As part of Lionsgate’s second-quarter earnings report, it was revealed that the STARZ streaming service closed June with 26.3 million subscribers. This was an increase of 1.8 million from the 24.5 global customers that the streamer reported at the end of March. The worldwide total includes all of STARZ’s streaming services including STARZ, STARZPLAY International, and STARZPLAY Arabia.
The service’s latest quarterly total represents a 9.6 million subscriber year-over-year increase from the 16.7M that the streamer reported in August 2021. In the past, Lionsgate executives have touted a target of 50-60 million global subscribers by the end of 2025, but recent reports about the company’s future might put that into question.
Domestically, STARZ now has a total of 12.2 million U.S. subscribers, a 700,000 subscriber increase from the 11.5M that the company reported at the end of the previous quarter. On the linear side of the business, Starz saw a decline of 300,000 subscribers to come in at 9.2M cable subscribers. In all, Lionsgate reported 37.3 million global subscribers between the streaming and pay-TV arms of Starz.
Throughout much of the second quarter, reports circulated that Lionsgate was looking to sell part of Starz and/or spin it off into a standalone company. Roku has long been rumored to be one of the companies interested in purchasing a piece of the service, with DIRECTV also interested in joining the deal. Reports were that the move could happen as early as this month, so if plans have been moving apace, an announcement could come at any time.
In a somewhat ironic move, roughly one year after winning a legal battle to prevent Disney from using the name Stars+ in Brazil, Disney+ and STARZ launched a unique bundling option in Latin America to bring the two services together in promotional offer.
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.”