Lionsgate, the Hollywood-based studio which is behind many blockbuster titles, has launched its own independent video-streaming app in India.
Priced at ₹99 a month and ₹699 a year, it will curate not just Hollywood titles for its Indian audience, but also produced original content.
This move to launch its own platform comes shortly after it offered the service bundled with its India-based distribution partners Vodafone-Idea and Reliance Jio in 2019.
“We’ve always looked at India as a key growth market and while many American companies have made mistakes in understanding the complexity and diversity of the country, we know this is the right time and place for Lionsgate," said Jeffrey A. Hirsch, president, and Chief Executive Officer for Starz.
Starz, is a subsidiary bought by Lionsgate in 2016.
The platform also anticipates a continued strong growth in the Indian OTT ecosystem and is capitalizing on this opportunity by bringing a host of new, provocative, and edgy movies and web series to India with the launch of its video service Lionsgate Play.
What's being offered?
Currently, the Lionsgate library offers some popular Hollywood titles like Hellboy, action thriller Angel Has Fallen, action-comedy The Gentlemen, crime drama Hustlers, Oscar-winning romantic musical La La Land among others.
Some other latest titles Love Life, which features Anna Kendrick, No Man’s Land a Syrian civil war series and The Goes Wrong Show a comedy series.
Several of the titles available in its library are also available in other languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi.
It is also working on original projects that star some prominent actors like Anil Kapoor, Mukesh Bhatt, Kunal Kohli along with popular production houses in the country like EndemolShine India and Jar Pictures, the report said.
However, Lionsgate is likely to continue its partnership with its existing distribution partners in order to ensure reach.
The Indian market has reached an interesting point of inflection in the past year-and-a-half, says Rohit Jain, managing director for Lionsgate south Asia and networks-south east Asia.
According to Jain, Lionsgate is looking to launch Indian originals in the coming months, featuring untold edgy urban stories from some of the best creative minds in the Indian film industry.
India is currently the world's fastest-growing over the top (OTT) streaming market and is on its way to become the world's largest OTT market by 2024, a PwC report stated.
While areas of traditional media like cinema and print have been adversely affected due to a shift in consumer behaviour, digital E&M (entertainment and media) spending, including OTT subscriptions and mobile data allowance, is being increasingly regarded as a utility. This thereby is seeing these categories emerge as a non-discretionary expense, according to the report.
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