Looking for something new to watch? Amazon has confirmed plans to resurrect a popular streaming service watched by millions — but only for those with its Prime Video service.
Lionsgate+ closed its streaming services in the UK on February 29, following similar closures in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain last year. The Netflix rival, which boasts a respectable 14.8 million paid subscribers in the United States, was the exclusive home of much-loved shows like Outlander, Dr. Death, and The Great.
Outlander is one of the breakout hits from StarzPlay, which then became Lionsgate+, which then folded in February 2024 before its catalogue of shows was resurrected in the overhauled MGM+ from Amazon
STARZ | MGM+
At the time, UK viewers were left in the dark about whether there'd even be a legal way to stream the next season of Outlander, which is due to return in November. But that all changed this week.
Amazon will supercharge its existing MGM service with a slew of exclusive shows from the Lionsgate+ service. Rebranding the streamer as MGM+, it will be the exclusive home for Outlander, including the upcoming seventh season. MGM+ will also bundle a number of shows from Lionsgate+ (previously known as Starz) like Power Book I-IV, The Serpent Queen, and Hightown.
Metro Goldwyn Mayer, or MGM, is known for its trademark logo with a roaring Leo The Lion
MGM | AMAZON STUDIOS
MGM+ will be bolstered with syndicated series like The Great, Mad Men, Nashville, and Weeds, as well as blockbuster films, including American Psycho, Reservoir Dogs, and horror film Saw.
Amazon acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, more commonly known as MGM, for $8.5 billion in May 2022. The Hollywood studio was originally founded in 1924 and is best known for its roaring mascot, Leo The Lion, who appears in the circular logo before every one of its movies.
With the acquisition, Amazon gained a catalogue of 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows, including the James Bond, Pink Panther, and Rocky film franchises.
In a departure from other countries where MGM+ is available, like the United States, viewers in the UK will not be able to download a standalone streaming app for the service.
Instead, the service is only available as a Prime Video Channel. These are additional streaming services that can be watched within the Prime Video app.
There's no need to create a separate account or enter your payment details, everything will be linked to your existing Prime Video account. That means if you want to watch Outlander, The Great, Mad Men, Hightown, or any of the other shows on the revamped MGM+ subscription, you'll need an Amazon Prime Video account.
Despite the flood of new content from the axed-Lionsgate+ service, MGM+ will remain at the same £4.49 per month cost. For comparison, Lionsgate+ used to cost £5.99 per month, although that was its own subscription service, so there was no need to have a Prime Video account or subscription.
Prime Video costs £5.99 per month, which unlocks access to thousands of exclusive TV show episodes, including Clarkson's Farm, The Grand Tour, The Boys, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, and 007: Road To A Million. It also has a packed library of films and syndicated boxsets. You can get started with the streamer here.
Prime Video introduced ad breaks earlier this year, triggering fury from some subscribers.A lawsuit has been launched against Amazon over its decision to introduce adverts without lowering the cost.
The streaming service is included as one of the many perks of Amazon Prime membership, which costs £8.99 per month, and also unlocks next-day delivery at no cost on thousands of items from Amazon, millions of music tracks to stream from Amazon Music, digital books to read on Kindle at no cost, premium Deliveroo membership for one year, and much more.
Although there's no trial period with a standalone Prime Video subscription, Amazon offers 30-day access to its Prime membership free of charge. Cancel anytime and you'll be charged nothing.
If you've tested this service before, don't worry — Amazon reopens the trial for account holders roughly every year, which means there's a decent chance you'll be able to stream and enjoy next-day delivery completely free all over again.
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Speaking about the rebrand and influx of new content coming to MGM+, Agapy Kapouranis, Lionsgate President of International Television and Digital Distribution, said: "We are pleased to extend our partnership with MGM+ to bring beloved films and television series to the service in the United Kingdom. With the addition of the United Kingdom, Lionsgate and STARZ content will now be available to MGM+ viewers in more than 20 countries around the world.”
