Revenue, Subscriber Gains at Starz

ENGLEWOOD: Starz's subscriber base has hit a new high of 23.7 million, adding 400,000 subs in the first three months of the year, with Q1 revenues rising by 7 percent to $450.7 million.

“We delivered strong year-over-year revenue and earnings growth in the first quarter,” said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht. “Our solid financial profile highlights the success of our strategic growth plan to develop, produce and monetize Starz original series globally.”

He continued, “Our programming slate is the most robust it’s ever been and we are on track to have an expected 75 to 80 episodes of new originals this year. The reception we are seeing for Starz Original series bodes very well for our efforts to fortify distribution relationships, and to build Starz’s presence overseas, as underscored by the launch of the STARZ PLAY Arabia over-the-top service. We are excited about the prospects for our business in 2015 and beyond.”

Starz Networks revenues were up 3 percent to $334 million, while Starz Distribution revenues increased to $109.7 million, primarily due to licensing certain originals to Netflix and Amazon. Net income for the company rose to $86.1 million.