We’d been hearing rumours for a while, but it has now been officially confirmed. Streaming service Lionsgate+ will cease operations in the UK from 29th February 2024.
Lionsgate+ began life in the UK as Starzplay in 2018, before rebranding to its current moniker in 2022. It was a streaming service which was available via its own website and app, on Sky, and via a Prime Video channel. Whilst it didn’t have the largest catalogue of shows, it did run many exclusive series from the US network Starz, which is also owned by Lionsgate, such as 50 Cent’s ‘Power’ “Book” series spin-offs, critically-acclaimed series ‘The Great’, and the beloved drama ‘Outlander’.
There were rumblings of a possible shutdown of Lionsgate+ following a memo which surfaced in November from Starz Inc. CEO, Jeffrey Hirsch, about restructuring the company in preparation for separating Starz and Lionsgate into two separate companies, with the film and TV studio in one company, and the Starz channel and streaming platform in another. Part of that streamlining of the businesses included cutting 10% of the staff and pulling out of the UK market.
What is rather frustrating for fans is that there is currently no indication as to what will happen to the shows which currently air on Lionsgate+ UK. This is particularly annoying for ‘Outlander’ fans, given that the show had happily aired on Prime Video UK for five seasons, but was moved to Lionsgate+ in 2022, only to have the service close its doors a year later… Prime Video UK may manage to do a deal to pick ‘Outlander’ back up again, hopefully in time for Season 7, Part 2, in 2024, however, that is in no way confirmed or guaranteed.
As for the other shows, the third and final season of ‘The Great’ had already aired on Lionsgate+, but also previously had a second run window on Channel 4 in the UK, so it is possible the final season may be shown there too. The various ‘Power’ “Book” spin-off series could end up anywhere, however, Netflix did run the original ‘Power’ series in the UK, so they might be interested in doing a deal for the spin-off series. Other shows, such as the sci-fi ‘Station Eleven‘, Courteney Cox & Greg Kinnear-fronted horror comedy ‘Shining Vale‘, and the upcoming Starz series ‘Spartacus: House Of Ashur‘, really could end up on any UK broadcaster or streaming service. I stress this is all speculation though, and as of right now, we don’t have any confirmation on where any of the shows currently on Lionsgate+ UK will land.
This is the second of the smaller streaming services to bite the dust in the last few weeks. We also had news that the (to be honest, somewhat half-heart!) attempt to launch a version of the Peacock streaming service in the UK by Sky had officially been abandoned. This was not surprising, given they had already given up on it about six months ago, and stopped adding new content, shifting Peacock content onto their main channels instead.
If you do currently have a Lionsgate+ UK subscription, you have until 29th February 2024 to binge-watch anything you want to see on the service. You don’t need to cancel, subscribers will receive a prorated refund of their current subscription fee, credited to their original payment method (i.e. if you paid for a year’s subscription, you’ll get some money back.)
