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The Fault in Our Starz

Since getting spun out of Lionsgate in May, Starz has struggled with high churn, low pricing power, and better-positioned competitors. Does its diverse audience still make it an acquisition target?

Jeffrey Hirsch
Of course, Jeffrey Hirsch & Co. will argue that their most popular shows, like 50 Cent’s Power franchise and Ronald D. Moore’s Outlander, represent the type of prestige television that audiences can’t get on Tubi. Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Julia Alexander
August 20, 2025

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So… how long can Starz last? Back in 2021, a few years after its launch as a stand-alone streaming service, C.E.O. Jeffrey Hirsch and Lionsgate leader Jon Feltheimer predicted that Starz was on track to reach 60 million global subscribers by 2025, with more than 80 percent coming from its digital business. That turned out to be a pandemic-era fever dream. Last week, during the company’s first earnings call since being spun out of Lionsgate in May, C.F.O. Scott MacDonald announced that total subs (linear and streaming) had fallen to about 19 million—less than one-third of what Hirsch once predicted—with streaming subscribers sitting around 12.2 million, down 120,000 from last quarter. Starz barely operates outside of the U.S. anymore, after past attempts at global expansion didn’t pan out.