STARZ Officially Greenlights “Book Two” Of The Hit Drama Series “OUTLANDER”
PREMIERE EPISODE SURPASSES 5 MILLION
VIEWS IN FIRST WEEK
Second Season to be at least
13-Episode Run, Based Upon Dragonfly in Amber, Book Two of Diana Gabaldon’s
International Bestselling Novels
Beverly Hills,
Calif., August 15, 2014 – Starz Chief Executive Officer,
Chris Albrecht, announced today that Starz has once again partnered with Sony
Pictures Television to greenlight a second season of “Outlander,” the
critically-acclaimed original series adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s
international bestselling books. Season two will be at least 13-episodes and
based upon the second of eight books in the Outlander series,
entitled Dragonfly in Amber.
The first 16-episode season of
“Outlander,” filmed on location in Scotland, debuted on August 9th,
2014 at 9pm PT/ET, with the first episode setting multiplatform viewing records,
surpassing 5 million views in the first week alone, drawing equal male and
female viewership (**SOURCE: Starz internal data and Nielsen audience
figures as of 8/14/14). Additionally, the series premiere marked a notable
media and social media success for the network, with fans hosting viewing
parties around the country. It was No. 1 in Nielsen Ratings for Twitter
conversation volume among all television series on premiere day, trended twice
at No. 2 in U.S. Twitter Trends (**SOURCE: Sysomos).
"The overwhelming support
‘Outlander’ has received from the fans, viewers and critics made the decision
for us to go ahead with the second book a very easy one. Diana Gabaldon has given
us years of great drama. With an incredible artist such as Ronald D.
Moore at the helm and a cast as spectacular as this, we look forward to
continue this spell-binding journey with Claire, Jamie, Frank, Brianna, Roger
and everybody over the centuries,” said Albrecht.
Creator Ronald D. Moore said “I’m
thrilled at the prospect of doing another season of this show for
STARZ. This project has been a labor of love from the very beginning and
it’s incredibly gratifying to see it succeed with viewers and critics alike.”
"Fans of the Outlander books have
waited a long time to see this incredible story brought to life on screen, and
Ron and his team have delivered a show that exceeds expectations,” said Zack
Van Amburg, President of Programming for Sony Pictures Television.
“We look forward to our continued partnership with Starz to present the next
chapter of this epic tale to longtime fans and viewers who are just discovering
the series.”
The series adaptation for “Outlander”
was developed by Ronald D. Moore (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: The
Next Generation”). Moore is best known for his work on “Battlestar Galactica,”
which won him a Peabody Award in 2006. Ronald D. Moore and Jim Kohlberg are
executive producers of “Outlander,” which is produced by Tall Ship Productions,
Story Mining and Supply Company and Left Bank Productions in association with
Sony Pictures Television.
Diana Gabaldon’s eight-book series has
sold more than 20 million copies and has graced the New York Times Best
Sellers list six times. The “Outlander” series spans the genres of romance,
science fiction, history, and adventure in one grandiose tale. It follows the
story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously
swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown
world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a
chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited
that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable
lives.
Starz will retain all domestic
multiplatform pay TV rights to the original series.
About Starz
Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a
leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units
that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay
television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz
Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.
Starz Networks is a leading provider of
premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and
ENCORE® pay TV networks which showcase premium original
programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable
operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications
companies. As of June 30, 2014, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 55.9
million subscribers, including 22.0 million at STARZ, and 33.9 million at
ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the
U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along
with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more
than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand
and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX
PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content,
distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional
television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide
distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by
Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties.
Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks,
distributors and audiences worldwide.
About Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television (http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com),
a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, is one of the television industry’s
leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in
every genre, around the world and for a multitude of platforms. In
addition to one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature
films, television shows and formats, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) boasts a current
program slate that includes top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark
off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime
dramas, comedies and telefilms. In addition to its US production
business, SPT has 18 wholly-owned or joint venture production
companies in 10 countries and also maintains offices
in 31 countries. SPT’s worldwide television networks portfolio
includes 126 channel feeds available in 168 countries, reaching more than 980
million cumulative households worldwide. SPT also creates original
content for and manages SPE’s premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT
owns US production company Embassy Row and is a part owner of cable channel
Game Show Network (GSN), 3D channel 3net, and national U.S media sales company
ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premier national
advertising sales companies and handles the commercial inventory in SPT’s
syndicated series as well as the Rural Media Group and DrOz.com.
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