Outlander season 4 scene premiere applies pressure in Starz – Optimum standoff

We’re almost into the third full week now in the Starz – Optimum carriage standoff, and with that comes a question: Are we any closer to there being a deal than we were back on January 1? While the two companies are not going to share details of their negotiations, it doesn’t seem as though there is a lot of progress being made.

One of the biggest bits of evidence of this comes in how Starz seems to be using the upcoming Outlander season 4 scene reveal this Sunday as leverage for getting a deal done between the two parties sooner rather than later. Take a look at the new tweet from the official Outlander account below, one where Starz reminds Optimum viewers that they are set to miss the marathon and the exclusive scene that will be revealed at the end of it. Not only that, but they encourage their viewers to call Optimum and demand a refund for not getting the service that they subscribed to see. Typically when you get to this point in negotiations one of two things are clear: Either talks have broken down or a network thinks that making such a statement will lead to a last-minute deal coming together.

Either way, this marathon on Sunday offers up something that there hasn’t really been when it comes the Starz – Optimum dispute so far: Actual stakes. Other than Counterpart premiering later this month, there hasn’t been a huge reason for the majority of Starz subscribers to apply pressure. Typically these disputes get resolved before they get many months deep, and there are probably plenty of Outlander fans who don’t even have subscriptions right now because they canceled them after season 3 was over. Creating a big event around one of your biggest hits during a carriage dispute is something different — for the first time, there may be viewers en masse who are disappointed because they didn’t get to see something live because of the dispute.

Related – Outlander renewal talks happening for potentially two more seasons

What we wouldn’t be surprised about at this point is this: Starz doing a marathon of Power, one of their other biggest hits, soon with an exclusive preview of its own. While we hardly think that these moves are planned solely to be a shot at Optimum — it’s a great way for Starz to win back subscribers so that they’ll check out Counterpart next week — adding a little bit of pressure feels like a more-than-worthy side effect. This is definitely a story worth following as the weeks progress, but CarterMatt still remains confident a deal will get done before any episodes of either Outlander or Power are impacted.

Do you think that this marathon and Outlander season 4 scene reveal will change anything in the Starz – Optimum dispute? Share now in the attached comments!

Remember that you can also like CarterMatt on Facebook now in the event you want some other insight regarding Outlander whenever you want it. (Photo: Starz.)