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UPDATES EXCLUSIVE: Ex-HBO Chief Chris Albrecht To Be Named New CEO Of Starz
This announcement will be going out Tuesday:
Englewood, Colo, Dec. 22 – Liberty Media Corporation announced today that Chris Albrecht, former Chairman and CEO of HBO, will join Starz, LLC as its President and CEO. He will oversee all of the Starz entities, including Starz Entertainment, Overture Films, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Film Roman and will assume his new role beginning January 1, 2010.
“We are excited to have an industry leader with an exceptional track record join the Starz team,” said Greg Maffei, Liberty Media President and CEO. “With his extensive experience and success in creating compelling original content and building a premium pay channel, Chris is a recognized visionary in the creative community and uniquely qualified to lead Starz into the future.”
“I am thrilled and honored to be asked to join a great company like Starz and to help take advantage of the challenges and opportunities emerging in media and entertainment,” said Albrecht. “I have always seen Starz as a bold, entrepreneurial and growth-oriented brand – one that I believe will be a great home for me. I look forward to putting my experiences and interests to work with the talented management team at Liberty and Starz to create valued products for consumers and our affiliate partners.”
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Albrecht’s knowledge, ability & respect is far superior to HBO’s current mgmt team – I’m anxious to see what happens.
Look for STARZ to be the new HBO in 2 years. Lots of awards and new subscribers. Chris will only attract the best talent because he leaves them alone.
Smart Move. Despite his personal issues Chris (with Carolyn) was really responsible for HBO’s success. It will be interesting to see if he makes a strong impact on STARZ. I like it.
This sounds like a good deal for both of them. Albrecht gets a second chance and Starz gets a proven keader. I hope Mr. Albrecht is a fan of Party Down and Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
Indeed… and God knows Overture needs SOMEone to instruct them how to actually buy and develop a good movie… now that tweedle dum and tweedle dee have been gone (the furst bros – whoever thought THEY knew what they were doing?!?!) it’s so hit n miss.
The right hire for sure. As one of the few executives out there with the bonafides to not only move a stock price, but also the creative community, Chris Albrecht’s arrival at STARZ puts HBO and Showtime and even FX and AMC on notice; all floundering in very different ways right now. The question will be, who is his Carolyn Strauss? One can make the argument that it was Carolyn’s instincts that led HBO in its heyday. That said, he enabled her and supported her and he gets props for that. I can’t imagine Bill Hamm being the big hire but I suppose that will have more to do with what Colorado has empowered him to do and what control he’ll actually have. Seems obvious he’ll move to invigorate a Network that doesn’t need reshaping because it’s never been shaped, but create an original programming profile that expands the subscriber base.
Great news!
It’s about time STARZ got out of it’s Morgan Fairchild Film Festival programming rut.
I wonder what Starz is going to do with Film Roman? Do they need an animation studio when the stuff they produce is owned by the competition (Simpsons, Marvel, EA, Etc)?
The man has a great eye for story and compelling content. His track record — Vegas incident aside — speaks for itself. If he’s smart he’ll green light Chat$worth and a few of the more high profile projects in turnaround.
Another out of control douchebag gets a second chance, and talented people can’t get a sniff.
Happy Holidays, Fuckers.
Can we look forward to the Chris Brown Holiday Special or Sleeping with The Enemy 2?
That was too easy, and not funny at all. He’s an amazing and brilliant man.
there is a second chance for everyone! even a despicable beater of women. starz with spartacus’ roid rage and party down’s casual misogyny will be a great fit for mr. albrecht.
“Party Down’s casual misogyny.”
Huh?
Don’t get all choked up, as it also means that STARZ will probably have to contend with harassment suits and employee payouts to keep their mouths shut.
Albrecht has his work cut out for him. Hopefully he’ll clean house in a programming dept. full of putzes (i.e. Jonathan Sher)…and the marketing isn’t anything special, either…
Mega-award-winning quality is the cornerstone of HBO’s original programming model and is HBO’s singular differentiator by leaps & bounds and millions of subscribers from Showtime and Starz. With Chris Albrecht, Starz has taken the golden goose.
What will this mean for the 3 networks? I believe this will change the balance of power from HBO to Starz; it’s that significant. The reason is is that since Chris Albrecht was released from HBO, HBO’s original content has been off the mark. Chris has the relationships in Hollywood and the best-of-the-best want to work with him. Chris has the wherewithal to develop and percolate great shows and knows that it can take time for great shows to gain a following. Sex and the City took 3 seasons before ratings soared. Same for the Sopranos.
But today, HBO’s storylines wander and shows are cut after two seasons. Unlike former finance-guy-turned-CEO Jeff Bewkes (who’s now running Time Warner), HBO’s current finance-guy-turned-CEO Bill Nelson just doesn’t have that high-caliber, Hollywood-producers inner voice. Unfortunately for Bill, lightening hasn’t struck that chair twice.
Moreover, Chris has a lot riding on this and a lot to prove after being ousted from HBO following a domestic dispute which happen to take place in front of Las Vegas Police Officers. His last venture fund fizzled and with renewed confidence and fire-in-his-belly instilled by Liberty Media, Chris will soar.
The only caveat I’d put on this bet is that Liberty Media is owned by John Malone, probably the smartest dealmaker around and king of the convoluted deals (e.g. IAC and Barry Diller) but whose reputation for cheapness abounds. For Starz to surpass HBO, John has to trust Chris’ inner voice, something that I doubt he’s ever done before. It takes time to develop shows so look for new CA influenced shows late next year. Buy stock now.
http://wp.me/pxoDD-2N
For those of you calling this Chris Albrecht’s second chance – it’s his third. He also assaulted a female HBO employee he was involved with in the 1990s and the network had to give her a cash settlement. This has been widely reported and a matter of public record; it’s not hearsay. The Albrecht hiring shows a tremendous disregard for women since he has a history of abusing them, not just an isolated incident in Las Vegas.
With his history of scumbaggery, it’s a travesty that ANY entertainment company will hire Albrecht. His misogynistic reputation was never a secret in the halls at HBO, a company that should be embarrassed for covering Albrecht’s tracks for so many years. Regardless of his professional accomplishments there — and arguably, Darren Star and David Chase are the real heroes of the HBO story — Albrecht is a scumbag, a swine, a lout, someone so despicable that even fictional Ari Gold would spit in his face before signing him.