Starz said that its Starzplay app is now been deployed in the UK, France, Germany, Mexico and Brazil.

The international rollout comes more than three years after Lionsgate-owned first deployed its OTT service in North America. The direct-to-consumer service, which undercuts HBO and Showtime at $5 a month, currently has 5.6 million domestic subscribers, Starz said.

“Starz has experienced great success with the Starz app domestically, remaining ahead of the streaming curve with more than 5.6 million OTT customers to date, and that number continues to climb,” said Starz CEO Jeffrey A. Hirsch, in a statement. “Expanding our direct-to-consumer product into the global arena with the launch of the Starzplay app gives subscribers seamless entry to our platform and premium content on their device of choice, while also providing us with access to key consumer data insights as we continue to position ourselves for success in the evolving content ecosystem.”

Starz is aggressively bulking up its OTT and on-demand content for families and multicultural viewers with the addition of kids-themed and Spanish-language programming.

The Starz app — which allows the premium network’s subscribers to watch Starz content on mobile or TV-connected devices through an authentication process or purchase Starz for $8.99 per month — has more than doubled its programming offerings to 5,500 original series and acquired titles since launching in spring 2016, Jeff Hirsch, Starz’s chief operating officer, said.

As part of its content push, the network has added more than 1,500 kids-targeted television series and movies, including Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-lot, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Inspector Gadget and Yu-Gi-Oh, Hirsch said.

The kids content complements the network’s adult-targeted shows like Power to provide programming that appeals to everyone in the family.

“Providing a product for the head of household to watch, like Power, but also having great kids programming around it, reinforces the value proposition that we’re trying to give to that consumer,” he said.

In addition, Starz is offering nearly 300 Spanish-language movies and telenovela episodes, including such shows as El Cartel de los Sapos and La Promesa, as part of the network’s continued efforts to reach out to underserved audiences. The network has already announced a number of Hispanic-targeted original projects in development, including drama series Teresa and Pour Vida.

“We’ve made a very conscious decision to focus on underserved audiences in terms of our original programming, with The Girlfriend Experience and Outlander for females and Power, Survivor’s Remorse and to a certain extent American Gods for the African-American audience,” Hirsch said. “Adding telenovelas and movies in preparation for some of our great originals is the proper right step in terms of that programming strategy.”

With “significantly” more than 1 million subscribers signed up for its Starz OTT service, Hirsch said the company is focusing on offering content that will bring more value to consumers.

Starz generated record signups over the past two weeks, coinciding with the launch of the fourth season of Power, Hirsch added, although he would not reveal specifics.

“We think we’ve created a really simple and easy-to-use product with great consumer features at a price that provides great value for the Starz consumer, and the marketplace is reacting to that in a positive way,” Hirsch said.

Starz also hopes to increase its available content by another 40% by year-end to 7,700 titles, with additional acquisition launches including The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and Jim Henson’s The Storyteller.

Hirsch also addressed Comcast’s ongoing decision not to support the TV Everywhere aspect of the Starz app, saying that the network continues to talk to the operator regarding a solution.

“Comcast are great partners and they see the value of our programming,” Hirsch said. “We continue to have a good partnership and we’ll continue to try to figure out how to work together, not just on the authenticated position but other parts of the business.”

Starz has named elevated Jeffrey Hirsch, the former Time Warner Cable executive who came on board a year ago, to chief operating officer from president of global marketing and product planning. The premium programmer also promoted David Weil to chief legal officer, expanding his reach to include human resources.

The moves come shortly after Starz, under CEO Chris Albrecht (to whom Hirsch and Weil continue to report), announced the retirement of president Glenn Curtis and that chief revenue officer Michael Thornton was leaving his post but remaining as a consultant until the fall. Distribution duties had come under Thornton and now will come under Hirsch as COO: his oversight includes affiliate sales, marketing programming operations and research, Starz distribution and technology and product development. He already oversaw development of new products and services, including the new Starz all-in-one app (which Comcast continues to refuse to authenticate), the Starz rebrand and repositioning of Starz Encore services. 

H.R. had been part of Curtis's purview and now is part of Weil's as chief legal officer, Starz said. Starz also recently appointed former CAA executive Pamela Wolfe as executive vice president of human resources.

Albrecht said in a release: "We are transforming Starz into a more innovative global entertainment brand. Jeff’s talent and experience will help us accelerate the transformation that began five years ago. We have made great progress in our programming, brands, subscribers and shareholder value, and the organization is focused with an eye to the future.”

Weil had been EVP and general counsel at Starz.