SpongeBob SquarePants and other shows will likely remain on Foxtel after the company's joint venture agreement with ViacomCBS was extended.
Sources close to the deal confirmed the extension with The Sydney Morning Herald, which means programs such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Henry Danger and Paw Patrol could appear on Foxtel's new entertainment streaming service known as Project Ares. Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. already run on Foxtel's set top box and Foxtel Now services.
ViacomCBS was approached for comment. Foxtel declined to comment.
Update (4/5) - ViacomCBS has not explicitly expressed its intentions in Australia, but its recently renewed deal with Foxtel for Nickelodeon content is short-term and is expected to expire in about a year's time. Sources said it is likely ViacomCBS will pull its Showtime and Nickelodeon brands from Stan and Foxtel once the contracts expire and pull them into its local streaming service 10 All Access.
Foxtel sources indicated a number of recent licensing deals signed by the company, such as its recently extended Discovery deal, will also have content on the online service. But they also indicated that not every program currently available on Foxtel's set top box would be available on the entertainment service. Discovery content is also expected to appear on free-to-air (FTA) television, with Nine Entertainment Co in discussions with the company about a new digital channel called Rush. Nine is the owner of this masthead.
Projects Ares, a streaming service that has been in the works for more than a year, is expected to include a range of drama and entertainment content when it launches around May 2020. Nine's streaming service Stan and Foxtel are both in discussions for content from U.S. entertainment giant HBO. Foxtel currently has the exclusive rights to air HBO content in Australia, a deal with two years left to run that it is hoping to extend.
The latest deal comes after Nickelodeon Australia owners Foxtel and ViacomCBS agreed to an extension of the joint-venture.
Foxtel and ViacomCBS' venture includes all of Nickelodeon’s businesses in Australia including pay TV, merchandising and licensing deals with hotels and theme parks like Nickelodeon Beach at Wet’n’Wild Sydney and Nickelodeon Land in SeaWorld on the Gold Coast in Queensland, but Foxtel is the driver of most revenue for the business. Nickelodeon titles are also available on Stan, Netflix and Amazon Prime in Australia.
ViacomCBS, which also owns Network Ten, is making a number of changes in the market. Last week chief executive Paul Anderson, who is also a director of Nickelodeon Australia, announced he would be leaving the company. Two co-leads of ViacomCBS Australia were appointed: Ten's chief content officer Beverley McGarvey and KordaMentha partner Henriette Rothschild. The business is currently in the process of ending its sales relationship with Foxtel Media, with Rod Prosser, Ten’s chief sales officer, to oversee both Ten and ViacomCBS’ sales team. The partnership will end by mid-April.
For the year ending September 2018, Nickelodeon Australia reported a profit of $26.7 million and revenue of $45 million (AUD).
From TV Blackbox:
Drawn out negotiations continue as FOXTEL seeks to lock in critical Kids programming
Foxtel is continuing negotiations in the hope of securing a new long-term deal for some of the world’s most popular children's content including Spongebob SquarePants, [Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles] Mystic Mayhem and Paw Patrol.
On Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Foxtel had secured a new deal for ViacomCBS content; TV Blackbox understands this deal was for a temporary extension of existing contracts and that negotiations are continuing for a new long-term arrangement.
ViacomCBS supplies a mix of popular channels to Foxtel including Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, MTV, MTV Music, and MTV Dance. The children's programming is considered particularly crucial to the future success of Foxtel after the pay-tv business recently lost broadcast rights to three Disney channels.
Foxtel is looking to finalise a new long-term agreement with ViacomCBS, with increased access to streaming rights before it launches its new standalone, entertainment focused SVOD platform currently codenamed 'Project Ares' in the next few months.
It's understood the recent surprise departure of 10 CEO and ViacomCBS ANZ VP Paul Anderson, has further delayed the negotiation process. The business is now in the process of installing a new management structure to manage its Australian and New Zealand operations, while also seeking to cut costs dramatically.
Potentially, ViacomCBS could also seek to hold back some content from Foxtel as it looks to further strengthen its own businesses in Australia including free-to-air broadcaster 10, and SVOD service 10AllAccess.
###
More Nick: ViacomCBS Consumer Products Showcases Expanded Portfolio at 2020 Melbourne Toy Fair Partner Presentation!
Originally published: Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon Australia & New Zealand News and Highlights!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have your say by leaving a comment below! NickALive! welcomes friendly and respectful comments. Please familiarize with the blog's Comment Policy before commenting. All new comments are moderated and won't appear straight away.