Confirmed: STARZ to Lower Annual Subscription Cost as Streaming Subscribers Continue to Grow
Hold onto your hats, cord-cutters. In an era in which streaming services are routinely raising subscription prices once or twice every year as well as eliminating their cheapest ad-free plans, the streaming side of STARZ has made an unorthodox announcement. In a letter to subscribers, the premium cable streamer informed customers that the price of annual plans would be going down as of their next billing cycle.
The annual cost of a subscription to STARZ will decrease by $74.99 to $69.99 for current subscribers the service confirmed to The Streamable. For those who are on a discounted offer or free trial, there will be no changes until those special periods have expired. Currently, the annual plan is not available for new customers, so this price reduction is only intended to benefit existing subscribers who have already signed up for a year-long plan.
“As one of the few streaming networks that is profitable, we are always looking for ways to drive success for the business while providing great value to our customers,” STARZ president of domestic networks Alison Hoffman told The Streamable. Our annual plan subscribers are some of our most valuable customers, so we wanted to find ways to drive more people into the plan and reward our existing customers.”
Not only is the STARZ streaming platform profitable, but it has continued to grow while many of the larger services have seen subscriptions stagnate or decline. STARZ added 100,000 subscribers during the second quarter of 2023 on the heels of adding 700,000 in Q1 2023. The additional 800,000 customers move the company’s streaming total to 26.3 million, which places it ahead of Peacock’s 24.3 million that was reported last month.
Currently, STARZ is offering new customers a deal that allows them to pay just $3 per month for the first three months of service, perfectly timed to allow viewers to get prepared for the new season of “Power Book IV: Force” which will debut on Friday, Sept. 1. They will also be able to binge the first six and a half seasons of “Outlander” in time for the final eight episodes of Season 7 premiere in 2024.
Lionsgate, the streamer’s parent company, is planning on separating STARZ from its movie studio — which is responsible for hits like “John Wick,” “The Hunger Games,” “Twilight,” “Knives Out,” and more — in the first few months of 2024. At one point, Lionsgate had explored selling STARZ, with indications that the move could be executed in September 2002. However, given the streaming success for STARZ in recent years — despite declines on the linear, premium cable side — has apparently changed the company’s mind.
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.”