Premium entertainment service, Lionsgate Play is launching in India through a partnership between telecoms operator Vodafone Idea and Starzplay, the subscription platform from Lionsgate subsidiary Starz.
Lionsgate Play offers curated Hollywood content for the Indian consumers, with much of the content available in multiple Indian languages. It currently includes more than 7,500 television episodes and feature films, including Starz original series, and first-run movies.
Lionsgate Play will be available to Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV subscribers as a part of what the two companies called a “strategic collaboration.”
In November last year, Lionsgate announced previously announced the India debut of Lionsgate Play as a branded block within SonyLIV, one of the largest local broadcast-owned over-the-top platforms. Its content was limited to 500 hours.
Content covered by the Vodafone Idea deal includes “The Hunger Games” and “The Twilight Saga” film series, “La La Land,” and the recent hit “Wonder.” Digital premieres in the first year are announced as including “Robin Hood,” “Crank,” “Sahara,” “Redcliff,” “Jersey Shore,” “Killers,” “Grudge,” “Letters to Juliet,” “American Pyscho 2,” “Nerve,” “Facing Ali,” “Down A Dark Hall,” and “American Assassin.”
“We are extremely excited at the prospect of offering premium world class English content to our consumers,” said Avneesh Khosla, operations director – marketing at Vodafone Idea Limited.
“Our partnership is the latest affirmation of the enormous role that telcos are playing in shaping the digital age of content,” said Rohit Jain, MD of Lionsgate South Asia.