The Starz streaming service finished the first calendar quarter of 2023 with more than 20 million domestic subscribers. Although an increase on the quarter before, it is a decrease when compared to the end of the same quarter in the year before.
As of March 31, 2023, the close of Lionsgate’s fiscal fourth quarter, Starz had 20.3 million domestic subscribers. This is the total number and breaks down to include 8 million linear subscribers and 12.3 million OTT (streaming) subscribers.
The 20.3 million total represents an increase of 400,000 on the previous quarter. In spite of the overall increase, linear subscribers declined, dropping from 8.3 million to 8 million. This did mean that the level of new OTT subscribers was greater than the total growth, increasing by 700,000 subscribers.
When looking at the year-over-year data, the number of Starz subscribers was fewer in the first three months of 2023. Once again, this was primarily due to a drop in the number of linear subscribers. While Starz lost 1.5 million (down from 9.5 million) linear subscribers over the past year, it gained 800,000 (up from 11.5 million) OTT subscribers over the same period.
When factoring in international subscribers as well, Lionsgate finished up the more recent quarter with a total of 30.3 million global subscribers. This includes 9.9 million linear and 20.4 million OTT subscribers, and is a decrease on the 37.2 million reported at the end of the previous quarter.
Earlier this week, Starz confirmed that a $1 price increase per month is set to come into effect next month, taking the cost of a subscription up to $9.99 per month. As that price increase kicks in at the end of the month, we probably won’t see how it impacts subscriber numbers until the results for the third calendar quarter of the year come through later in the year.
If considering giving Starz a try in the meantime, it is worth noting there are a couple of deals doing the rounds. For example, signing up through the Starz website currently reduces the cost down to $5 per month for the first three months.
Alternatively, Prime Video is currently offering a deal which reduces the cost down to $2.99 per month for the first six months.
