Tablet is your new TV: Starz launches Middle East Web TV service

Watching your latest Hollywood movies and series has just got a lot easier in the UAE with the launch of Starz Play, an OTT Web TV service.

Starz Play is the first international venture for the US-based Starz that has more than 23 million subscribers.

To subscribe to the service, users will have to pay $13.99 (Dh51.39). What you get in return is a service that requires no use of VPN and a service that is legal.

The content as of today is only Hollywood and could remain so for some time to come.

Maaz Sheikh, who heads the Mena operations at Starz Plus and who earlier was part of the rival OSN Group says the main advantage with Starz when compared to OSN, Etisalat or other services such as IC Flix is the rich Hollywood collection.

It has more than 3,000 movies and TV series episodes such as ‘[Black Sails’, ‘Power’, ‘Survivor’s Remorse’, ‘Spartacus’,  ‘The White Queen’, ‘Magic City’, and more are included in Starz Play’s TV series offerings.

Sheikh says it has tied up with some major content providers and promise to simultaneously stream movies and series in both the regions. Among them are CBS/Showtime, Disney, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Shine, Sony, and Warner Bros., with more to come.

Kids content will automatically come with Arabic translations and voice overs and users will be able to change the language of the video with just a click of a mouse.

The lack of Arabic content with regard to movies and shows will be sorted soon he says, “But soon we will be making our own Arabic content as well. We would also include various other Arabic content on our platform,” he added.

Its nearest competitor in the region is the ICFlix, which has a wide variety of Arabic as well as Bollywood movies and series as well as charges about $7.99 (Dhs29.35) for a month.

You can also compare it to NetFlix which is currently unavailable in the region. In the US the services start at $7.99 for a basic package and $8.89 for a standard version.

As Sheikh points out, videos can be streamed  on multiple devices, especially tablets that are fast gaining traction as the second most prominently used device for watching TV or movies.

Users can download the service on PCs and Macs, iPhones, iPads, Android and other devices, with up to five devices registered per subscription.

In order to use the service you will need an internet at a speed of 1.5 MBPS.

When asked how the company plans to compete and stay relevant in an environment where free web streaming is gaining ground, especially through the use of various services, he said, “our current goal is to try and sustain ourselves.

It might take one or two or even five years.

We are providing a genuine alternative to users in the UAE who are forced to log on to VPN in order to access services like Netflix,” he said.