DirecTV Adds Five Lionsgate Channels

LOS ANGELES —DirecTV and Lionsgate have inked a new, wide-ranging licensing agreement that will immediately make five Lionsgate channels available to all DirecTV and DirecTV Stream customers who receive their content via streaming. Satellite customers will also be able to access them using the DirecTV App.

The first of Lionsgate’s more than two dozen popular channels to join DirecTV streaming homes are MovieSphere (premium movies), HerSphere (female-driven stories), Ebony TV (Black film and culture in partnership with Ebony Media Group), and the single-series comedy channels Are We There Yet? and Anger Management.

DirecTV will identify other popular networks from Lionsgate’s FAST portfolio to add to its streaming lineup in subsequent months.

“We want to enable our customers to select from a wider variety of genres and to explore their most avid interests in greater depth,” said Rebecca Nelson, senior vice president of content and programming at DirecTV. “Lionsgate is a leading content supplier who offers many strong options to expand our future lineup and enhance customer value.”

“We’re pleased to partner with DirecTV to bring their customers our robust portfolio of FAST channels, giving them access to compelling content ranging from blockbuster films to groundbreaking series that celebrate global audiences,” added Jim Packer, president of worldwide television distribution at Lionsgate.

Lionsgate operates a growing portfolio of more than two dozen channels worldwide, anchored by MovieSphere, the only global premium movie channel offered by a major studio and the first FAST channel to be ranked by Nielsen. The studio’s lineup includes sci-fi and fantasy network OuterSphere and single-series channels featuring “Nash Bridges,” “Ghost Hunters,” “Nashville,” and “Celebrity Name Game” episodes, among its other channels.