Newly-solo Starz released its second quarter financials on Thursday, with revenue down and a swing to an operating loss.Starz saw overall revenue fall to $319.7 million, down 7.4 percent from a year-earlier revenue at $347.6 million. The standalone company posted an operating loss at $27 million, against a year-earlier operating income of $10.1 million.Following a split from Lionsgate, Starz saw streaming revenue dip to $221 million, compared to $234.4 million in the year-earlier period. And linear and other revenue came in at $98.6 million, against a year-earlier $113.2 million.Starz’ OTT service shed 120,000 subscribers in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter of 2025, and ended the latest financial period with 12.2 million streaming subscribers. Total U.S. subscribers were 17.6 million, a fall of 410,000 customers from the first quarter.Starz put down the latest subscriber losses to “continued pressure on linear subscriber and lower OTT subscriber additions.” Factoring in Canada, where Starz lost 110,000 subscribers during the latest quarter, the company said it had 19.1 million total North American subscribers at the end of the second quarter.During an after-market analyst call, Starz president and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch pointed to the “underperformance” of the fourth season of BMF (Black Mafia Family), which fell short of gross advertising expectations. “This resulted in modest sequential declines in OTT subscribers and revenue,” he added.BMF is part of a Starz scripted roster that also includes Outlander, P-Valley and the Power franchise. Hirsch said post-season 4, Starz would discuss the future of BMF with its producers, who include executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.Investors reacted to the Q2 subscriber losses by sending shares in Starz down by 97 cents, or around 6.3 percent, to $14.39 in after-market trading. During the call, Hirsch talked about possible mergers and acquisitions for Starz as he reiterated the company had a “misunderstood” and under-valued share price.“We believe this valuation disconnect will become more apparent in the coming quarters, when several larger media companies spin off their linear networks into standalone public companies. It’s worth noting that, even though these linear networks are heavily dependent on linear advertising and have immaterial digital revenue, most Wall Street analysts are valuing these businesses at similar or higher multiples than Starz – making us a great value,” Hirsch argued as he touted the the now standalone Starz stock to Wall Street.He added: “We have a phenomenal tech back end and data stack that I think is unparalleled in the business. And that makes us a very valuable asset, but it also sets us up to be a very strong platform to scale around.”Looking forward, Starz talked up a return to subscriber growth in the current third quarter after the launch of Outlander: Blood of my Blood last week, and in its latest financial results reiterated a forecast for sequential revenue and streaming subscriber growth in the back half of 2025.CEO Hirsch in a statement said his company’s “content strategy continues to resonate with our audience as the subscriber additions from last weekend’s Outlander: Blood of my Blood premiere where the third highest for a series premiere in Starz’s history.”Hirsch also talked about the pending return of the Spartacus franchise more than a decade after it last aired. “Right now, there is insane intensity around when it comes back, when it’s going to air, and so we feel good about that,” he insisted.Hirsch also talked up the addition of an African American female gladiator in the forthcoming series Spartacus: House of Ashur to bring along the Starz core demos of women and African American viewers. Starz ordered the series from Lionsgate Television in 2023, with series creator Steven S. DeKnight returning as showrunner.On the continuing business ties with Lionsgate after the corporate split, Hirsch said “the relationship is as strong, if not better, than it was before we separated.”
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