EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Play has landed another carriage deal in the Philippines.
An agreement struck with Filipino mobile services provide Smart Communications will provide Smart subscribers access to the streamer.
This marks the second telecoms tie-up for Lionsgate Play in the Philippines, coming after one struck with PLTD in 2022. The service is also available direct-to-consumer via an app.
Lionsgate Play’s library includes the John Wick, Hunger Games and Twilight franchises, feature films such as La La Land and Wonder and series including the Power franchise, Gaslit, Party Down, Ramy, Minx and The Serpent Queen.
“Our partnership with Smart is an integral part of our continued expansion efforts across Southeast Asia,” said Rohit Jain, President of Lionsgate Play Asia. “This collaboration aligns with our vision to distribute our content more broadly and to diversify our subscriber base, enabling audiences to ‘play more, browse less.’ We’re committed to strategic partnerships, and Smart is the perfect partner to help us achieve that goal.”
“This collaboration with Lionsgate Play solidifies our commitment to delivering the widest breadth of world-class entertainment to the fingertips of Filipinos,” added Alex O. Caeg, Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart. “Through this partnership, we reinforce our mission to make sure that every Smart user has more options to enjoy the content they want to consume.”
Lionsgate Play first launched in 2020, in India, with a model to make Hollywood content available locally in multiple Indian languages. It entered a busy regional streaming market, where the likes of Netflix and Disney+/Disney+ Hotstar had carved out strong subscriber bases.
The Southeast Asia region’s streaming biz has been hit in the past year, however, as both Disney+ and Prime Video chose to stop producing originals to refocus growth on Asian markets such as Japan and Korea. Lionsgate Play has produced a few originals, including romantic college drama U-Special.
