Starz saw revenue fall 8% year over year to $319.7 million amid a loss of $42.5 million as the company bled both linear and streaming subscribers during its second quarter of 2025.
In the second quarter, the company lost 410,000 U.S. subscribers for a total of 17.6 million, driven primarily by a loss of 290,000 linear subscribers for a total of 5.4 million and a loss of 120,000 over-the-top subscribers for a total of 12.2 million. When including the loss of 110,000 subscribers in Canada, total North American subscribers fell 520,000 to 19.1 million.
OTT revenue for the quarter came in at $221.1 million, down from $234.4 million in the year ago period, while linear and other revenue fell to $98.6 million from $113.2 million a year ago.
Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch attributed the OTT subscriber losses during the quarter to the underperformance of “BMF” Season 4 compared to internal expectations. However, he told analysts that the company remains “laser focused” on making great stories to drive growth and said “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” is already exceeding expectations — generating the third highest number of subscriber additions for a Starz series premiere and a 40% increase in viewership compared to the last episode of “Outlander” Season 7.
“Importantly, we are adding these subscribers with higher price promotions than the prior season of Outlander,” Hirsch added. “Based on this momentum, we remain confident in our expectations of sequential revenue growth and OTT subscriber growth in the September and December quarters.”
Here are the quarter’s results:
Net loss: A loss of $42.5 million, compared to a profit of $4.2 million a year ago.
Earnings Per Share: A loss of 2.54 per share, compared to a profit of $1.80 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue: $319.7 million, down 8% year over year, compared to $329.2 million expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Operating loss: A loss of $26.9 million, compared to a profit $10.1 million a year ago.
Adjusted OIBDA: $33.4 million, compared to $56.3 million a year ago.
In addition to “Outlander: Blood of My Blood,” other upcoming titles include the return of “Power Book IV: Force” and “Raising Kanaan,” the premiere of “Spartacus,” the final season of “Outlander,” “P-Valley” Season 3 and the launch of the 18-episode prequel series “Power: Origins.” It will also have its first owned-and-produced series “Fightland,” whose per episode costs are 30% lower than other Starz series’ first seasons in the past couple of years, per Hirsch.
Starz previously said it would spend $700 million on content in 2026, with the ultimate goal of lowering that figure to $600 million to $650 million over the next couple of years. It is aiming to have four shows, or half of its slate, be owned titles by 2027.
“This is a key tenant to our investment case and bolsters our confidence that we can reach our 20% margin target run rate coming out of calendar year 2028,” Hirsch added.
Starz’s latest quarterly results come three months after it officially split from Lionsgate into a separate, publicly-traded company. Hirsch said he believes the company is the “most misunderstood and undervalued” stock in the media sector.
“We see our current valuation of approximately four times adjusted [operating income before depreciation and amortization] as very attractive,” he added. “We believe this valuation disconnect will become more apparent in the coming quarters when several large media companies spin off their linear networks into standalone public companies.”
Starz reiterated previous guidance of approximately $200 million in adjusted OIBDA in calendar year 2025 and plans to convert 70% of its adjusted OIBDA to free cash flow during calendar year 2026.
When asked about M&A, Hirsch said that Starz is a “very valuable asset” but is also a “very strong platform to scale around.” He said there would be “a lot of opportunity” to scale its business in the next 12 to 24 months as its peers in the media space, such as Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery, separate parts of their businesses into standalone, publicly-traded companies.
Starz, which has a market capitalization of $256.85 million as of Thursday’s close, has seen its shares climb 24% since the split. However, its stock is down 10% in the past month.
