Lionsgate, Univision prep SVoD service

US studio Lionsgate is expanding its streaming footprint by partnering with Univision Communications to launch a Spanish-language subscription movie service.

Lionsgate’s Jon Feltheimer

The service, set to launch early next year, will serve the “booming Hispanic movie-going audience in the US,” Lionsgate said in a statement.

Content partners have not yet been unveiled but shows will include Spanish-language films panning the comedy, family, kids, horror and drama genres as well as current titles from across the Spanish-speaking world.

It will encompass Hollywood films from Lionsgate’s 16,000-title library and other catalogues dubbed into Spanish. There will also be an offering from Pantelion Films, Lionsgate’s joint venture with Mexican entertainment giant Grupo Televisa.

“Our premium movie service checks all the boxes for success – a world-class partner in Univision, films from the Pantelion brand that has great equity among Spanish-speaking audiences, strong management, terrific intellectual property and a well-defined market opportunity,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.

“This new service has all the ingredients to be the leading premium movie channel for Hispanic audiences in the US as well as a great addition to our growing portfolio of SVoD services.”

Univision will offer the service to cable and satellite operators individually as well as in tandem with Univision Now, a subscription service for its broadcast networks Univision and UniMas. It will also license titles from its classic Latino cinema library to the new service.

The new service will join a growing portfolio of Lionsgate SVoD services that includes Tribeca Shortlist, launched with Tribeca Enterprises last fall, Comic-Con HQ, which debuted in July, and superstar Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud comedy platform which premieres early next year.

In June, Lionsgate announced its planned US$4.4bn acquisition of US cablecaster Starz.