NEW YORK — Film and TV studio Lions Gate is buying cable channel operator Starz in a deal worth $4.4 billion.

Lions Gate is the company behind “The Hunger Games” movies and the “Orange Is The New Black” TV series. Starz runs its namesake cable channel, as well as Starz Encore and MoviePlex. Together, Lions Gate said it can tap its library of movies and TV shows and air them through Starz's channels.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Lions Gate is not new to the cable business. It owns stakes in Epix and Pop and also had a small stake in Starz before the deal was announced.