Lionsgate India and SonyLIV are partnering to kick off next week’s Diwali Festival with the launch of ‘Lionsgate Play’ on the SonyLIV streaming platform.
SonyLIV is one of the largest local broadcast-owned over-the-top platforms in India in terms of viewership and consumption. It is renowned for hit series such as Indian Idol and Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to Be A Millionaire) amongst others and also licenses the rights to the best sports programming in the territory. Additionally, SonyLIV is home to fitness, original web series, blockbuster movies.
The embedded ‘Lionsgate Play’ destination will launch with over 500 hours of Starz and Lionsgate premium original series, including the Starz, hits Power, Vida, Sweet bitter, The White Queen, The White Princess, and the eagerly-anticipated The Spanish Princess along with popular Lionsgate library titles such as Crash, Manhattan, Wildfire, Are We There Yet? and Chasing Life.
The offering will be bundled within SonyLIV’s current slate of programming, significantly enhancing their premium English-language offering to customers. Powered by a combination of Starz original programming, premium Lionsgate content and a deep library, the launch is the latest step in the continued expansion of Lionsgate and Starz platforms around the world.
“With over 500 hours of premium programming at launch, they bring to our platform a great mix of popular Starz original series and classic Lionsgate catalog titles sure to resonate with our customers for years to come,” said SonyLIV Business Head Uday Sodhi.
Starz has launched or announced ‘Starzplay’ channels in the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, France, and Spain and is part of the leading subscription video on demand (SVOD) service in the Middle East and North Africa. Lionsgate has recently announced major content licensing agreements in Australia and Latin America.
“Our collaboration is the latest milestone in elevating our brand in India, and we’re delighted to kick off our partnership with a robust portfolio of Lionsgate and Starz programming. Sony India has a reputation for bringing cutting-edge entertainment to Indian audiences, making them the perfect choice for us to deliver some of our most successful premium English-language content,” said Lionsgate India Managing Director Rohit Jain.
SonyLIV is the first premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement for users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, it enables users to discover 20 years of rich content from the network channels of Sony Pictures Networks. With over 81.1 million app downloads so far, SonyLIV is the first amongst its competition to provide original exclusive premium content.
Lionsgate is a global content leader whose films, television series, digital products, and linear and over-the-top platforms reach next generation audiences around the world. In addition to its filmed entertainment leadership, Lionsgate content drives a growing presence in interactive and location-based entertainment, video games, esports, and other new entertainment technologies.
