the Jan. 1 removal of Starz to visit the website keepstarz.com to register their complaints or to call the MSO directly. Perry specifically referenced the loss of Starz’s popular drama series Power, adding that New Yorkers in particular make their dissatisfaction with the removal of Starz known to the MVPD.

The Starz premium channel has been dark to Altice USA’s Optimum subscribers in the greater New York City area as well as to Suddenlink customers since Jan. 1 after the parties failed to reach a carriage agreement. 

 “This is not right – you’re just going to take Power off the air – we love this show and you’re just going to take it off the air, and we’re paying the same amount?” Perry said in the Facebook post. “It ain’t cool.”   

Altice reacted by sending a previously released statement calling such tactics “unproductive public spin” to mislead consumers regarding the dispute. That statement follows.

"We are disappointed and surprised that Starz continues to engage in unproductive public spin to mislead consumers after they spent the last few months insisting on terms that would force the majority of our customers to pay for programming that they don’t watch. Despite numerous attempts by Altice USA to reach a deal, Starz refused all offers, including many offers to extend our current arrangement. We would be delighted if Starz would allow us to offer and promote their channels to any and all of our customers who want them, which they have rejected.  At the heart of this issue is our customers’ desire for greater flexibility and choice in our video bundles, and we will continue to advocate for their interests and to change the current model imposed by programmers. Luckily, any of our customers who want to watch Starz can do so by subscribing directly to their OTT service, which makes it all the more surprising that Starz wouldn’t enter into an agreement with us to help them promote their own product.”

Related: Starz’s Chris Albrecht Calls Altice USA ‘Disingenuous’ in Carriage Dispute’

The video comes after Power producer/star 50 Cent’s video post on Instagram this past Friday of him contemplating ramming an Optimum cable technician van in New Jersey.

Altice USA said Starz wanted rate increases that would make it difficult to compete with the channel’s own standalone app, which is available for $8.99 per month. Optimum charges $11.95 per month for Starz service.

Rapper, producer and entrepreneur Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson took the ongoing carriage feud between Starz and Altice USA seemingly to an extreme Friday, posting a video of himself following an Optimum cable technician van in New Jersey and apparently contemplating ramming the tech’s vehicle with his own car.

Whether Jackson, who serves as a producer and co-star of Starz original series Power, was joking or not — and a lot of his followers appear to think he was joking — Optimum parent Altice USA clearly was not amused. “The safety of our employees and customers is our number one priority and it is outrageous that a commercial dispute has led to the threat of violence against our employees,” Altice USA told Multichannel News in a statement. “This behavior is reprehensible and should not be tolerated, and we will do everything in our power to protect our employees following this public threat of violence.”

The Starz premium channel has been dark to Altice USA’s Optimum and Suddenlink customers since Jan. 1 after the parties failed to reach a carriage agreement. Altice claims that Starz wanted rate increases that would make it difficult to compete with the channel’s own standalone app, which is available for $8.99 per month. Optimum charges $11.95 per month for Starz service.

The video shows Jackson, acting in a manner similar to his gangster character Kanan in Power, driving behind an Optimum service truck, making several profanity laced statements and threatening to ram his car into the back of the truck.

“I’m fina start running down on these n****s. LOL #denofthievesintheaters,” Jackson wrote in a comment on the post. Den of Thieves is a movie starring Jackson, Gerard Butler and Pablo Schreiber that opened in theaters Friday. Jackson plays Levi Enson, one of three elite criminals who set out to rob the Federal Reserve bank in Los Angeles.

Starz declined to comment. Power, according to some reports, has a strong following in the New York area -- where Optimum operates -- and stands to lose a large chunk of viewership the longer the blackout lasts. That may be the reason Jackson appears so upset in the video. This isn't the first Instagram post he has made about the carriage dispute -- he has made others urging customers to contact Optimum to get Starz back on the air.

This is just the latest  in what is becoming an increasingly contentious battle between Starz and Altice USA. Earlier Friday, Starz said it had filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to force Optimum to carry Starz because it did not give customers 30 days' notice that the channel was going to be blacked out. Altice USA said the charges were without merit.

Starz’s Power and ABC’s Black-ish dominated the television category for the 49th annual NAACP Image Awards, held Monday night.

Including televised and non-televised awards, ABC won six NAACP Awards, which celebrate the accomplishments of people of color. Starz, TV One, HBO, Fox, Netflix and Spike TV took home multiple awards. 

Blach-ish won five total awards, including Best Comedy, while Power won three statuettes, including best drama, according to the NAACP.

Producer/Director Ava DuVernay (Netflix’s 13th, OWN’s Queen Sugar) won the Entertainer of the Year Award during the ceremony, televised live by TV One. In her acceptance speech, DuVernay recognized other producers of color such as Shondra Rhimes and Lena Waithe for developing, successful, quality projects featuring diverse images and stories. “This is our time,” DuVernay said.

NAACP Image Award Winners In the television Category:

Outstanding Comedy Series

"`black-ish" (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson - "`black-ish" (ABC) 

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series

Tracee Ellis Ross - "`black-ish " (ABC)

Outstanding Drama Series

"Power" (Starz)

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series

Omari Hardwick - "Power" (Starz) 

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series

Taraji P. Henson - "Empire" (FOX) 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Jay Ellis - "Insecure" (HBO) 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Marsai Martin - "`black-ish" (ABC) 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Joe Morton - "Scandal" (ABC) 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Naturi Naughton - "Power" (Starz) 

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited - Series or Dramatic Special

"The New Edition Story " (BET) 

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Idris Elba - "Guerrilla" (Showtime)

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited -Series or Dramatic Special

Queen Latifah - "Flint" (Lifetime)

Outstanding News/ Information - (Series or Special)

"Unsung" (TV One) 

Outstanding Talk Series

"The Real" (Syndicated) 

Outstanding Reality Program/Reality Competition Series

"The Manns" (TV One)

Outstanding Variety or Game Show - (Series or Special)

"Lip Sync Battle" (Spike)

Outstanding Children's Program

"Doc McStuffins" (Disney Junior)

Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series)

Caleb McLaughlin - "Stranger Things" (Netflix)

Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) - Individual or Ensemble

Roland Martin - "News One Now" (TV One) 

Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) - Individual or Ensemble

LL Cool J - "Lip Sync Battle" (Spike)

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

Janine Barrois – “Claws” – Batsh*t (TNT)

Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series

Gina Prince-Bythewood - "Shots Fired" – Hour One: Pilot (Fox)

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special  

Abdul Williams - "The New Edition Story " – Part 2 (BET) 

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

Anton Cropper - "`black-ish" - Juneteenth (ABC)

Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series

Carl Franklin - "13 Reasons Why" - Tape 5, Side B (Netflix) 

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special

Allen Hughes - "The Defiant Ones" (HBO)

Altice USA and Starz appear to be ready to battle it out over carriage of the premium channel, with both sides apparently far apart in reaching a deal as their Jan. 1 deadline approaches.

Starz placed ads in The New York Times and New York Post on Saturday (Dec. 30) warning that customers could lose access to the premium channel if a deal wasn’t reached by New Year’s Day.

In a statement, Starz says it has been working in good faith to reach an agreement with Altice USA, which has about 4.6 million video customers in the New York metro area and in several Midwestern states. Starz has about 17 separate channels – including the Encore and MoviePlex premium services – and offers original programming like American Gods, Ash vs. The Evil Dead, Outlander and Power. It was purchased by movie and television studio Lionsgate in 2016. 

“But rather than negotiating in a meaningful way, Altice is demanding a totally unreasonable agreement unlike anything that has previously existed in our longstanding partnership,” Starz said in a statement. “We urge them to join with us in working to reach an agreement that is fair, reasonable and operates in the best interests of our customers, many of whom cannot otherwise find programming that speaks directly to them.”

Altice USA said its beef with the channel revolves mainly around pricing. The operator claims that Starz, which launched a standalone over-the-top service since its last carriage deal, is demanding an increase that would price the linear service above its OTT sibling.

People familiar with the premium service counter that it is merely asking for market rates, while they claim Altice is demanding drastic price reductions.

In a statement Altice USA spokeswoman Lisa Anselmo said the OTT service “drastically changes the value proposition their network provides us and our customers.”

“Yet Starz is asking for outrageous increases in programming costs and, given the limited viewership of Starz amongst our customer base and the different ways consumers can directly access Starz content, we are working to reach an agreement that is reasonable and reflects the best interests of all our customers,” she continued, adding that at the Starz-proposed rate, Altice would be forced to charge customers more than the cost for the OTT service.

“…this would be a bad deal for consumers who can get the service for less directly from Starz,” Anselmo said. “Bottom line, we are focused on a deal that reflects the best interests of all our customers and keeping their costs down.” 

She added that Altice USA continues to negotiate and has made “several meaningful offers” including one earlier today [Saturday].

While Altice USA claims that Starz viewership has fallen in the past three years in its footprint, the network has scored some ratings success in the past several years. Starz has the No. 2 and No. 4 top drama in premium television and its programming has resonated with African Americans and the LGTBQ communities. Power is the No. 1 show among African Americans on premium television and also ranks high (No. 2) in African American households in Altice’s footprint. And Outlander continues to attract high ratings among female viewers – it was 2017’s No. 2 scripted series behind HBO’s Game of Thrones.

The season four finale of Starz’s drama series Power set a season-high ratings record in Nielsen Live+3 ratings, according to network officials. 

The Sept. 3 episode drew 2.8 million viewers in Live+3 ratings, according to Nielsen. Overall, the series' season four drew 2.4 million viewers, the third most-watched premium series behind HBO’s Game Of Thrones (13.1 million) and Ballers (3.3 million), according to network officials.

Power, which stars Omari Hardwick, Lela Loren, Naturi Naughton, Joseph Sikora and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, also finishes its fourth season as the top scripted drama in premium pay TV for 2017 among African-American viewers in total viewer ratings, said network officials.

 The 2017 BET Awards special rocked social media Sunday, averaging more than 10 million interactions according to Nielsen.

BET’s live telecast of the awards, which recognizes the triumphs and successes of artists, entertainers, and athletes in a variety of categories, generated 10.4 million interactions from 2.9 million unique Twitter and Facebook accounts, according to Nielsen's Daily Social Content Ratings.

Starz’s fourth season premiere of drama series Power was a distant second with 399,000 interactions, followed by Showtime’s Twin Peaks: The Return, AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead and ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud.  

MLB Network’s Texas Rangers-New York Yankees telecast was the most social live sports telecast of the day, according to Nielsen.

2017 BET Awards winners are as follows: 

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

BEYONCÉ

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

BRUNO MARS

Best Group

MIGOS

Best Collaboration

CHANCE THE RAPPER FT. 2 CHAINZ & LIL WAYNE - NO PROBLEM

MIGOS FT. LIL UZI VERT - BAD AND BOUJEE

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist

KENDRICK LAMAR

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist

REMY MA

Video of the Year

BEYONCÉ - SORRY

BRUNO MARS - 24K MAGIC

Video Director of the Year

KAHLIL JOSEPH & BEYONCÉ KNOWLES-CARTER - BEYONCÉ “SORRY”

Best New Artist

CHANCE THE RAPPER

Album of the Year

LEMONADE - BEYONCÉ

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

LECRAE - CAN’T STOP ME NOW (DESTINATION)

Best Actress

TARAJI P. HENSON

Best Actor

MAHERSHALA ALI

YoungStars Award

YARA SHAHIDI

Best Movie

HIDDEN FIGURES

Sportswoman of the Year Award

SERENA WILLIAMS

Sportsman of the Year Award

STEPHEN CURRY

Centric Award

SOLANGE - CRANES IN THE SKY

Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Awards

BEYONCE - SORRY

RELATED: Courtney Kemp, 50 Cent discuss the third season of 'Power' (2016 Video) 

Power creator Courtney A. Kemp has signed an exclusive multi-year development deal with Starz and Lionsgate, the companies said Monday.

The deal allows Kemp to develop and produce new projects for Starz and other content through her End of Episode production company while continuing her role as showrunner and executive producer of Power.

The drama series, about a drug kingpin looking to become a legit businessman, drew 8 million multiplatform views (Live + SD) per episode, according to Starz. Power will launch its fourth season later this summer.

“Courtney A. Kemp is the complete showrunner package, and we’re thrilled to continue collaborating with such a creative talent and outstanding producer,” said Chris Albrecht, President and CEO of Starz in a statement. “We are proud to see Courtney receive the recognition she deserves in our industry and are pleased the combined ‘power’ of Starz and Lionsgate offers even greater opportunities for her – and us – in the creative community.”

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Actor, producer and hip hop artist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will look to add to his burgeoning entertainment empire through a recently signed development deal with Starz, a pact that has him creating several new projects for the premium service. Jackson, currently executive producer and co-star of Starz’s hit drama series Power, will create and executive-produce a new superhero-themed series for Starz dubbed Tomorrow, Today through his production company, G-Unit Film and Television.

Jackson spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead after Starz’s Television Critics Association Summer Tour panel on Power. They discussed his new deal with Starz, which runs through 2018, as well as his efforts to juggle his musical and television aspirations. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Related >MCN Original Video: Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, Courtney Kemp Discuss Power Season 3

MCN:What does it mean for you as a TV producer to have this new deal with Starz?

CJ: It’s exciting. It’s allowing me to have a platform to bring my ideas out. It’s a perfect fit for me to be in premium cable because things can be made now that are more graphic, so it’s allowing me to be as graphic as the material that’s being created out here not only in the youth culture, but in the hip hop culture, so it’s exciting. What makes it exciting for me is to be able to present that content to a wide audience.

MCN:What should viewers expect fromTomorrow, Today?

CJ: It’s a superhero-themed show and it’s about a doctor that works for the U.S. government and is developing a serum to create super soldiers. Following the discontinuation of the program, he continues to work on it and ends up working in the infirmary of the state penitentiary, and gives the serum to the perfect lab rats — the inmates. One of the people that he tested on actually gets out of the prison. He was wrongfully convicted of a crime to begin with, and now he’s trying to escape the aggressive nature of South Side Chicago.

MCN:You have your hand in so many things — music, TV production, you’re even a boxing promoter. Is there one thing you like most?

CJ: When you get conditioned for one thing, other things start to become a challenge. I’ve been writing music full-time since 1997 — I could stop this interview now and write a song — so I don’t need to be in a specific setting or circumstances to write music. Then the fun part of this challenge is producing. I don’t see any limitations with what you can do in film. I always try to sustain the artistic integrity of the projects that I’m involved in and I concentrate on quality control. People scream for more episodes ofPower— I was screaming for it to be better. I think the audience would appreciate that. If it’s as good as we want it to be, then they will feel like they want more of it and come back for the next episode or season.

MCN:Are you surprised at the success and longevity ofPower, with Starz recently adding a fourth and fifth season?

CJ: Actually, I’ve been saying seven seasons since we started. Everybody asked me, “How long do you think it will go?” and I’ve always said seven, so we’re almost there.

Starz has greenlit two additional seasons of its original series Power days after the record-setting ratings performance of the show’s season three premiere.

The series averaged 2.26 million viewers in its third season debut this past Sunday, setting a network record for a season premiere episode and growing the season two premiere audience by more than 58%, said network officials. 

The series, which stars Omari Hardrick as a drug kingpin/turned successful nightclub owner, is executvively produced by Curtis '50 Cent" Jackson and created by Courtney Kemp (The Good Wife).

“In today’s content landscape, it is challenging for a series to stand out, but Courtney is a singular voice working in television today,” said Chris Albrecht, Starz president and CEO. “Along with our executive producers and the talented Power cast and crew, they have created one of the most distinct dramas I’ve ever had the good fortune of putting on the air. The fans have let it be known loud and clear that they cannot get enough of Ghost, Tommy, Tasha, Angela and Kanan.”

Related: MCN Original Video: One-on-One with 'Power' executive producer Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and creator Courtney Kemp

Starz’s original series Power set a network ratings record for its season three premiere Sunday.

The original drama averaged 2.26 million viewers in Nielsen live + same day ratings, beating out the 1.46 million viewers set earlier this year for the season two premiere of Outlander, said network officials.

Over three airings, Power averaged 3.37 Million (Live+SD) in total over the three Sunday night airings, the most ever for an originals series season premiere.

“We are thrilled Power continues to be a force in its third season with this record setting performance - something very few shows ever achieve,” said Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht in a statement. “We are proud to say the show is must-watch TV and has helped to establish Starz as a Sunday destination for viewers.”

Starz will offer viewers an opportunity to sample the first season of its hit drama series Power, said network officials.

All eight episodes of the first season of Power -- which stars Omari Hardwick as a successful nightclub owner trying to distance himself from his criminal past -- will be made available on Starz.com as well as via linear, on-demand and/or online through select U.S. cable, satellite and telco affiliates, said network officials.

The 10-episode third season of the series will premiere on July 17.

Starz this month introduced a new mobile app, simply called Starz, that lets viewers subscribe to the premium channel -- and watch movies and series such as Outlander, Power and The Girlfriend Experience -- for $8.99 monthly "over the top," or without having to first subscribe to a pay-TV service.

The new app also replaced Starz Play and Encore Play apps used as "TV-everywhere" extensions, enabling existing subscribers to watch those services on a mobile or TV-connected device. 

Other premium programmers, including Showtime and HBO, also have OTT apps -- and have separate apps for TV-everywhere views. HBO Go, for example, is a TV-everywhere app; HBO Now is a standalone OTT app. Showtime Anytime is a TV-everywhere app; the OTT app is called Showtime.

Starz thought it would be consumer friendly to launch one comprehensive app that enabled both kinds of mobile viewing -- authenticated and OTT. "This will be one app within the app store, and if you have Starz you just hit 'Have Starz' and it goes to where you authenticate your TV product," Jeffrey Hirsch, the Starz president of global marketing and product planning, told Multichannel News before the April 5 app launch. "If you don't, then you'll go through a buy flow to buy it at $8.99."

Comcast disagrees with Starz's one-app-fits-all approach. The biggest U.S. cable operator and a key Starz affiliate has opted not to participate in the TV-everywhere aspect of Starz's new app.

For now, at least, Comcast is declining to enable the authentication (or verification) of Starz subscribers on Comcast Xfinity who want to use the new app. Representatives of Comcast and Starz both say they are "great partners" and hope something can be worked out to resolve the situation, though it is unclear what might cause Comcast to change its view on the matter.

Apple's latest update of the new Starz app, released yesterday (April 19), states that Comcast Xfinity views on the app are not authenticated. Comcast Xfinity does not appear on the drop-down menus on the app or on Starz.com that list pay-TV affiliates that will authenticate their customers. A Starz spokesman said Comcast Xfinity is the only major distributor not authenticating subscribers to watch Starz and Starz Encore content on the app.

Comcast points out that Comcast Xfinity customers with Starz and Starz Encore subscriptions have other TV-everywhere options, via the Xfinity.com website and the Xfinity TV mobile apps. That's what customer service representatives are telling customers that call to ask about it, Comcast said.  

Comcast Xfinity customers also can continue to use the older Starz Play app on devices including Roku and Xbox 360, platforms for which Starz hasn't introduced versions of the new Starz app yet.

Starz made an effort to position its launch of a standalone app as being done in a distributor-friendly way. CEO Chris Albrecht told Multichannel News in an interview prior to the app launch that Starz would not promote the standalone service on its channels running on distributor platforms, instead focusing more on social media to market the new $8.99 standalone service. Hirsch said Starz would like to work with distributors to pitch the new OTT service to broadband-only customers "to drive more upside." Albrecht also said Starz would be sure to inform affiliates in detail about how the new OTT service would work, because affiliates had told him that premium channels in the past had blindsided them with some of their moves.

A Starz representative said Comcast was fully informed about details of the new app before it launched.

The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing has been attempting to establish industry standards for programmers and distributors regarding TV everywhere, which has developed slowly but is vital to serving customers these days. Asked about this situation, a spokesperson said: "Developments such as the introduction of the Starz aggregated TVE/OTT app are a regular occurrence in today’s dynamic environment and may introduce new points of potential confusion for the consumer. We’ve been working closely with our members and will be looking at this to learn best practices for this type of app."

Multicultural-themed programming is riding a wave of ratings and critical success on TV, but that rising tide isn’t lifting all boats.

From Emmy Award-winning shows like Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black and its multicultural cast, to ratings hits like Fox’s Empire, Starz’s Power and ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat and Black-ish, ethnically diverse TV content is hot. But even in such a TV climate, executives at independently owned multicultural networks said their services still struggle to gain widespread distribution.

Even with a growing base of multicultural subscribers who watch more hours of television than white viewers — along with an increase of young, multicultural millennials who are either cord-cutters or cable-nevers — distributors aren’t rushing to sign up networks that target the industry’s current and future subscribers, executives said.

“Overall, 40% of the population is multicultural, so what all that means is multicultural is now the new mainstream,” said Tonia O’Connor, chief commercial officer and president of content distribution for Univision Communications, which also handles distribution duties for four-year-old, male-targeted El Rey Network and young, Hispanic audience-targeted news service Fusion.

“It’s good business to be in this business,” O’Connor said. “Whether distributors have come to embrace it yet or not, they absolutely have to in order to continue to have any growth in the future — they can no longer ignore the multicultural consumer or opportunity.”

A HOT CATEGORY

While most television observers recognize today’s lineup of quality content from cable, broadcast and over-the-top digital services like Netflix as a new Golden Age of Television, it’s also arguably the most prolific time for multicultural programming.

This comes as the U.S. grows more diverse, and as diverse groups grow more influential determining in how and when entertainment content is delivered.

African-Americans watched more than 44 hours of live and time-shifted TV a week during fourth-quarter 2015, well above the 31-hour average for all adults, according to the recent Nielsen Total Audience Report. Hispanics nearly double all viewers in minutes spent watching video on smartphones, while Asian-Americans use multimedia devices to view television nearly a full hour more than the general public does.

Given those realities, the assumption would be that multichannel-video providers would be aggressive in launching networks aimed at the growing, highly influential multicultural audience. But network executives said some distributors have yet to recognize the value of multicultural content.

Most high-profile shows with appeal to multicultural audiences air on mainstream networks backed by major media companies, Africa Channel executive vice president of content and global operations Narendra Reddy said, adding that independently-owned multicultural channels don’t have the budget or staff to develop and market such programming. But that doesn’t mean Africa Channel’s scripted movies and reality shows originating from the continent are any less valuable or appealing to multicultural viewers, Reddy said.

He added that most favored nations language in contracts, restrictions on social-media marketing and promotion of content on the Web, and a lack of negotiating power during contract talks have hampered Africa Channel’s ability to gain distribution as an independent network.

“Even if the heads of programming for these various distributors believe that this content that we have will resonate with audiences, basically they’re forced to carry networks from the companies that have far greater leverage than we do,” Reddy said.

That doesn’t sit well with multicultural viewers who respond favorably to content targeted toward them. According to a recent Horowitz Race, Diversity and Media survey, 64% of multicultural millennials said they found television shows featuring a mainly multicultural cast appealing, compared to 44% of white viewers.

Yet beyond a few select shows, network executives say such images are rare on the current lineup of cable channels.

STILL AN UNDERSERVED AUDIENCE

“A multicultural cable subscriber today sees his or her dollar being mainstream, but the reality is when they look at what’s being offered they’re seeing that there’s just not that much there,” said Mark Walton, president of sales and marketing for One Caribbean Television. “Even though you may see an article or some conversation around all of this, from the consumer’s perspective it gets back to ‘I have 500 channels and I only have four or five that are addressing some of the interests I have.’ ”

One Caribbean Television, which offers entertainment, news and weather content from such Caribbean nations as the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and Barbados, is currently offered on RCN with the network in distribution talks with several other operators. One Caribbean targets the nearly 10 million to 20 million African-Americans who have some connection to the Caribbean, as well as mainstream viewers who travel and have interest in the region.

“The consumer is paying X dollars but is getting X minus dollars in terms of value to them,” Walton said. “In order to breach that gap and reduce churn, you have to have the offerings that that consumer wants.”

Network executives said they recognize that MVPDs are under pressure to curb programming costs and adjust programming packages to prevent younger subscribers from churning or shifting to over-the-top subscription VOD services.

“[Distributors] might not be as confident to take risks on launching multicultural-themed channels,” Miguel Santos, general manager for Asian-American targeted network Myx TV, said. “The business environment is di_ cult — they’re seeing some churn, so it’s making a lot of MVPD executives risk-averse. They don’t really see at the moment the value of multicultural channels.”

One executive who said she does recognize the value of multicultural content is Verizon Fios executive director of content strategy and acquisition Michelle Webb. She told the Horowitz Associates Cultural Insights Forum in March that the telco is looking to balance that with finding the best ways to offer the most choice to consumers.

“It’s all about managing demand and bandwidth considerations,” she said.

Aspire TV has seen some small but noteworthy movement on the distribution front, vice president of business affairs and channel operations Melissa Ingram said. The African-American-targeted network, founded by basketball hall of famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, has seen its subscriber rolls grow to 34 million viewers since its 2012 launch; it projects it will be in 37 million homes by year-end.

“Not only is [the multicultural] audience is requesting this type of programming but … from a business standpoint, affiliates are starting to understand the importance of having diverse content,” she said. “They’ve seen the success of shows like Empire and they’ve seen a movement by subscribers demanding such content, which is forcing these large distributors to understand the importance and value of it and to get more content like that on their systems.”

As networks continue to push for linear distribution, others are exploring the Web in an eff ort to generate interest and awareness for their brands. Networks such as Myx TV, Fuse and One Caribbean Television use apps to give viewers a chance to check out video content from the networks, as well as some live programming.

BOOSTING ONLINE REACH

“If you want to reach a younger audience, you have to be available on all of the relevant devices, and you have to have content that’s available on-demand,” Fuse Media CEO Michael Schwimmer said. “Obviously, you have to be able to balance that with the network’s role within the pay TV ecosystem, but I think that it’s all doable and important. Anybody that doesn’t have a strong digital presence does so at their own risk.”

Myx TV’s Santos believes networks targeting multicultural millennials in particular may find online distribution a more attractive way of exposing the brand to key audiences. Asian-Americans, especially, tend to watch content online on various mobile devices, so anyone looking to reach that audience would fare well in the digital space, according to Santos.

Myx TV is considering launching an OTT service in the near future, although Santos would not disclose a time frame. “OTT is possibly the key to diversifying entertainment,” he said. “Given the competitive environment and the uncertainty within the industry, it would behoove us to look at all options to really get our content out.

“In the end, the power is with the viewer, and they will decide where they want to watch their content — if they want to watch it over the top we should be there, and if they want to watch it on a linear platform we should be there, too.”

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht’s recent schedule in New York City reflects a busy time for his premium network. There were premieres for the new Steven Soderbergh-produced series The Girlfriend Experience and for returning romance hit Outlander and, related to the Scottish kilt drama, the Tartan Day Parade to attend. (Outlander star Sam Heughan was grand marshal .) That’s not counting the phone calls he planned to make to key distributors, letting them know Starz was about to announce a new direct-to-consumer (but not cannibalistic) online service on April 5.

“It has been said to me by the people that run these companies that of the many things that have been done by our fellow premium services, one of the things that pissed off people the most was that they didn’t get a heads up. And we’re not that kind of partner,” Albrecht told Multichannel News editors during a March 30 visit to the magazine’s offices. With him were communications executive vice president Theano Apostolou and global marketing and product planning president Jeffrey Hirsch, the former Time Warner Cable executive who’s also been busy communicating with affiliates about Encore channels rebranding into Starz Encore.

When Albrecht, a former HBO chief, joined Starz in January 2010, it was a movie service experimenting with some original shows, like Party Down. Now it’s tracking to a goal of 85 to 90 new original series episodes per year. Owned by John Malone’s Liberty Media when Albrecht joined, Starz was spun off in 2013 and has been a takeover rumor on a continuous basis. It also has started to produce real hits with passionate viewer bases, including Outlander, pirate drama Black Sails and the top-rated, New York City-based Power, from executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Albrecht and company spoke with MCN and B&C editorial director Mark Robichaux, editor Kent Gibbons, programming editor R. Thomas Umstead and senior finance editor Mike Farrell about the state of Starz and the pay TV business. Edited highlights follow.

MCN:Let’s get this out of the way: What can you tell us now about a sales process? Is anything imminent?

Chris Albrecht: I can tell you very directly there’s never been a formal sales process. If there had been a formal sales process, we wouldn’t be here talking about this stuff because someone else would own Starz. You don’t put together a formal sales process and then end up not selling the company to somebody. There have always been lots of strategic discussions.

The interesting thing, if you look at the media business — with all this talk of consolidation and everything and all the sense that putting parts of these companies together, whether it be people looking at what’s going to happen with Sumner [Redstone at Viacom] or the changing of the guard at Fox or now that [Time Warner Inc. CEO Jeff Bewkes] has reduced Time Warner to a digestible piece. So many questions for so many companies, including the free radicals that Malone talks about.

What you realize is that the media business is not a business run by people who are dealmakers. They may be show-makers, they may be schedule-makers, they are terrific executives, but they’re not deal guys. Bewkes has done a great job spinning off stuff , Sumner has split up stuff , Rupert [Murdoch of Fox] does some giant things, [Disney CEO Bob] Iger’s got his four, five, six billion dollar price range that he’s done a wonderful job at. But this is not a business where M&A is …

MCN:Driving everything.

CA: If you’re a Liberty [Media] company, which I had the opportunity and the good fortune to be a part of, you’re working with guys who live for this, right? These are deal guys. All the value they’ve created, everything that’s happened in John’s career has been deals. It’s not like John decided he wanted to be a cable operator. John Malone is, you know, a visionary in this space. So of course there are always conversations going on. And unfortunately everyone has big mouths. People see you walking out of a meeting, and they assume that there is a transaction that’s imminent and then, sort of irresponsibly — no offense to the press, you guys not being one of those transgressors — put out information that is completely unfounded, denied, and then it just becomes almost laughable, if it wasn’t for the fact that it affected so many people’s lives in such a kind of stressful way, the employees of Starz and stuff like that.

But it’s my job, it’s our job, to continue to find ways to build the business. And I firmly believe, John Malone firmly believes, [Liberty CEO] Greg Maffei firmly believes, I think the board of Starz firmly believes that aligning ourselves in some way with other people who can create better opportunities in a combined structure just makes sense. We could be the people that are the leaders. We don’t have to be bought in order to have that happen, and we haven’t been sitting back, waiting for someone to come put us out of our misery. What we have been doing is taking care of our knitting.

MCN:It sounds as if you don’t feel the need to merge or do a deal with anyone right away.

CA: I don’t. I do believe that eventually we will see those kinds of deals being made in the space that Starz lives in. I do believe that Starz is a logical, valuable and potentially powerful addition in a partnership or in a combination structure. We’re unique in our business model. And we’re just getting started on what I think is the new era for Starz. And it’s a direction that people are trying to go in. We’re a small company, relatively speaking. But we still make a lot of money at really high margins. And inside most companies, that ain’t chopped liver. We’re large enough to make a difference, we’re small enough to be nimble on our own and we’re small enough to fi t into a lot of different kinds of structures.

Look, do I think something is going to happen eventually? I think a lot is going to happen eventually. Do I think Starz is going to be a part of that? I think it would be foolish for us to not try and sail in those waters if there is value to be created because our job is to increase value for the shareholders.

From my point of view, Starz is an undervalued asset right now because the opportunity far outweighs the risk. We’re stabilized. We’ve got our product in order. We’ve got a new technology that we think is going to offer us a great opportunity. Now let’s go grow the top line. Now let’s go show people that Starz is an active company with a long and healthy future. And if people want to come in and out of the stock, great. If people are coming in for M&A, maybe there will be a deal tomorrow, maybe there will be a deal three or four years from now. In that period of time, however, we believe in the value of our stock, in the value and strength of our company.

MCN:Isn’t there a fairly high amount of risk now, though, to be a premium channel that’s either number two, number three, in that category in a world where people are paying $9 for Netflix or they’re adding on Amazon Prime, where they have so many different options?

CA: There is always more competition, and I think some of the decisions we’ve made show that we can play in that space. We also have the opportunity of still having a pretty good business with guys that aren’t going away any time soon.

We know we’re not going to be Netflix but we can be somewhere in between a true premium channel and an SVOD service. And if we can grow our business effectively, then we are just a good stock to have in your portfolio. If we can put on really compelling programming that fits in some of the cracks that we see and appeal to audiences that respond to our brands and give them not just the products but the features that they can access that stuff , then I think … Look, any business that continues to grow is a good business.

MCN:Stepping back, then, where is Starz at this moment in its evolution, based on your strategic vision?

CA: This is an important time for Starz. For the last six years or so, we’ve been kind of cleaning up some business decisions that had been made by Starz to go into the movie business; to make a Netflix deal; as a part of Liberty to have tracker stocks, two tracker stocks, one tracker stock; to be reattributed to Liberty; to be spun out by Liberty; the decision to go into original programming; the decision and the announcement for Liberty to spin away from Starz. You know, along with just doing your job of selling subscriptions and working with [multichannel video program distributors] and growing an original programming lineup, that’s been more than a full-time job.

We’ve been looking at an evolving landscape in the media business, and I think all of those things, for us, have pointed to a lot of opportunity for the subscription television business, premium channels, of which we consider there to be basically three — us, Showtime and HBO. The SVOD services aside — Netflix is a true SVOD service; Hulu, kind of a hybrid; and Amazon, a great retailer that has decided to give video away for free until recently they made a deal with us and Showtime and a few others.

In looking at that evolving landscape, we thought that it was important that we preserve the very important historical relationships with the largest video suppliers in the world, which are the MVPDs, and yet take advantage of what seems to be now an inexorable pull towards alternative choices, be it alternative choices in the packaging offered by the traditional distributors or be it alternative choices offered by new entrants who are looking to create an architecture of virtual MVPDs or wholesalers.

And then to look at this opportunity to say, OK, the biggest obstacle to the expansion of premium subscribers over the decades that there have been premium channels has been two things. One is content objectors, who don’t want uncut, uncensored movies in their homes. The other is just price. As basic-tier channels and sports rights and everything just pushed the price of entry up, with the premium being the cherry on top, that became more out of reach of even more people.

And yet, when you look at the content that people want to see and the features that they want to use and the way they want to watch it — commercial free, at their leisure — you think, OK, well the premiums, we’ve got [multiplex channels], we’ve got choices, we’re ad-free, we’ve got the kind of originals they want, we’ve got the technology features, on-demand, authenticated apps. We’re what they want — they just can’t get to us.

And how do we get it to them and how do we not have it cannibalize our current business? How are we more distributor-friendly while we’re trying to do this, and how can we maybe even have the two of them work together and show ourselves as a more forward-thinking, more technologically-based company?

MCN:Is it harder to get the distributor’s attention, to get them to prioritize marketing your service?

Jeffrey Hirsch: I think first and foremost, gaining and keeping subscribers is the biggest priority for them. And I think figuring out how to grow revenue on top of that, obviously, is the second priority, and that’s where we come in. So if we can help in any way — whether it’s putting this app on top of the broadband-onlys to drive more upside there — then we are willing.

CA: We make money for them. We are not in there jamming them with big price increases. We just want to grow our business consistently in their lane.

MCN:Do you see more companies like Netflix or Amazon emerging?

CA: It’s hard to make shows. I know everybody thinks it’s so easy. [Laughter.] Let me tell you something. It’s only television, as I like to say, but on the other hand this isn’t so easy. So you’ve got YouTube out there; you’ve got Google. I mean there are big companies that could decide to do anything, but big companies can trip over themselves. Just because somebody does one thing well doesn’t mean they’re going to be able to do everything well. There is obviously some synergy in how a lot of companies can make money together, to the question you had before: “I did this well, you guys did this well, let’s do both things even better together.”

MCN:Do you think we are hitting a ceiling with regards to the amount of content that’s coming into the marketplace?

CA: I sure hope so. [Laughter.] I think what you’ll see is — I think you’ll see people kind of going to the sidelines. Not everybody is going to be able to do this, particularly ad-supported [networks]. Again, I like the subscription model, I like the premium, non-advertiser supported model.

The big broadcast networks, some of the big channels, right now they’re doing great, they’ve been well-funded for a while. But I think there’s risk. Less eyeballs don’t hurt us. Less subscribers hurt us. Less eyeballs hurt advertiser guys, and if they can’t charge enough money for their commercials, then they’re going to have a hard time getting enough money to make shows.

That to me is a world that I think has got a different trajectory, different challenges than where we are, which is a model that kind of is what everybody else is trying to get into. You know? Not a lot of people are trying to build ad-supported stuff right now. Everybody’s trying to build subscription, non-ad-supported stuff. So, hello, we’ve got that. Now let’s figure out how we can do more of it better.

MCN:You’ve taken a different tack than most networks in that you’re reaching out to different target audiences with your content, be it African American, urban, Hispanic. Will that continue?

CA: Yes. We’re going to expand on that. And it’s even the millennials with [Ash vs. Evil Dead], Blunt Talk, some of the other things that we’re doing. We’ve got American Gods coming up. Targeting a specific audience makes a lot of sense. It helps you focus your marketing, helps you focus your PR, helps you know what you’re doing. Through social media, through all of these opportunities, put something on that appeals to a demographic group, especially if they are avid users of social media, especially if they’re vocal.

And although we may not have the biggest audiences on television, we do absolutely, by major social media platform metrics, have some of the most engaged. That’s good, because they’re going to talk about the show and other people have a chance to find out about it and that’s the best recommendation engine you can find. Other people talking about the programs and then ultimately talking about your brand.

MCN:What about bingeing? Are you going to extend the practice now of launching some series in advance, all the episodes, much like Netflix does or is that something that you …

CA: We’ve got two shows launching the same weekend: Outlander [April 9], which is going to be one episode at a time, and The Girlfriend Experience [April 10], which is dropping them all. Different audiences, different shows.

And just because we drop all the episodes doesn’t mean that people are obligated to watch them. Look, Outlander is a big-tent show. If you want to watch a season of Outlander, for me, however long, I binge it — as a grownup, I don’t really have that much time. But when we got all the rough cuts delivered to us over the summer from [Steven] Soderbergh on Girlfriend Experience. I got them on a Friday night. I woke up Saturday morning, I had a beach house for the summer and I thought, ‘All right, I’ll watch a couple episodes.’ I downloaded them all. I’ll watch a couple episodes, I’ll go and take my bike, go to lunch, come back, I’ll watch a few more, I’ll go to dinner, I’ll watch the rest tomorrow. I started watching them, 13 half-hour episodes. Six and a half hours later, I was starving, but I was like, ‘Holy shit, what was that?’ I could not stop watching it. It was fantastic. And the research showed that young women — maybe even counterintuitively, until you see this amazing performance by [series star] Riley [Keough] — are actually drawn to this show and they’ll enjoy being able to make that choice to watch multiple episodes in a row if they want to.

MCN:We’ve talked about everything that’s coming in on Starz. Disney movies are going away in another year. How do you fill that void? You get oneStar Warsmovie [the 2015 box-office powerhouseStar Wars: The Force Awakens] and you’re out.

CA: I like to say we have the only Star Wars movie. [Laughter.] But I mean, look, if you’re looking at the launch of this thing that we’re talking about, so you’ve got Outlander and Girlfriend Experience into Power and Survivor’s Remorse, into Ash and Blunt Talk and over that the only Star Wars movie. You know, Disney is a great partner. Sure, it would have been great to have them. We love the Sony guys and the future that Rothman has there. We need good movies, we’ve got library deals with everybody. I’m telling you, if you’re looking for a movie to watch, you’ve got a better shot at finding something you want to watch in a library deal than hoping that the studio output deal that you have is getting lucky. And by the time it flows through the theaters, flows through pay per view, flows through home entertainment, flows through whatever, [electronic sell-through], not that many people still are waiting for it in the pay window. But something they haven’t seen for a few years, you go, yeah.

A&E will develop a variety/showcase series featuring rapper/producer/actor Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, the network said Thursday.

Jackson, who currently produces and stars in Starz’s Power drama series, will serve as executive producer and star of 50 Cent Presents (working title), a sketch comedy, music and showcase series, A&E said.

The series will combine sketches, standup, reality experiments, music, magic, dance and celebrity guest appearances, with Jackson serving as host.

"Leaning into A&E's legacy in showcasing the arts, we're setting out to redefine the traditional variety show," Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive vice president and head of programming at A&E Network, said in a release. "50 Cent is the perfect partner to refresh this classic format. He is a true tastemaker across industries and we are excited to see his impressive showcase of talent."

As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nervously awaits the reaction to Sunday’s Academy Awards show amid the simmering controversy over the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations, the television community is slowly moving toward recognizing the quality and value of diverse content.

Television networks are increasingly embracing diversity through the greenlighting and launching of numerous quality comedies, dramas, mini-series and movies featuring people of color in leading roles. It’s no secret that African-American and Hispanic viewers by far watch more hours of television than any group, so providing content that reflects the makeup of the TV audience, like ABC’s Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat, Starz’s Power and Hulu’s East Los High, is smart business.

Those quality performances have begun to get their well-deserved due during award season thus far in 2016.

Actors of diverse backgrounds were recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press during the annual Golden Globe awards. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal won for best comedy performance for his starring role in Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, while veteran actress Taraji Henson took home best actress in a TV drama series for her portrayal of sassy Cookie Lyon on Fox’s hit series Empire.

Diversity was the big winner at last month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards as shows with multicultural casts (Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black) as well as individual actors of color (Idris Elba, who won two SAG awards, Queen Latifah, Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba) who won in several major categories.

That’s not to say that all is well on the diversity front on the small screen.

Only 26% of series regulars on broadcast, cable and streaming services were from “underrepresented” racial ethnic groups, according to the recently released USC Annenberg Comprehensive Report on Diversity in Entertainment.

Further, 90% of all directors of the premiere episodes for every live-action broadcast television show was white, while streaming and cable shows came in at 88% and 83%, respectively, according to the report.

What the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and television’s improving-yet-not-great diversity record shows is that there's a lot of room for improvement and a need to continue the dialogue on the issue of diversity in entertainment.

AT&T Saturday reached a carriage deal with Starz, a day after the telco secured its acquisition of DirecTv.

Starz Saturday night released a statement saying, “AT&T and Starz have reached an agreement to continue our long-standing relationship.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal ends a week of contentious back and forth dialogue between the two parties revolving around negotiations between AT&T and Starz to renew its existing agreement, which reportedly would have expired at the end of the month. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson lobbied charges of racism against AT&T via his Twitter account as carriage negotiations between the two parties came down to the wire.

Jackson is executive producer of Starz' drama series Power, which draws a majority of African-American viewers.

On Saturday 50 Cent tweeted in response to the deal: “AT&T back on deck so tune in to my show Power at 9 p.m., thank you for supporting me.”

The deal also comes a day after AT&T announced that it has closed its acquisition of DirecTV.

AT&T U-verse has reached a carriage deal with music channel Revolt, the company said Tuesday (July 21).

The network, founded by hip hop entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs and launched in 2013 as one of four new minority-owned networks supported by Comcast as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s conditions for its 2010 acquisition of NBCUniversal, will be available to AT&T U-Verse subscribers as early as July 27, company officials said.

“AT&T is excited to bring Revolt programming to our customers,” said Mel Coker, chief marketing officer, AT&T Home Solutions. “Revolt is a great fit as we strive to bring our customers the content they want, when and where they want it.”

Added Combs: “This is a historical day for Revolt. With a major player like AT&T, more people will be able to access the hottest music and original content on every screen and device. This agreement shows the world that Revolt is a force in the media industry. “

The agreement comes as AT&T recently came under fire from hip hop rapper/producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, who called the company “racist” in several tweets over the weekend. AT&T is in carriage negotiations with Starz, which carries Jackson starrer Power, which draws a predominantly African American audience.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is throwing his two cents into the ongoing carriage-renewal talks between AT&T U-verse and Starz.

In social-media posts over the past weekend, Jackson labeled AT&T “racist” for potentially dropping Starz, which carries the drama series Power, which Jackson stars in and executive produces and draws mostly African-American viewers.

“AT&T @UVerse may drop @STARZ_Channel take away #PowerTV and the urban shows. Tweet it can’t go down. #IWantMyStarz,” Jackson tweeted Saturday night. On Instragram, he said, “Man I’m sorry I have say this, but AT&T is racist they have had issues in the past and here we go again. 500,000 homes will not be able to view the next episode of POWER." In another post he urged: "change your cable package from AT&T to anything else," saying "they are dropping all channels that are considered urban friendly." 

A story in The Los Angeles Times on Friday said Starz’s carriage deal with U-verse expires at the end of July and that talks had stalled. Neither AT&T nor Starz would confirm when the carriage deal ends but both sides said negotiations were ongoing, with no resolution yet. 

“Starz is in ongoing negotiations with AT&T U-verse to continue distributing its 30 Starz and Encore channels and services at a fair and reasonable rate,” Starz officials said in a statement. “Without a new agreement, the millions of AT&T customers who have chosen to subscribe and pay for Starz and Encore will be at risk of losing these channels and the popular original programming like Power and Outlander, as well as thousands of movies.”

AT&T in a statement expressed “disappointment” that Starz “has chosen to take our ongoing negotiations public. We continue to work diligently to reach a resolution.”

With AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV in the late stages of seeking government approval, carriage controversies can be especially sensitive. And this is not the first time AT&T has been accused of racially biased behavior. Most notably, former AT&T president of content and advertising sales, Aaron Slator, was fired in April after he was sued by other AT&T employees for possessing racist texts and images on his phone.

The National Association of African American Owned Media and Entertainment Studios owner Byron Allen last December filed a $10-billion lawsuit against both DirecTV and AT&T, claiming the companies have discriminated against 100% African-American owned cable networks, claims that AT&T and DirecTV have vigorously denied.

AT&T’s response to Jackson’s posts was: "Starz and their paid talent can spin up whatever they like, but the bottom line is we're not going to negotiate a deal that is bad for customers. In these negotiations, our customers are all that matter to us."

Power is Starz’ highest-performing series ever with more than 6.3 million multiplatform viewers to date, 75% of whom are African-American. This past Saturday’s episode drew about 2.2 million viewers, according to Starz, on part with  typical recent performance.

The Starz suite of networks also includes Starz In Black, a 24-hour channel targeted to African-American viewers.

AT&T has about 5 million U-verse TV customers. Starz as of March reported 23.7 million Starz subscribers and 33.8 million Encore subscribers. 

With the 2014-15 television season now in the books, a recent Ratings Intelligence report revealed that three of the top five highest-rated broadcast dramas of 2015 featured a predominately African-American cast or was headed by an African-American actor/actress: Empire, How to Get Away with Murder and Scandal.

With the success of those broadcast TV shows as well as cable series such as Power, Being Mary Jane and the Haves and Have Nots featuring predominately African-American cast or lead actors, it’s hard to believe there was a time when such images weren’t a major part of the television landscape.

Yet a recent Paley Center Tribute to African-American Achievements in Television reminded the many actors, writers and network executives in attendance how far African-Americans have come in portraying their stories and their images on the small screen.

Oprah Winfrey, who has been a mainstay on television for more than 30 years, spoke during the Paley Center tribute about a period in the early 1950s through late 1960s when there were no TV shows featuring an African-American actor or actresses in a starring or supporting role.

To have come from that point through the 1970s and 1980s when a few shows like Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons,Good Times and eventually The Cosby Show began to showcase African-American images and stories, to today’s array of programs showcasing African Americans across multiple platforms is not lost on the veteran actors and actresses who lived through those often lean times.

Antonio Fargas, best known for his role as the iconic, streetwise informant Huggy Bear on the 1970s crime drama Starsky & Hutch and who has been embraced by contemporary audiences through appearances on Everybody Hates Chris and most recently on Showtime’s House of Lies, recently told Multichannel News that he’s impressed with the strides African-Americans have made on TV.

   “For me I know whose shoulders I stand on. To now know that I’m a young pioneer in TV history because of the opportunities that I had in the 1970s is special," said Fargas, who is currently serving as brand ambassador for the vintage TV network Cozi Tv. "[Today’s performers] gave me opportunities in their shows because they wanted to say thank you for the shoulders that I gave them.” 

The other message heard loud and clear at the Paley Center tribute was that the beat must go on for African-American images on TV beyond Scandal, Empire and Black-ish.  

“It’s imperative that we keep telling our stories because our experiences are so broad, rich and multifaceted – there isn’t one way to be Black or ish,” said Winfrey. “The more stories we share the more reflective we can be of the whole diverse African-American community.”

Starz is looking to power up awareness for the second season of its drama series Power by making episodes from the series’ first season available prior to the show’s June 6 return.

Beginning today through June 8, Starz will make available free on demand through cable and satellite services the first four episodes of season one of Power, which follows the exploits of James “Ghost” St. Patrick as he looks to transition from his successful drug business to a successful nightclub owner.

In addition, Starz will replay all eight episodes of the series as part of a marathon run May 25 through May 28 on its premium channel, said network officials.

“The four episode sample of Power season one is designed to reach folks who may have missed the first season either because they are new to Starz or they heard the buzz about the show and were interested in getting started from the beginning,” said Michael Thornton, Chief Revenue Officer for Starz. “We have multiple objectives for the sampling, not the least of which is to capture new subscribers for Starz"

In addition to TV, the network will run a social media campaign via Twitter and Facebook, and is currently running an ad campaign on New York and Los Angeles subway cars, according to network officials.

On the retail store front, the network has developed in-store signage for the series at Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Starz has also teamed with FYE to create a social media giveaway with a season two tune-in message.

The network is hoping to build on the 4.7 million viewers the series averaged across all platforms during its freshman run last summer. "We saw tremendous growth in the Power audience in the second half of the first season and are hoping to continue that upward trend this season," said Thornton.

The 2014-15 television season is almost in the books, and it will arguably go down as one of the most groundbreaking as it pertains to diversity.

The success of a group of new shows on both traditional and digital TV platforms has helped to eradicate some long-held preconceived notions about shows created by and starring people of diverse backgrounds.

First, this TV season has proven that content with diverse themes and lead characters can appeal beyond specific niche groups. The explosion this year of shows such as Empire, Jane the Virgin, How to Get Away With Murder, Black-ish and Power on traditional cable and broadcast TV, as well as Orange Is the New Black and Transparent on over-the-top subscription video services, is remarkable, given the unprecedented competition and fragmented viewership of the current TV environment.

The fact that all of these shows performed well — especially Fox’s Empire, which, incredibly, saw its viewership climb virtually every week of its 12-week run — is a testament to each show’s ability to appeal not just to multicultural viewers who are watching lead characters that reflect their images and cultures like never before, but to mainstream viewers as well.

Second, services including Amazon and Netflix have proven you can build successful series around transgender characters who are complicated, compelling and three-dimensional, rather than cartoonish caricatures that viewers could easily dismiss as weird or somehow not real. Jeffrey Tambor’s Golden Globe-winning portrayal of a middle-aged woman inside a man’s body in Amazon’s Transparent, as well as Netflix’s depiction of multiethnic and LGBT characters in Orange Is the New Black, have shown that realistic portrayals of LGBT people will get viewers to tune in, not tune out.

Third, it’s good to have diversity behind the camera as well as in front of it. From Empire’s Lee Daniels to The Haves and the Have Nots’s Tyler Perry, to How to Get Away With Murder’s Shonda Rhimes to Power’s Courtney Kemp Agboh and Fresh Off the Boat’s Eddie Huan, this new wave of multicultural producers, directors, writers and showrunners is providing viewers with narratives that reflect unique experiences and cultural nuances — no better or worse than anyone else’s; just different than what viewers have seen in the past — that have put a fresh and colorful coat of paint on traditional TV genres that viewers love to watch.

A month after its chairman and chief operating officer repeatedly told analysts and the media that it had no acquisitions targets on its radar in the wake of its abandoned bid for Time Warner Inc., 21st Century Fox executives, apparently not getting that particular memo, have reportedly held preliminary talks with premium cable channel Starz about a possible deal.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, several unnamed Fox executives held a meeting Tuesday on its studio lot in Los Angeles with Starz CEO Chris Albrecht and investment bankers. A source familiar with the situation told Multichannel News that the talks were held Tuesday as a courtesy and that there is no interest on Fox’s part to do a deal.

That seems to jibe with statements made recently by Fox chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and chief operating officer Chase Carey, who had repeatedly told analysts and the media that it is not pursuing acquisitions.

“Let me be clear, we are done,” Carey said shortly after the company dropped its pursuit of Time Warner, adding that it would not seek out alternative acquisitions, pledging instead to focus on organic growth.

Fox had made an unsolicited $80 billion for Time Warner back in June, which Time Warner summarily rejected. In August, Fox formally withdrew its offer.

Recently Murdoch told Fox Business Network anchor Neil Cavuto that he decided to drop the Time Warner pursuit in part because he didn’t want to take on a massive amount of debt.

A Starz deal wouldn’t require a huge borrowing – while reports said a deal could be worth as much as $3.2 billion, some analysts value the premium service as high as $4.7 billion. Fox, which recently sold its interest in its European satellite ventures Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland to its other satellite holding -- British Sky Broadcasting – netting about $7.2 billion in cash after taxes, could finance a Starz deal internally.

But there are roadblocks to a combination, particularly Fox’s commitment to sell its movie studio output to Time Warner’s Home Box Office until 2022.   

The reports seem to suggest that Starz, which spun off from Liberty Media in 2013, is putting itself in play, which has pretty much been the case since its separation from Liberty. Back in 2012 Liberty chairman John Malone said that Starz would benefit from a post-spin off “big brother.”

While Starz has beefed up its original programming slate of late and is headed by former HBO chief Chris Albrecht  and has scored recent critical and ratings success with series like Outlander, Black Sails andPower.

Starz is making inroads on its efforts to reach out to underserved audiences on premium TV through its original series.

The network’ freshman series Power, which follows the life of an African-American club owner who doubles as a New York City drug kingpin, is generating the largest concentration of black viewers for a scripted premium series over the past several years, according to the network. Only HBO’s Game Of Thrones and True Blood draws a larger number of African-American viewers of any premium series currently running.

With 68% of Power’s audience African-American, the network is targeting what it believes is an underserved audience on premium TV, according to David Baldwin, executive vice president of program planning for Starz. Overall, the series, which has already been renewed for the second season, is averaging about 4 million viewers across all platforms, which shows that Power is also drawing in more than black viewers.

The network is also hoping to expose the series to a wider audience when it launches Power on its Encore Black channel beginning Aug. 12, according to Baldwin. “With Starz at 22 million homes and Encore [Black] at 35 million homes, we have a whole other universe that we can expose the series to,” he said.

The network will continue to mine the African-American audience this fall with the debut of the LeBron James-created, basketball-themed comedy series Survivor’s Remorse, said the network. “There’s every reason to believe that we’ll get a lot of African-American households to tune in, check it out and stay with it,” Baldwin said. “Also with the number of NBA fans around the country and people who know about professional sports it wouldn't be surprising if we get a broader audience to check it out.”

Along with African-Americans, Starz is also looking to draw in more female viewers. Its White Queen series drew a 60% female viewership in route to generating more than 4.8 million viewers across all platforms. While the network has yet to greenlight a second season of its White Queen mini-series – network officials has said Starz may pursue a White Queen sequel dubbed White Princess – the network has high hopes that its new fantasy-based series Outlander will attract a huge female audience. The series, based on the popular Diana Gabaldon series of best-selling novels, debuts Aug. 9 on the network.

“I think it’s fair to say that Outlander is in the same wheel house as the White Queen in terms of having a large female following,” he said. “Premium television has been something of a male-skewing sector, on recently has there been recognition of the female audience on premium networks.”

Starz’s latest original series powered its way to more than 2 million viewers during its linear weekend debut.

Power, the tale of a New York City nightclub and its drug-backed underpinnings that is executed-produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, pulled in 462,000 viewers during its 9 p.m. premiere on Saturday, June 7, according to Nielsen live + same-day data. With encores, the series tallied 1.27 million watchers on Saturday. Adding 150,000 watchers for one telecast on sister service Encore and more re-airs on Sunday drove Power's opening weekend total to 2 million.

That put Power on par with the second-season bow of Da Vinci’s Demons and last August’s limited series The White Queen, but behind the 2.6 million who tuned in during the first weekend of Black Sails, a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island.

The new series also collected another 480,000 viewers via initial reports from the week-long multiplatform sampling initiative the premium programmer used to bolster awareness, raising its opening week count to some 2.6 million. Additional totals from watching on multiplex, extended DVR, on-demand, Starz Play online and other sampling outlets have not been calculated.

From a demographic perspective, Power played well with both guys and gals. Women 18+ comprised 45% of Power’s weekend viewers, with men 18+ accounting for 48%. Adults 18 to 49 represented 52% of the Power audience last weekend, while adults 50+ made up 40%

Starz is putting the power of social media to work in its promotional push for its latest original drama.

The premiere episode of Power, which contrasts the worlds of the New York club scene with the drug trade, will benefit from plays on Twitter and MySpace, along with a host of other MPVD affiliate sampling opportunities ahead of its June 7 bow on the linear network at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

The Power preview push continues the sampling efforts Starz has marshalled for series launches behind Black Sails and other digital promotional enhancements for returning seasons of key skeins like Da Vinci’s Demons.

The previews begin on Friday May 30 with an exclusive look at Power’s five-minute opening scene via Twitter (https://twitter.com/starz_channel) at 1 p.m. (ET). As such, the series, from Courtney Kemp Agboh (Emmy-nominated for The Good Wife) and produced in association with CBS Television Studios, will become the first-ever television show to use the Twitter Cards feature that enables one-touch playback. Twitter Cards extends user interactions beyond favoriting, retweeting and replying and allows them to watch videos, download apps, or view articles and photos, all from within a Tweet.

On May 31, the preview of the first of Power’s eight installments will screen on the Starz “Power” MySpace page, the Starz “YouTube” page at http://www.youtube.com/user/Starz and Starz “Power” Facebook page at www.facebook.com/power.starz.  Other digital Power play outlets include Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Sony Entertainment Network and CinemaNow.

The series premiere of “Power” will also be available for sampling through the free Starz Play app for all users across the country. 

Beginning on May 31, a host of Starz affiliates will also serve up the first episode of Power, including Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-verse, Cox, Bright House Networks, Mediacom and myriad NCTC members.

All told, an estimated 79 million U.S. multichannel video households will have access to the sampling opportunities through select cable, telco satellite affiliates, according to Starz officials.

The expansive consumer marketing campaign behind the series encompasses print, television, radio and social gambits. In addition, Starz has secured outdoor buys on key billboards in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York, and buses in the latter two DMAs.

As mentioned, the series trades around New York City’s club scene and its drug world underpinnings. James “Ghost” St. Patrick has it all: a beautiful wife, a gorgeous Manhattan penthouse, and the hottest, up-and-coming new nightclub in New York. His club, Truth, caters to the elite: the famous and infamous boldface names that run the city that never sleeps.  But as it grows, so does Ghost’s plan to expand his empire. But Truth hides an ugly reality: it’s merely a front for Ghost's lucrative drug network, catering to the wealthy and powerful.

The cast is led by Omari Hardwick (Sparkle, For Colored Girls, Kick Ass, Being Mary Jane) as Ghost; Lela Loren (Snitch, Gang Related) as Angels Valdes, an old flame who has reentered his life; Naturi Naughton (Fame, The Client List, Mad Men), as Tasha St. Patrick, his wife, confidant and willing accomplice; and Joseph Sikora (Jack Reacher, Safe, Boardwalk Empire) as Tommy Egan, his childhood best friend and business partner.