Amazon-owned premium multiplex movie network MGM Plus has forged a partnership with Lionsgate that will help it expand into certain Latin American territories.
As part of the deal, MGM Plus in Latin America will offer movies and TV series from Lionsgate and its movie network Starz, with the streaming service launched first in Brazil and Mexico.
News of the partnership was first reported by Variety after a spokesperson for MGM Plus selected the entertainment trade publication to break the news story first, according to comments made on the social media website LinkedIn. Such planting is not uncommon in the media and entertainment business, where marketers selectively choose big-name publications to break “exclusive” stories in order to secure coverage of an initiative that would otherwise receive little attention via a conventional press release.
The deal will see Lionsgate provide access to its customer list for subscribers who purchased Lionsgate Plus in Mexico and Brazil. The service will rebrand to MGM Plus in January, Variety reported based on information provided by Amazon.
“The expansion of MGM Plus in the Latin American market further cements Amazon’s commitment to invest in and grow the MGM Plus brand, and to enhance the subscriber experience,” Chris Brearton, the vice president of corporate strategy at Prime Video Studios, said in an interview.
Once the rebranding is completed, MGM Plus will distribute Lionsgate content in two dozen countries, including Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Honduras and Argentina.
In Europe, MGM Plus is the second “highest-ranking” streaming service distributed by Amazon through its streaming marketplace called Prime Video Channels in Europe, Variety said, again sourcing information provided by Amazon. It wasn’t exactly clear what “highest-ranking” meant, but the report suggested it was the second most-subscribed to streaming service in the marketplace.
MGM Plus and Amazon still face significant competition from other streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Max and Paramount Plus in Europe and Latin America. But the infusion of content from Lionsgate and Starz could help it better compete against larger streaming services overseas, at a time when more TV viewers are moving away from traditional cable and satellite toward online offerings.
One way MGM Plus will differentiate itself is to distribute content that speaks to locals within a region, Brearton said.
“We believe in tailoring on a bespoke basis to the needs and wants of that market,” Brearton affirmed.
