Rohit Jain buys Lionsgate Play as Lionsgate pivots to licensing in India, SE Asia

Mumbai: Lionsgate has sold Lionsgate Play, its streaming service for South Asia and Southeast Asia, to Rohit Jain, the executive who built and scaled the platform across the region over the last eight years.

The studio said all other Lionsgate film and television business in India and Southeast Asia will remain with Lionsgate. Jain will transition fully to managing Lionsgate Play and exit Lionsgate as part of the transaction.

“The transaction places Lionsgate Play under founder-led ownership with deep regional expertise and a singular focus on Asia’s rapidly evolving digital entertainment audience,” the company said. Lionsgate will license the Lionsgate Play brand name and provide access to films and television series from the studio under a multi-year agreement.

“We thank Rohit for his outstanding leadership in building and scaling Lionsgate’s business in India over the past eight years,” Lionsgate COO Brian Goldsmith said. 

“Under his stewardship, the Lionsgate brand has gained greater resonance with audiences in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and Lionsgate Play has emerged as a distinctive premium streaming platform in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital entertainment markets. Rohit is an entrepreneur with a deep understanding of the Asia landscape, and he has the expertise and experience to lead Lionsgate Play into an exciting new phase of growth,” Goldsmith added.

“I’m deeply grateful to Jon Feltheimer and Brian Goldsmith for the trust and freedom to build Lionsgate’s India business and transform Lionsgate Play into a premium streaming platform across Asia,” Jain said. “Lionsgate Play has established itself as a leading destination for Hollywood content in India and is now positioned to expand well beyond that—shaping a differentiated, future-ready streaming platform for the region.”

While Lionsgate did not disclose financial terms, sources indicated that the deal value could be up to $30 million.

The move comes at a time when mid-sized OTT services in India are leaning harder on bundling and distribution partnerships to stay competitive against scaled platforms. 

BestMediaInfo.com last month reported that Reliance-Disney’s JioHotstar plans to invest Rs 40 billion over five years in South Indian content, as it pushes subscriber growth through regional depth and pricing.

Industry experts have also flagged “subscription fatigue” and a sharper focus on ad-led and bundled growth across streamers in 2025. 

In India, telecom and broadband bundles remain a key lever for customer acquisition, especially outside metro-heavy, direct-to-consumer cohorts.

Lionsgate Play has pursued that distribution playbook over the years through tie-ups with telcos and aggregators. 

The service launched in India through a partnership with Bharti Airtel, making Lionsgate Play content available via Airtel Xstream. It later expanded presence through other bundle-led routes, including Tata Play Binge’s OTT aggregation proposition. 

Lionsgate Play is also offered through Reliance Jio’s home broadband propositions, including JioHome/JioAirFiber-linked OTT packs.

For Lionsgate, the divestment in South and Southeast Asia also lands amid a broader rework of global studio economics, where content owners are balancing direct streaming bets with licensing and partnerships. 

Lionsgate has separately highlighted that it fully separated its Lionsgate Studios and STARZ businesses in 2025, positioning Lionsgate Studios around its film and TV production and library.

Lionsgate said Lionsgate Play will now operate under founder-led ownership with a “singular focus” on Asia, while continuing to access Lionsgate film and TV titles through the licensing arrangement. 

The company said the platform is aimed at expanding as a differentiated, future-ready streaming service for the region.

Lionsgate said further details on Lionsgate Play’s next phase under Jain-led ownership will follow as the transition progresses.