Research: Studio ‘sales to own services’ now 30%
September 16, 2020
The share of content licensed to services owned by Studios across European markets has increased from 18 per cent in 2018 to 30 per cent in the last year, according to data from international content consultancy 3Vision.
Media consolidation has helped to fuel direct-to-consumer (D2C) growth over the past few years with multiple services launched by the main Studios in the US and global markets. This activity has impacted the market for content distribution and led many to believe that D2C services such as HBO Max, Disney+ and Peacock will become the home of shows for the respective Studio they are owned by – as a result third party services will miss out.
The 3Vision Show Tracker shows that there has been a significant aggregate increase in ‘sales to own services’ but as the firm’s EVP Jack Davison points out, the aggregate numbers over-simplify and disguise what is really go on.
“There is variation by Studio and by territory. We are seeing the presence and/or launch of a Studio’s own service and the key relationships they have with third parties drive distribution activity across markets. WarnerMedia for example have extended their HBO volume deals with partners across regions (UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Australia) suggesting that HBO Max will not launch in several countries in the near future and relationships with third parties remain the best way to monetise their content in certain markets. In the US Sky Vision titles (before NBCU incorporated the Sky business) were sold to a variety of buyers. When Peacock launched we found many of Sky’s titles in the US service line-up, showing that in the US NBCU will prioritise their own service.”
Davison says 3Vision will be tracking carefully what the increased vertical integration activity will mean for the overall content market place.