Becoming Jain

ALTHOUGH it was only Rohit Jain's second time in Manila, the president and managing director of the premium streaming service Lionsgate Play got to see the Walled City and experienced the walking tour of Intramuros.

«It was really nice,» Jain told The Manila Times about his experience in seeing the more than century-old, prewar Intramuros. «I got a taste of Philippine history. Really interesting.»

The first time Jain visited Manila was in 2021.

«It was the same and different,» he smiled. «Same because they always expect me to grow the business. I couldn't just get a chance to easily come here then [because of the pandemic]. Different because they are always looking to do something new.»

In the next few weeks, viewers and subscribers can expect Lionsgate to do another big launch in the Philippines.

«We will have something interesting to share in a few weeks,» Jain said.

«It has been a while that I've touched base with all our partners here and people we had a conversation with, get a little feedback directly and just get to spend a little time in the market and get the pulse of it.»

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When Jain first came to Manila in 2021, they did a prelaunch of Lionsgate, which officially started in June 2022 after the company got the greenlight to do business in the Philippines.

«Today, we've been operational in the Philippines for close to two years,» Jain beamed. «So it's good to see Lionsgate is doing well in the market. We are very happy to see how things are done.

»We are very happy with the partnership with PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company). We found great partners in them. So far, it has been good. It has been very good."

The Lionsgate Play business in the Philippines is manned by general manager Cecile Marino, who is in charge of building partnerships with the company.

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Lionsgate Play has services available in nine countries in Asia. And growing. Globally, it has around 20 million subscribers to date.

The premium streaming service is now in all of South Asia — India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

«In every market, we are among the top bracket of options,» Jain said.

«That