Lionsgate has recently announced the sale of its South Asian and Southeast Asian streaming platform, Lionsgate Play, to Rohit Jain. Jain, who served as the president of Lionsgate Play Asia for eight years and was instrumental in developing the service, will now take ownership of the streaming platform. While Jain will be taking over Lionsgate Play, the studio will retain its theatrical distribution and television production operations in the two regions.
As part of the deal, Jain has secured a multi-year licensing agreement that allows him to use the Lionsgate Play branding and access the studio’s content catalog for the streaming service. Lionsgate Play currently operates in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives. The platform primarily uses a B2B2C distribution model through partnerships with telecommunications providers. In India, Lionsgate Play is integrated into various aggregators like JioHotstar, Airtel Xstream, and Amazon Prime Video Channels.
Looking ahead to 2026, Lionsgate Play has an ambitious content slate planned, with 100 premieres scheduled for the year. The focus will be on expanding the regional Indian library with 25 new titles across languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. Brian Goldsmith, Lionsgate’s COO, expressed gratitude for Rohit Jain’s leadership in building and scaling Lionsgate’s business in India, stating that Jain has played a pivotal role in establishing Lionsgate Play as a premium streaming platform in the rapidly growing digital entertainment market in Asia.
Rohit Jain also shared his appreciation for the opportunity to lead Lionsgate Play into a new phase of growth, acknowledging Lionsgate’s support in transforming the platform into a leading destination for Hollywood content in India. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
In conclusion, the sale of Lionsgate Play to Rohit Jain marks a significant development in the streaming industry in South Asia and Southeast Asia. With Jain’s expertise and vision, Lionsgate Play is poised to expand its presence and offerings in the region, providing audiences with a differentiated and future-ready streaming platform.
