The STARZ streaming service lost nearly 200,000 subscribers in the second quarter, but executives are confident about its upcoming content slate.
Breaking up is hard to do, but Lionsgate is still on track to split into two companies by the end of 2024. The process has already been a long and arduous one, but the company still intends to finish with its plan of separating the Lionsgate movie studio from the STARZ cable channel and streaming service by the conclusion of December. Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer said on the company’s recent earnings call that splitting into two companies will allow each to “pursue the strategic agendas that are right for them in the current environment.”
Key Details:
- STARZ now has 13.2 million streaming subscribers, plus 8 million more linear customers.
- A split will allow STARZ to potentially be acquired by another media outlet.
- Lionsgate first filed paperwork to split its movie studio from STARZ over a year ago.
Lionsgate unveiled its earnings report for the second quarter of 2024 on Aug. 8 and as part of the report, it showed that the STARZ streaming service had shrunk to 13.2 million subscribers, a decrease of 180,000 from the first quarter of the year, but a 5.5% increase year-over-year. The STARZ cable network added another 8.1 million subscribers to the total, bringing STARZ’s overall viewership to 21.3 million.
The company has made good progress in its efforts to divide its company, according to Feltheimer. That process first started in 2023, when Lionsgate filed paperwork seeking regulatory approval to split into two separate entities.
Now, the company has raised $300 million in gross proceeds from equity financing. Lionsgate has also begun merging its TV and movie studios with Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that could allow other interested parties to make a play to buy the studio.
STARZ and its streaming sibling could also be acquisition targets for a larger service like Netflix, or even a company like Comcast which wants to upgrade the offerings on Peacock and has the financial health to pursue such a transaction.
What Will STARZ Do Before Splitting From Lionsgate?
The calendar for STARZ is pretty packed before the end of 2024. The streamer recently announced a $1 monthly price increase from $9.99 per month to $10.99, which takes effect on Thursday, Sept. 5.
STARZ president Jeff Hirsch said during the earnings call that he expects that price increase to help the streamer continue growing revenue, particularly with its strong content slate in the closing months of 2024. The network’s most popular title “Outlander” is due to return on STARZ in November with Season 7, Part 2, which will surely help the streamer keep growing.
“It’s a really robust opportunity to grow the business in the back half of the year, so we feel very confident that we’ll have healthy OTT growth in quarters three and four, and we also will come out with revenue growth for the year,” Hirsch said.
STARZ is also joining a new streaming bundle with BritBox, which will soon be available directly from the STARZ website. That should help both services continue to grow their subscriber bases and revenue, which would help STARZ look all the more attractive to prospective buyers if it is approached after it is split off from Lionsgate this year.
STARZ
STARZ offers a subscription video streaming service that gives access to content on the STARZ channel without the need of a cable subscription. With your subscription, you’ll get access to 7,500+ films and episodes, including all of their current originals like “Outlander,” The Serpent Queen,” “BMF,” and “Power.”
You can subscribe for $9.99 a month either directly from STARZ, or through Amazon Prime Video Channels, Apple TV Channels, or Roku Premium Subscriptions.
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