Last summer, it was revealed that Lionsgate would be closing down its streaming service, Lionsgate+ (formerly known as StarzPlay), in many countries around the world. 

In Latin America, Disney and Lionsgate had many legal disputes over the Star brand following the launch of the Star+ streaming service in 2021, which offered a variety of Disney content from its studios, such as FX, ABC and 20th Century Studios, along with live sports.  However, Lionsgate said it was causing customer confusion with their own platform, StarzPlay.   An agreement was made between the two companies that saw StarzPlay being offered as an add-on to Star+ in Latin America, and Disney offered a combo bundle featuring Disney+, Star+ and StarzPlay in one bundle.

However, since then, Lionsgate has begun separating itself from its streaming service, Starz, which saw the international version renamed to Lionsgate+, and recently, they’ve been making plans to close the streaming platform in many regions to focus on the US market.

Over the New Year’s Weekend, the Lionsgate+ app-on has now been removed from Star+ in Latin America, with all of the Lionsgate+ content now no longer available within the platform.   Subscribers to Lionsgate+ were informed last month that the service would be coming to an end.

While most of the world had Star added to Disney+ as a hub, Disney decided to launch Star+ as a separate streaming service. However, later this year, Disney is also planning on merging Star+ into Disney+ throughout the Latin America region, as it refocuses on making Disney+ the main streaming service it provides.   Bringing Disney+ in Latin America on par with other countries around the world with more variety.

As the streaming wars move into the era of profitability, we are seeing the market decrease as there is a limit to how many different streaming services households are willing to subscribe to, resulting in many smaller platforms retracting from the market, to license out to the bigger streaming services.

The Liongate+ content will now be moving over to Amazon’s MGM+ streaming service throughout Latin America.  This is part of a larger deal between the two companies that has seen Lionsgate/Starz content licensed out to MGM+ in over 24 countries around the world.

What do you think of Lionsgate+ closing?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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