If Internet Protocol TV services like Dave TV, Akimbo, and ITVN want to survive, say industry watchers, they all need t do one very important thing: add content that average consumers want to see. Now one player, ITVN (Interactive Television Networks, Inc.) is apparently poised to do just that by adding Starz and Encore programming to its lineup later this spring. While ITVN officials are mum, it apparently made the surprise announcement at the recent Satellite Expo 2006 trade show in Atlanta.

Formerly XTV, ITVN launched a year and a half ago with a little black IPTV box that could stream live and on-demand adults-only television to broadband-enabled homes. Less than a year later, the company changed its name and broadened its offerings to include classic films, Internet radio, music downloads, and a smattering of college-sports channels. The box sells for $100 and the service, which includes all the aforementioned channels, costs $9.95 a month.

According to a promotion sheet handed out by ITVN at the show, ITVN is now poised to take its programming from niche to broad interest with all 15 of Starz and Encore's live, linear channels and a part of its on-demand video offerings. The latter will offer a collection of up to 150 on-demand films. The service will cost $14.95 a month. According to the sheet, customers that make a 12-month commitment to the Starz plan will get the ITVN box for free.

Starz Entertainment Group Senior Vice President of Corp Communications Tom Southwick confirmed that the two companies are in "advanced discussions," but added that this is by no means a done deal. Starz, Southwick explained, has said all along that it's "open to distributing with all potential distributors and that certainly applies to ITVN."

"We're testing how the service transmits over the system," said Southwick. "We have requirements to ensure that the quality of what we transmit lives up to certain standards. Consumers have certain standards when it comes to movies."

The proprietary ITVN box, which unlike some competitors does not include a hard drive, is currently designed to stream content at up to 1.1 megabits per second (it can actually handle 4MBs, but ITVN has intentionally throttled the box down). While that's not a killer rate, it keeps the box within DSL download parameters, but could frustrate the growing number of premium-level 10-megabit broadband cable users and the small but growing number of 15-megabit fiber-optic users. On launch, the box handled only 350 bps, so the company has shown that it's open to adjusting the rate.

Starz is not entirely new to the broadband television space. It launched its own Vongo service in January. The $9.99-a-month service offers 15,000 movies that users can download to their media center PCs and mobile devices supporting the Personal Media Center Platform.