KOLKATA: Another global player makes its official foray in India with the rollout of Lionsgate Play. After running on partnerships for more than a year, Lionsgate has now introduced its independent streaming service. Along with international premium content, it will also deliver high-budget Indian originals. Like other global streaming services, Lionsgate Play will also run on subscription model.
The service has two pricing points - Rs 99 per month, and Rs 699 per year, which is very competitive compared to other OTT services in India. The app will be available to download across a broad array of platforms and devices including Google Play store, Apple app store and Amazon firestick.
The platform anticipates continued strong growth in the Indian OTT ecosystem and is capitalising on this opportunity by bringing a host of “new, provocative, and edgy movies and web series” to the country.
Starz (a subsidiary of Lionsagte) president and chief executive officer Jeffrey A Hirsch said, “India has always been a key market for us. The large and diverse population, increased data usage in urban and rural markets, and adoption of OTT across all demographics created an exciting opportunity for us to launch Lionsgate Play. We’re confident that our unique, exclusive and exceptionally curated content will generate a great response from Indian audiences.”
Lionsgate South Asia managing director Rohit Jain added, “We are thrilled to launch the much-awaited Lionsgate Play app in India. We want to provide the finest, never seen before content that will captivate our audiences with bespoke entertainment drawing on the most exciting current releases and our premium library.”
Talking about content slot, Jain added that it will be launching Indian originals in the coming months, featuring untold edgy urban stories from some of the best creative minds in the Indian film industry. Jain mentioned that it tied up with the famous B-Town faces like Anil Kapoor, Mukesh Bhatt, Kunal Kohli and studios such as Endemol Shine, Jar Pictures.
Starz first launched internationally with its Starzplay international premium streaming platform in 2018. This month it will expand its global footprint into 55 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Canada, Japan and India, aiming to become one of the most widely distributed and fastest growing premium OTT services worldwide while entertaining millions of users with bold and curated content.
The Lionsgate Play app features a broad portfolio of content ranging from the best of original feature film and television dramas, romances, comedies, thrillers and action favourites and premieres, bringing world cinema and television series directly to Indian audiences.
