New Online Video Distribution.
Report: Blockbuster in talks to join Hollywood Video-On-Demand joint venture
April 29th, 2008
“We’re exploring our options, so it’s not surprising there are rumors out there”, says a Blockbuster spokeswoman.
The latest rumor, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is that the company best known for its ‘bricks and mortar’ video rental business wants to join the recently announced Hollywood joint venture, led by Viacom, to create a new premium TV channel and Video-On-Demand (VOD) service. The other existing partners are Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate.
In return for investing, Blockbuster would get digital rights to the new channel’s programming, “people familiar with the situation” told the WSJ.
Blockbuster is an obvious possible partner. It used to be owned by Viacom, whose executives know its business well. Blockbuster also has been casting its net wide for new partners as it attempts to spruce up its video-rental business model with new digital ventures. Last year, it acquired Internet movie provider Movielink to offer video-download services to customers, and it has focused on forging exclusive content deals for its various services.
Ironically, the Viacom-led joint venture is already being compared negatively to the original Movielink service, which started life in 2002 as a joint venture between Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and MGM, but failed to resonate with users. Last August Movielink was acquired by Blockbuster.
Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate form ‘game changing’ joint venture
April 21st, 2008
If you were going to announce a new ‘game changing’ joint venture involving four leading Hollywood studios, you wouldn’t choose to do it on a Sunday, right? Because that’s precisely what Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate have done, with their newly formed premium TV channel and VOD service, which will be rolled out in the fall of 2009.
While details given in the press release are thin on the ground, plastered over by a very generous helping of hyperbole, the yet-to-be named “Innovative Premium Entertainment Service” will offer new and classic feature films and original TV programing from each of the studios involved, and in what looks like a major shake up of the traditional U.S. pay TV market (lookout HBO, Showtime and Starz), the joint venture will have first access to upcoming films such as “Iron Man,” “Star Trek,” “The Pink Panther 2,” “Cloverfield” and “Robocop.” The combined back catalog will also cover classic hits such as “Dirty Dancing,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Crash,” “Braveheart,” “Forrest Gump,” the “Godfather” series and the Rocky and James Bond franchises, notes Hollywood Reporter.
However, of more significance to last 100, the new joint venture will have a strong online component, according to an interview given to paidContent by Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman: “As we go forward and make further announcements, you will see that this will be oriented toward the consumer. It will also meet the needs of varying distributors and take advantage of online distribution…innovative both in presenting the content and in distributing it.” Dauman says that the joint venture will enable the studios involved to have greater control over their own destiny compared to traditional distribution deals, in terms of what they can and can’t offer online during competing release windows. This suggests to me that we may see paid-for downloads of premium content offered at the same time as pay TV.
Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate Form New Joint Venture to Create an Innovative Premium Entertainment Service
Next-Generation Premium Television Channel and Video on Demand Service to Offer New and Classic Box Office Hits and Original Television Series from Paramount, Paramount Vantage, MGM, United Artists and Lionsgate for Distribution in the Premium Pay Television Window Beginning Fall of 2009
April 20 Viacom Inc. NYSE: VIA NYSE: VIA.B, its Paramount Pictures unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and Lionsgate NYSE: LGF have formed a joint venture that creates a next- generation premium television channel and video on demand service that combines new and classic feature film output and original television series of five leading studios. The new premium channel, which will launch in the fall of 2009, was announced jointly today by Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom Inc.; Brad Grey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures; Harry E. Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); and Jon Feltheimer, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lionsgate.
The new venture will have access to Paramount and Paramount Vantage titles released theatrically on or after January 1, 2008 and MGM, United Artists and Lionsgate titles released theatrically on or after January 1, 2009. The venture's programming slate will have exclusive access during the pay television window to such recent and highly anticipated films as Iron Man, Star Trek, Pink Panther 2, Cloverfield, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Shutter Island, GI Joe, Love Guru, and Valkyrie, along with many others currently in production including planned new installments of Robocop and Outer Limits.
In addition, the new venture will have access to motion picture titles spanning the vast libraries of the five studios, which libraries include Braveheart, Forrest Gump and the Mission: Impossible, The Godfather and Star Trek franchises from Paramount; the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky franchises from MGM; and Dirty Dancing, Reservoir Dogs, Crash, Monster's Ball, the Saw franchise, the Tyler Perry catalogue and The Blair Witch Project from Lionsgate. The new venture will also feature new original television series created by the five studios.
Viacom will provide operational support to the venture, including marketing and affiliate services through its MTV Networks division.
Dauman said: "This venture has the potential to be a game changer for the industry. We are building an innovative service that will use traditional and new digital distribution technologies to bring great film and television entertainment directly to the consumer. By combining the output of Paramount with MGM and Lionsgate, two film and television powerhouses, we are creating a premium film and television programming brand with unique flexibility to bring consumers the very best blockbuster movies and innovative TV series.
"We are extremely pleased to be in business with MGM and Lionsgate in this exciting new venture which will provide our companies with a strong presence in the premium TV marketplace well into the future."
Grey said, "For close to a century, Paramount has produced and distributed some of America's best-known and beloved films - a tradition that continues today, with an outstanding lineup set through 2009. That commitment to great entertainment is matched by Paramount's focus on creating new and innovative platforms that offer more access and flexibility to consumers. We look forward to launching this historic premium entertainment service with a strong slate that includes new releases like Cloverfield, Iron Man, and Star Trek alongside Paramount's legendary library."
Sloan said, "At MGM, we are very pleased to have found two partners that share our vision of providing first-run movies and premium-quality original television programming across linear and digital platforms in a new way. Our approach delivers unique flexibility for program distributors as well as consumer options that will provide the highest quality entertainment. The newly revitalized MGM, under the direction of Mary Parent, Chairman, Worldwide Motion Picture Group, is preparing to bring top projects to the venture including the newly acquired Robert Ludlum's The Maratese Circle, which will star Denzel Washington as well as franchised movies based on James Bond, Pink Panther and Thomas Crown."
Feltheimer said, "We are excited to be working with two of the most respected studios in the business to start a new venture which marshals the historic legacy of the past, the filmed entertainment leadership of the present and a vision for the digital marketplace of the future. Our prestigious and prolific libraries, diverse and commercially powerful new feature film releases and enormous television series development expertise combine to make this a formidable and uniquely compelling entertainment service from day one. This is a true next-generation premium content offering for the consumer."
Paramount has been a leading producer and distributor of motion pictures since 1912 and has a library consisting of approximately 3,500 motion pictures. In 2007, the studio theatrically released Transformers, Blades of Glory, Norbit, Beowulf, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Kite Runner, There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men, among others, receiving 26 Academy Award nominations and winning 7 Academy Awards. The Paramount library boasts Oscar winners Braveheart, Forrest Gump, and Titanic, as well as such classics as The Ten Commandments, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Sunset Boulevard. In addition, several of the most successful franchises in film history, including Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, The Godfather and Indiana Jones, are part of the Paramount Pictures library. Paramount's leadership has also produced some of the most celebrated programs on television, including HBO's The Sopranos.
MGM owns the world's largest modern film library and it is comprised of celebrated titles from the United Artists, Orion Pictures, Goldwyn Entertainment and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment libraries. The rich and extensive library has earned 205 Academy Awards including 15 for Best Picture for such films as Dances With Wolves, Rain Man, The Silence of the Lambs, Annie Hall, Platoon, Midnight Cowboy and West Side Story. MGM films have also won 156 Golden Globe Awards and 147 British Academy Awards. With approximately 4,100 films and over 10,400 hours of television programming, the MGM library includes such tentpole feature film franchises as Rocky and Pink Panther and the celebrated James Bond franchise, the longest running and most profitable film brand in history. The studio also has a successful television track record, with programs like People's Choice Award winner Stargate Atlantis, which has begun production on its fifth original season and the ratings-winning series American Gladiators for NBC.
Lionsgate is the leading independent producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video on demand and digitally delivered content. The Lionsgate filmed entertainment library comprises approximately 12,000 titles, including such evergreen hits as Dirty Dancing, Reservoir Dogs, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, The Blair Witch Project, Crash, Monster's Ball, the Saw franchise, the hit television series Weeds and the entire Tyler Perry catalogue. Recent Lionsgate hits include Forbidden Kingdom, Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns, The Bank Job, Rambo, Saw 4, 3:10 To Yuma, Good Luck Chuck, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? and War. Lionsgate won the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award (R) for Crash and has earned 31 Academy Award (R) nominations in the past nine years, more than any other independent studio. In addition, Lionsgate's fast-growing television business has generated the recent hit comedy Weeds and critical sensation Mad Men.
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