Starz Finally Goes Back Public: Can They Succeed Without Lionsgate?

Photo by Mizuno K

On May 7th, 2025, Starz has “returned back as a publicly traded company according to Starz.” The last time the company was publicly traded was when “Liberty Media owned the firm and separated it as a public company in 2013.” Although Starz has helped Lionsgate throughout the covid-19 pandemic of audiences not attending to theaters, Lionsgate felt it was needed to separate the company to make Starz become a valuable company for investors. Plus, Lionsgate sought to replicate Sony Pictures’ strategy of not having its own streaming service, focusing instead on producing projects for a variety of streamers while continuing to handle theatrical distribution. So, Starz is now in a new chapter as Jeffrey Hirsch has more power to make the final decision for what is best for the company. Moving forward, Starz will continue to be in the market, but not highly successful, due to limited territory expansion, the absence of an in-house production department, and a lack of additional financial backing.

In addition, the streaming business is all about becoming global much as possible for a variety of people to have access to becoming subscribers. But, Starz does not want to think global as wanting to focus locally. Starz CEO, Jeffrey Hirsch states,“We pulled back from international a year ago. We think there’s a lot of opportunity to grow our business by focusing on the U.S. and Canada.” For the company no longer doing business in the U.K., Australia, and Latin America, this could have been an opportunity to expand new shows from local creatives. Also, grow the subscriber base even further as a competitive advantage over other streamers more local to the market, such as BritBox. Starz’s focus on North America is essential, given its U.S. foundation, but the market’s saturation will make it more challenging to succeed independently.

Moreover, the production process of a film or show can be costly depending on the particular firm. Starz “being able to edit projects internally can reduce post-production fees for every project on the company’s slate.” Starz had the help of Lionsgate not being able to pay a third-party production company to make their shows. Although Lionsgate has agreed to partner with Starz to handle the production of their projects in the future, Starz is still paying a fee for these services and Lionsgate could increase the cost of fees once the partnership contract expires.

Furthermore, streamers must continue to invest in new programming to attract both new and existing users while also incorporating licensed content. As the cost of programming can be expensive, Lionsgate helped Starz create spin-offs of Power, turning it into a franchise. Especially since the Power franchise “is the probably the most important franchise to the company according to Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch.” Without Lionsgate in the picture now, it will be challenging for Starz to continue producing a large number of new potential big IP shows. Now, Starz can operate alone to produce shows on a low budget, but users may start to feel fatigued of the repeated spin-off strategy due to a original show being too expensive to continue, such as Power Book 2. Also, not all spin-offs will succeed, similar to the Power Universe.

On the other hand, Starz can succeed without being under a conglomerate by developing new IP genres, operating as a boutique-style firm, and having more power to take bigger actions. Starz has done well in producing crime genre shows, which their target audience, female minority, enjoys. However, having other genres such as sci-fi, romance, comedy, etcetera can grow more subscribers and introduce other demographics. Plus, continue to engage existing female minorities in other genres they may enjoy too. In which, Starz is now starting this approach since gone public with a “british boxing show executive produced by 50 Cent called Fightland, All Fours psychological book adaptation by Miranda July, and more.” Even though this is good news for Starz, the company’s future remains under high pressure as a standalone firm, meeting the expectations of investors. The major cons of companies going public is “strict regulation and associated cost and the demand of meeting short-term financial goals.”

As for Starz’s business model moving forward, adopting a boutique operation mindset is the best approach for Starz due to high competition. According to Evoca TV, “Netflix (21%), Prime Video (22%), and Disney+/Hulu (23%) have the highest market share in the streaming industry.” The big players will always be able to undertake larger projects and expand more quickly due to their presence in multiple territories. However, Starz can still succeed by focusing on becoming a well-respected brand, regardless of its size, and being considered a prestige boutique. Also, focus on being the best company of a particular niche that makes audiences stay subscribed and clients highly wanting to partner in which ties to the mission of distributing shows to “adult unrepresented audiences.” Nevertheless, there are only so many firms that last in a marketplace where the bigger competitors can easily acquire more assets. The industry is already starting to resemble cable, where users would have limited options to subscribe to services like Comcast, AT&T, Dish, and DirecTV.

Additionally, Jeffery Hirsch now has complete control and decision-making authority over how to run the company, besides with Lionsgate making the final decision. Usually, companies that are always under a bigger company, the conglomerate makes the final decision for their subsidiaries as what is best for the entire brand conglomerate besides what is best for each asset. “With the completion of the acquisition, the combined company is well positioned to increase its content creation capabilities, enhance its leadership in premium scripted programming and scale its global distribution footprint.” Starz can now set the amount of budget programming spending they want to execute, projects they want to acquire with their final approval, and internal and external future goals. However, Starz, without Lionsgate, could be acquired by another larger company again, unable to run alone and adding to the significant debt.

Ultimately, Starz being publicly traded is an exciting new chapter for the company, allowing it to make moves that fit its core business and slogan, “We’re All Adults Here.” Also, potential business partners and individual investors may be interested in contributing to the company due to its performance on the stock exchange. Therefore, others may be skeptical of the company being a standalone now, as it lacks much IP and relies too heavily on the domestic market. Plus, will their new upcoming programming become good quality shows that are profitable.

Sources:

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