Starz Features Sex And Violence In Pursuit Of HBO, Showtime

Liberty Media Corporation, owner of Starz, is determined to move the dial up on the No. 3 pay cable network, and transform its image from a recycler of Hollywood movies to a viable category competitor.

Starz has always played third fiddle to HBO and Showtime, and has a comparatively modest subscription audience of 17 million homes. That said, the recently premiered original melodrama Spartacus, is their first big hit – 1.1 million viewers tuned in to see violence and sex that might make Tarantino flinch.

Centered on the life of a heroic gladiator, originally portrayed by Kirk Douglas in the 1960’s, this Spartacus combines soft-core porn with modern speak: "My boot will meet your ass in the afterlife!"

The show's gladiator wannabees are made to drop their loincloths for a prospective socialite buyer to check the goods. The series is also laden with profanity that producers say is authentic to the 1st century BC.

Starz ordered 13 episodes before seeing a pilot, NBC having passed. According to William Hamm, EVP, Creative Development, "That made sense for Starz. We didn't want to follow HBO's Rome. This sounded nothing like it.”

At the helm of this new strategy is none other than Chris Albrecht, the former head of HBO. Now the new Starz CEO, two months into the job, he’s been charged with making this genre work.

"It's a different take on a story that's been pretty familiar," said Albrecht.  The ratings for Spartacus keep growing, and "have made me think about a lot of stuff. I thought, 'Wow, we could do a whole network like this and it would be different.' It's not a bad place to start in terms of restarting the brand,” continued Albrecht.

While at HBO, Albrecht put his stamp on the #1 pay cabler with dramas like The Sopranos and The Wire, arguably higher quality fare. "I think some people were thrown by the fact that we are not trying to be a stately drama," comments Steven S. DeKnight, executive producer and head writer on the campy remake. "But [pay cable shows] have become more distant and esoteric. As much as I love them, it is a chore to watch them. Spartacus is a bit of a throwback." DeKnight considers Spartacus as “Shakespeare lite.”

Albrecht just purchased rights to eight hours of Pillars of Earth, a period fantasy series placed in the 12th century – for $40 million. "There's value in thinking about things that are... fun," he said. "The idea of being entertained, I think, will be held up as valuable."

Is there a chance the venerable #1 HBO, and the aspirational alternative Showtime #2 will be challenged by the rebranded #3 as Starz enters the fray with historical fantastical soft porn fare – as only a pay TV channel can?

Stay tuned.