Starz To Bundle with MGM+ via Amazon, Simplifying Life For Period Drama Fans

Fans of period-piece dramas live in luxurious times, with more British and European television dramas available to American audiences than ever before. However, it's also frustrating, as those period pieces are all over the streaming map, making it hard to find and expensive to subscribe to them. However, as we round into the middle of the decade, one corner of the landscape is about to get easier, as Lionsgate, which owns the Starz network and streaming service, is bundling up with Amazon's newest acquisition, MGM+ (formerly Epix), allowing fans to subscribe to both for one price.

When cord-cutting roared into the entertainment world in the mid-2010s, the phrase tossed around was that it was the era of "unbundling." No one wanted one service with 100s of channels when they could a la carte streaming services that targeted their niche interests. Why pay $100+ for cable monthly when $20 gets you Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN? Of course, that didn't last long; as every network launched exclusive services, viewers discovered themselves having to sign up for an untold number of them. Suddenly, they were paying as much, if not work, for a dozen apps, instead of having everything right in one easy-to-find place.

While a few services have thrived in the new environment, most have not. Thus begins the great re-bundling, as these production companies that broke themselves into millions of smaller pieces slowly re-combine. Smaller streaming services, like AMC Networks' family of niche offerings, are crossing over programming like never before; Showtime has been absorbed into Paramount+. Starz has struggled badly in the last few years; Lionsgate's single-channel streamer lost among the more prominent players. But with this new deal, the service will take advantage of Amazon's desire to turn the newly christened MGM+ into a significant player by tying themselves together in one package.