Recently arrived in India, Lionsgate Play, an on-demand video platform owned by US based colossal studio, The Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, is scheduled to be launched in Indonesia in the first quarter of 2021.
Guntur S. Siboro, who currently serves as the representative of Lionsgate Play in Indonesia, delivered the news to DailySocial. Disney+ Hotstar also offered similar concept in mid-2020.
“Indonesia will be the first country in Southeast Asia to welcome the Lionsgate Play platform. The similar market of India and Indonesia becomes the reason for Lionsgate Play to launch in Indonesia after India,” Guntur said.
Outside the Asian countries, Lionsgate Play is known as STARZPLAY, as well as in its home country of the United States, Lionsgate Play was chosen for countries in Asia, because Star was the name previously owned by a well-known company in Asia which is also a leading media company.
“However, the difference in name does not change the content we present in Asia and other countries. Lionsgate is not a big studio like Disney for example, but we have various Hollywood films, tv series, to indie films that have the best quality,” said Guntur.
Lionsgate Play pricelist and content
About the payment options for Lionsgate Play in Indonesia, Guntur avoids to reveal any further. However, he is open to the possibility with affordable and relevant prices to be given to target its customers in Indonesia.
Whether Lionsgate Play will partner with a local telco operator, as Disney+ Hotstar previously done with Telkomsel, is not further stated. Precisely, Guntur emphasized that even though the competition is getting fierce, with the existing content choices, it can be an option for Indonesian customers.
“I see that when Lionsgate Play finally arrived in Indonesia, it will not immediately turn off Disney+ Hostar, HBO Go, Netflix, and Amazon, which was prior to offer its services. Each of those has unique content with loyal customers,” Guntur said.
The strategic move taken by major studios such as Disney and The Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, has become an activity that many other major studios in the United States have aimed to compete with services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, which mostly buy film production licenses. belong to each of these major studios.
“When I was at Hooq, I saw the steps taken by the major studio to stop licensing and launch its own OTT service, a trend that has proven successful and will be seen more in the future,” Guntur said.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
