But the battle over availability of titles is further muddying the picture.

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Less than half of the movies being made available on DVD are available for online streaming, which means that availability of such titles online is limited and will probably lead to increased piracy.

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In retrospect, they reckon, the ready availability of film financing meant too many titles were competing for attention.

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But the pie is growing, driven largely by smartphones, tablets, and the easy availability of high-quality, cheap titles.

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With Netflix and Redbox striking deals with film studios to release titles when they are available on video, either through web streams or physical rentals, the availability of movies on demand is not going to help Starz grow from its movie-based strategy roots.

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