Newly-solo Starz launched its second quarter financials on Thursday, with income down and a swing to an working loss.
Starz noticed total income fall to $319.7 million, down 7.4 p.c from a year-earlier income at $347.6 million. The standalone firm posted an working loss at $27 million, in opposition to a year-earlier working earnings of $10.1 million.
Following a cut up from Lionsgate, Starz noticed streaming income dip to $221 million, in comparison with $234.4 million within the year-earlier interval. And linear and different income got here in at $98.6 million, in opposition to a year-earlier $113.2 million.
Starz’ OTT service shed 120,000 subscribers within the second quarter, in comparison with the primary quarter of 2025, and ended the most recent monetary interval with 12.2 million streaming subscribers. Complete U.S. subscribers had been 17.6 million, a fall of 410,000 prospects from the primary quarter.
Starz put down the most recent subscriber losses to “continued strain on linear subscriber and decrease OTT subscriber additions.” Factoring in Canada, the place Starz misplaced 110,000 subscribers throughout the newest quarter, the corporate stated it had 19.1 million complete North American subscribers on the finish of the second quarter.
Throughout an after-market analyst name, Starz president and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch pointed to the “underperformance” of the fourth season of BMF (Black Mafia Household), which fell wanting gross promoting expectations. “This resulted in modest sequential declines in OTT subscribers and income,” he added.
BMF is a part of a Starz scripted roster that additionally contains Outlander, P-Valley and the Energy franchise. Hirsch stated post-season 4, Starz would focus on the way forward for BMF with its producers, who embrace government producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Traders reacted to the persevering with subscriber losses by sending shares in Starz down by 97 cents, or round 6.3 p.c, to $14.39 in after-market buying and selling. Through the name, Hirsch talked about potential mergers and acquisitions for Starz as he reiterated the corporate had a “misunderstood” and under-valued share worth.
“We consider this valuation disconnect will develop into extra obvious within the coming quarters, when a number of bigger media firms spin off their linear networks into standalone public firms. It’s price noting that, although these linear networks are closely depending on linear promoting and have immaterial digital income, most Wall Road analysts are valuing these companies at related or increased multiples than Starz – making us a terrific worth,” Hirsch argued as he touted the the now standalone Starz inventory to Wall Road.
He added: “We’ve an exceptional tech again finish and knowledge stack that I believe is unparalleled within the enterprise. And that makes us a really priceless asset, nevertheless it additionally units us as much as be a really sturdy platform to scale round.”
Trying ahead, Starz talked up a return to subscriber development within the present third quarter after the launch of Outlander: Blood of my Blood final week, and in its newest monetary outcomes reiterated a forecast for sequential income and streaming subscriber development within the again half of 2025.
CEO Hirsch in a press release stated his firm’s “content material technique continues to resonate with our viewers because the subscriber additions from final weekend’s Outlander: Blood of my Blood premiere the place the third highest for a collection premiere in Starz’s historical past.”
Hirsch additionally talked in regards to the pending return of the Spartacus franchise greater than a decade after it final aired. “Proper now, there may be insane depth round when it comes again, when it’s going to air, and so we be ok with that,” he insisted.
Hirsch additionally talked up the addition of an African American feminine gladiator within the forthcoming collection Spartacus: Home of Ashur to convey alongside the Starz core demos of girls and African American viewers. Starz ordered the collection from Lionsgate Tv in 2023, with collection creator Steven S. DeKnight returning as showrunner.
On the persevering with enterprise ties with Lionsgate after the company cut up, Hirsch stated “the connection is as sturdy, if not higher, than it was earlier than we separated.”
