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Reuters
Reuters
Business

NBCUniversal's Xfinity TV to continue carrying Lions Gate's Starz

FILE PHOTO: The Comcast NBC logo is shown on a building in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 13, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

(Reuters) - The internet TV service from Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal, Xfinity TV, would continue to air content from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp's cable channel Starz, the companies said on Monday.

Comcast was planning to drop Starz from its main bundle of channels at the end of the year, according to a report by The Information in August. Starz had said in October it was trying to reach an agreement with Comcast.

Comcast and Lions Gate have been contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an informal inquiry into both companies' contract negotiations, CNBC had reported last month, citing people familiar with the matter.

The companies also signed a new content deal allowing NBCUniversal to license content from Lions Gate for its upcoming advertising-supported streaming service, Peacock.

Comcast will be the latest streaming service provider in an industry occupied by tech and media giants Netflix Inc, Apple Inc and Walt Disney Co.

Lions Gate had offered to sell Starz to CBS Corp for $5.5 billion, Reuters had reported in May, before CBS' merger with Viacom Inc.

(Reporting by Ambhini Aishwarya in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

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