Lionsgate’s content distribution strategy differs from those of its US studio rivals, and this will come into sharp focus with the titles from recently acquired eOne, says 3Vision director Jack Thomas, continuing his analysis of how the US majors are changing their content plans.

Ghosts (US) is distributed by Lionsgate for CBS

Like many other major US studios, Lionsgate has spent the last few years trying to balance its priorities as a distributor against the development of its own SVoD service Lionsgate+ (formerly known as StarzPlay).

On the international stage, the studio was even ahead of the likes of Disney, debuting StarzPlay in Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK in 2019, almost a year before the international launch of Disney+.

As expected, the launch of Lionsgate’s own SVoD around the world caused an increase in the level of the studio’s content being vertically integrated internationally, as has happened with many other US studios.

The difference with Lionsgate is how much this activity is focused solely on series commissioned by Starz. Series distributed by Lionsgate for other commissioners, such as Love Life for Max or Ghosts (US) for CBS, are more typically sold to third-party services internationally, even in markets where Lionsgate+ is present.

This is a stark contrast in strategy compared to the likes of Disney, which vertically integrate virtually all its series on to Disney+ internationally, regardless of the show’s original commissioning service, with most being branded as Star Originals.

With the exception of India, this walled garden approach to vertical integration helps facilitate any future possible separation (and subsequent sell-off) of Starz from the rest of Lionsgate.

The potential for Lionsgate – and by extension Starz – to vertically integrate in the future has decreased as its SVoD service Lionsgate+ has backed out of several international markets recently, with the service leaving France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux and the Nordics.

Content once exclusive to Lionsgate+ has quickly found new homes in some markets, such as Spain where it was acquired by the MGM Amazon Channel. More recently the service left Latin America, with its content going to Disney’s SVoD service Star+.

The UK remains the service’s priority market and while it has certainly benefited from vertical integration, it has supplemented its library of first-window series with third-party acquisitions from both US and other distributors.

All the major US studios have sold content to Lionsgate+ in the past with Warner Bros and NBCUniversal licensing five titles each over the past few years and Paramount licencing four titles.

Even Disney licensed both Godfather of Harlem and High Fidelity to the service, despite its typical prioritisation of Disney+ internationally for all of its content.

Alongside this, Lionsgate+ has worked with distributors outside of the major studios to build a broad content library that can appeal to a UK audience, taking the likes of Tokyo Vice from Fifth Season, No Man’s Land from Fremantle and Rig 45  from ITV Studios.

On top of all this recent activity, Lionsgate is set to benefit from an injection of IP following its recent acquisition of eOne from Hasbro for US$500m (£399m). This sale will bring big recent franchises like The Rookie and its spin-off The Rookie: Feds into its distribution catalogue, alongside the production arm responsible for Emmy winners such as Yellowjackets.

There has been no history of Lionsgate+ (or during its time as StarzPlay) acquiring titles such as these from eOne when it was acting as a separate distributor, with many local broadcast services instead historically being free to enjoy access to titles from eOne.

Considering Lionsgate’s focus on vertically integrating mainly titles from Starz on to its own platform, the studio is unlikely to steer its newly acquired eOne content pipeline directly into Lionsgate+.

Lionsgate’s balanced approach to content distribution, which is not wholly reliant on vertical integration, aligns well with the ongoing strategy deployed by eOne’s scripted distribution team. eOne in this instance will be able to slot neatly into Lionsgate’s future plans to bring in sales revenue, while also supporting its services in priority markets.