Starz Entertainment Corp.

You know, we have done this before. We are really positioned very well as a complimentary service. You know, $11.99 is a great price point for the value that we offer and for the audiences that we serve. So far, the price increase is digesting really well throughout our business. It's going to expectations. We'll have more information as we get into the summer, and it really sort of plays out through the business. But, you know, going to plan and going very well, we think that we're very, very well positioned at that price point.

I would also add that April is off to a really strong start, even with the rate increase coming in April 1st.

Okay, great. And then separate from that, I know you've talked about in the past getting to own a half-year slate by 2027. It would be great to get your updated thoughts on how you feel about that goal right now and maybe some of the puts and takes that will affect your ability to get there and maybe just some more color on the progress you've made on some of the projects that you already have going.

Yeah, look, I've never been more excited about the pipeline that we have in the business. We just announced an untitled Black Rodeo show, which I think is going to be one of our biggest shows. We're excited about production beginning that on the fall. Fightland, which is our first owned original, will premiere July 31st. We released a lot of the first look footage of pictures of that yesterday, and it looks amazing. And we've got Kingmaker in development. We've got Masquerade in development. We're out. We've landed a couple book series that we think could be big franchises for us. We've got all fours. We've announced Plan B being our production partner there. We're putting more writers around that. And so The pipeline has never been more full and more exciting. And I think you couple that with the pay one from Lionsgate. We're going to have a very, very strong content slate for the next one to two to three years. And so we're right on track to delivering against that 50 percent goal. And I think we'll actually accelerate past that. Obviously, the hope is to get most of the slate owned and controlled by stars long term. And that's that's something we're laser focused on.

OK, great. Thank you.

Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. The next question comes from David Karnofsky with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.

Hey, Doug Woodlawn for David. I'm wondering, you know, now that you're out of this agreement with Universal, you know, what's the criteria for the acquisition of titles you'll be looking for, you know, to properly lead to whether a user acquisition or to limit churn? And then separately, does this lead to more room for spend on original content?

So great question. We've developed a really robust database of first title streams and viewership on movies that we've acquired over the past from all the different studios. So we have a pretty good sense on, in terms of indie films, what kind of viewership and first title stream that we can pull from different titles, depending on what their box office was, how old they are, what characters are in it, what's the storyline. And so we're really able to kind of, like I said earlier, moneyball the portfolio to replace what we were seeing from the universal titles at a much more of a library price. Remember, we were paying pay-to rates, and they were performing much more like library because of just the strength of the titles being launched at Amazon. So we've got a pretty good view on what we need to acquire and at what price, and so you know, there's an ability to put a lot of the savings to the bottom line. You see that moving the guide to 20% in 27, but we're also reinvesting in the business to protect the revenue side of the business as well. And so we've been able to do both in a much, you know, highly economic positive aspect of the business.

Great. And then, you know, I guess, separately, you know, you mentioned P-Valley is coming back at some point this year and, you know, it's been a long gap and I'm just wondering what your data kind of says about, you know, audience re-engagement for shows that have hiatuses that long. And, you know, does that kind of lead to more marketing spin to kind of get some of those viewers back that may have been gone?

It's a great question. Like I think with P-Valley specifically, and we've seen this with other shows that have had longer breaks, Outlander is a good example where we've had a lot of breaks. The fan bases are so obsessed with these shows that they've been continually looking for it and coming back on the network. So I actually think the moment we bring P-Valley back, the obsessiveness and the craziness for the fan base will get people there. We also have the ability, obviously, with an app. to get to notify customers, which is a zero cost game for us as well. And so we've got a lot of different marketing tools that are not economically, you know, expensive for us to go ahead and bring them back. But I, you know, Outlander is a great example. That fan base has created a thing called Droughtlander, which is the off season. And they're online every day wondering when that show is coming back. And I think P-Valley brings that same kind of intensity from the fan base. And so I expect it to be a wonderful return to the network and a massive both subscriber gain as well as viewership gain when we get it back on the air. Got it.

Thank you. This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Neelay Shah for any closing remarks.

Thank you, Operator, and thank you, everyone. Please refer to the News and Events tab under the Investor Relations section of our website for discussion of certain non-GAAP forward-looking measures discussed on this call. Thanks, everyone.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.