Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirschm Talks Remaining a Small Focused Streamer

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks

Episode: Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch Talks Remaining a Small Focused Streamer
Date: May 11, 2026
Guest: Jeffrey Hirsch, CEO of Starz
Host: Bloomberg Interviewer

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into how Starz, recently spun off from Lionsgate, is charting its own course in a rapidly consolidating entertainment industry dominated by mega-streamers. CEO Jeffrey Hirsch discusses the strategy behind remaining a focused, niche streaming service, how Starz competes with industry giants, its unique audience focus, and the business and creative choices shaping its content pipeline.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Stay Small in a World of Giants?

(00:25–01:37)

• Spin-Off & Independence:
  Since separating from Lionsgate a year ago, Starz has become stronger and more focused as a standalone network.
• Audience Focus:
  Starz targets women and underrepresented audiences, making it complementary rather than competitive with major streamers.
• Brand Strength:
  "If you look at our audiences, we're probably the one or two, number one or two brand in the homes of each of our audiences because we are that destination for that content."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 00:58

2. Pricing Strategy in the Age of Subscription Fatigue

(01:37–02:02)

• Complementary Service:
  Starz positions itself as an add-on rather than a replacement for broader platforms.
• Pricing Power:
  "As long as there's a good gap between a broad-based streamer and us, we can continue to have some pricing power."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 01:43

3. On Industry Consolidation & Ecosystem Impacts

(02:02–02:59)

• Consolidation as Opportunity:
  Hirsch sees the strength of broad-based players as beneficial, offering Starz wider distribution opportunities atop leading platforms like Amazon and Hulu.
• Distribution Model Evolution:
  The migration from cable/satellite to content companies as platforms is noted as a natural industry evolution.

4. Content Differentiation & IP Strategy

(02:59–05:06)

• Building Distinctive IP:
  Leaning into popular franchises (e.g., "Outlander", "Power", "BMF") differentiates Starz.
• Fanbase Loyalty:
  Outlander's finale is highlighted as a significant event for Starz's loyal base.
• New Originals:
  "Fightland" with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson—Starz’s first wholly owned original post-spin-off—debuts July 31.
• Iterative Development:
  Starz develops shows that mirror existing audience hits, e.g., linking "Fightland" to the feel of "Power" and developing a new, untitled family drama rooted in Black rodeo culture akin to "BMF."
• Strategic Content Mapping:
  "Every show that we have is kind of mapped to a different show that gives us great confidence that these will be hits for us."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 04:17

5. Geography & Keeping Old IPs Relevant

(05:06–05:52)

• Urban & Regional Appeal:
  Starz continues with both traditional urban settings (e.g., upcoming Power Universe NYC series) and stories centered outside the major coasts for broader appeal.
• Sustaining Franchises:
  Cross-talent and audience flow between related shows maximizes returns and contains costs.
• Data-Driven Decisions:
  "When we premiered BMF season one coming out of Ghost, 80% of the audience went from Ghost into BMF and it was half the cost. And so we make that trade all day from a financial point of view."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 05:52
• Margin Improvements:
  Margin targets are being moved forward thanks to stronger performance and more efficient content strategies.

6. Creative Process & Audience Attention Spans

(06:39–07:35)

• Faster Pacing Required:
  Modern audiences have less patience; shows must engage viewers quickly.
• Packed Episodes:
  Starz’s approach of “packed with action” content is a competitive edge.

  "You really have to get the audience, keep the audience...if you wait to the back half, you may not have them. So we're in a much shorter attention span period...if you look at the power franchise and all the spinoffs, every one of those episodes is packed with action."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 06:57

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Starz’s Niche:
  "We are a focused streamer. We focus on women and underrepresented audiences...we can do it in more in depth than anybody else."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 00:58
• On Pricing:
  "We’ve always wanted to be priced as a complementary service...we can continue to have some pricing power."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 01:43
• On Distribution via Major Partners:
  "Today we're sold with the second largest channel on Amazon. We're sold on top of Hulu."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 02:19
• On Show Development Strategy:
  "Every show that we have is kind of mapped to a different show that gives us great confidence that these will be hits for us."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 04:17
• On Franchise Crossovers:
  "80% of the audience went from Ghost into BMF and it was half the cost."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 05:52
• On Changing Audience Habits:
  "Your shows really have to pop. And I think the one thing that we do better than most is just that."
  — Jeff Hirsch, 06:57

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:25 – Starz’s strategy post-Lionsgate spin-off
• 01:37 – Pricing as a niche, “complementary” service
• 02:02 – Industry consolidation: risks and opportunities
• 02:59 – Differentiation through content/IP (Outlander, Power, BMF, Fightland)
• 05:06 – Show geography and IP longevity, transitions between series
• 06:39 – Attention spans, creative pace, and the evolving production process

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Final Thoughts

In this episode, Jeffrey Hirsch articulates Starz’s distinct value as a niche streamer with a laser focus on specific demographics and IP-driven content. By refusing to chase breadth and instead doubling down on depth with targeted audiences, Starz has carved out a space for itself amid industry giants—balancing creative uniqueness, efficient franchise management, and stronger financials.

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Transcript

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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News One year after

[Interviewer]

its spin off, Starz is under pressure to prove that it can deliver profits, and strong content is helping its sustaining momentum as consolidation reshapes the industry. Joining us now, please, to Stay a Star CEO Jeffrey Hirsch. Jeff, thank you so much for joining. And I think this in particular is kind of an interesting part about Starz. It's a world where, you know, Warner Brothers, Paramount, all the behemoths are coming together and yet you fought the trend with now where you're spinning out of Lionsgate. So why exist in this rarefied air of being a smaller company when everybody else is coming together?

[Jeff Hirsch]

So thanks for having me on this morning. It's been a year. It's been a great year. We're a lot stronger as a company today than we were a year ago when we were part of Lionsgate. We've done a lot of work to unwind a lot of the ownership of a studio structure and becoming really a strong network. And you've seen that in the numbers. We are a focused streamer. We focus on women and underrepresented audiences and work. That means we're complementary to all the broad based streamers. And what that means is we can focus on our audiences. We can do it in more in depth than anybody else and on scale than anywhere else. So as much as those other broad based streamers are bigger in size financially, if you look at our audiences, we're probably the one or two, number one or two brand in the homes of each of our audiences because we are that destination for that content.

[Interviewer/Follow-up Questioner]

Will they pay more? Will those or your customers pay more for it because it's geared specifically at them?

[Jeff Hirsch]

Look, I think we've always wanted to be priced as a complementary service. So I think what you've seen over the last two or three years as streamers have moved away from chasing Netflix sub subscriber to drive profitability and raise rates, it's given us room to continue to raise our rate. So as long as we are, there's a good gap between a broad based stream or not, so we can continue to have some pricing power.

[Interviewer]

By the way, do you think it's an unhealthy thing for the overall ecosystem for there to be so much consolidation? Does it make differences in sort of like the Creative output. I know a lot of actors are very unhappy that this sort of thing is going. What does it do to the overall media environment to have people fighting? Exactly the thing you're doing, I think

[Jeff Hirsch]

the stronger the broad based players are and if you look at the natural evolution of the space, you had cable companies and satellite companies and now you have content companies becoming distribution platforms. And so the more the Warner Brothers and Paramount are stronger to compete with the Amazons, to compete with the Netflixes, with the Hulu's and the Disney's, it gives us a great platform to be sold on top of. So today we're sold with the second largest channel on Amazon. We're sold on top of Hulu. And so as those guys settle what they're doing, it gives us another opportunity to be sold on top of another broad based streamer that's the number one or number two streamer in the home. And so that gives us a lot of opportunity to continue to grow. What we do, which is very focused on those demos.

[Interviewer/Follow-up Questioner]

You lean into the strata, to the, to the IP strategy basically of something like Outlander or Power. Does that differentiate you, you think enough from the other streamers that people pay attention specifically to your channel because they want those, you know, or BMF or whatever it may be.

[Jeff Hirsch]

Yeah, look, I think the more that we're focused, the more we continue to put network shows on the air. So we are just coming out of the last season of Outlander. The fan base is obsessed with that show and they're very sad that it's ending, but I think it's going to be a great ending next week for the base. Amit Amadeus premiered last weekend, you know, and we've been trying to turn our slate over and get ownership back on the network. So Fightland with Curtis 50 Cent Jackson is our first stars owned original from Separation that will premiere July 31st. So our view, as long as we continue every week to have something on the air that really serves those two demos, we become the destination for those demos and makes us very important for the broad based ecosystem to be added on top of, much like we were in the old cable days.

[Interviewer]

What is the process like again? You have shows that have a lot of fans and I know Fightland, you're hoping is going to be one of these other really strong IPs. What is the process like? I mean, you have again 50 Cent signed on to it. I'm sure it's not cheap to create one of these programs. What is sort of the math and thought that goes into it to say, okay, we're going to bet behind this horse and we're going of build it up to be an IP that again, you know, reaches the status of some of your others.

[Jeff Hirsch]

I think we're uniquely positioned because we focus on those two demos. We know what those demos like, so we know what the Outlander fan base loves. It's. We've been doing it for 14 years, so we have shows like Amadeus that feeds that fan base. We had a series of White of Queens, White Queen, Spanish Princess that really feeds the historical time travel piece of that. Fightland has a lot of the same feel as the original Power. It's. It's boxing in the UK but it's in the world of crime and family drama. We have a show that we just announced which doesn't have a title yet called the Untitled Black Rodeo Show. It's based a family drama based on a black rodeo in Texas that feels a lot like bmf. And so as we look at our development strategy, we're not trying to make swings of things that the customers have never seen before. Every show that we have is kind of mapped to a different show that gives us great confidence that these will be hits for us.

[Interviewer]

Are we done making shows about like, New York and L A? It feels like every new big program that's coming out is about like Middle America somewhere else.

[Jeff Hirsch]

We are not done with shows about New York or L. A. We'll announce a show within Power Universe pretty soon that brings folks back into New York City and it's a little more modern times than before. And I look, New York and L A are obviously a great place to shoot programming. New Jersey is a great place with tax credits today. But I think you have to serve the entire country, not just the coasts.

[Interviewer/Follow-up Questioner]

I mean, that makes business sense. The new properties that you're developing, what about keeping the old ones alive? As a businessman who's trying to apply like the space science, you know, to the creativity, how do you avoid like jumping the shark and make sure that you can have five seasons, 10 seasons, 20 seasons.

[Jeff Hirsch]

So, you know, it's interesting again because the components are pretty similar. And then you can bring the talent from one show to the next and so that it's a recognizable name and a new to bring audience across. When we premiered BMF season one coming out of Ghost, which was one of the big power spin offs, 80% of the audience went from ghost into BMF and it was half the cost. And so we make that trade all day from a Financial point of view. And so having ownership, getting control of the inception point of a show and then being able to monetize it globally allows us to take cost off the business. And what you saw in our last quarter report Thursday is we moved our 20% guide from coming out of town or 20 adjusted EBITDA guide, our margin guide coming out of calendar 28 to the back half of 27. And so we feel like we're actually, you know, putting great content on the air that the audience loves, but we're also able to actually drive margin at the same time.

[Interviewer]

I mean, we're talking about this a bit in the break break, but I was having a conversation with the director from a Netflix film that was basically like it was an action one and said we had to have an explosion in the first five minutes or we knew we'd lose our audience. Just how much has a creative process changed because of the competition for what is increasingly shorter attention span?

[Jeff Hirsch]

Yeah, I think you have to really, in the first one, two, three episodes, have to get the audience, keep the audience and, you know, really kind of drive with an intense propensity, purpose of movement to get the audience excited about the show. And if you wait to the back half, you may not have them there to get there. So we're in a much shorter attention span period. There's a lot of different vehicles that pull people's attention. It used to just be books, newspaper and cable. Now it's everything. And so your shows really have to pop. And I think the one thing that we do better than most is just that. I mean, if you look at the power franchise and all the spinoffs, every one of those episodes is packed with action. You'll continue to see that with Stars.

[Interviewer/Follow-up Questioner]

It's such a fascinating industry that you're in, Jeff, so we'd love to have you back when you can. Jeff Hirsch. There he is the president and CEO of Stars.

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