April 8, 2021 | 2:30 pm EDT by Dade Hayes
Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment have set a significant new licensing deal giving the streaming giant an exclusive window for the studio’s theatrical titles starting in 2022. The agreement, which replaces an output arrangement with Lionsgate-owned Starz dating back to 2005, provides Netflix with an 18-month exclusive window for Sony films. Multiple bidders had been angling for the rights for some time. Terms were not officially disclosed, but Netflix prevailed with an offer of $1 billion over four years, according to sources familiar with the deal.
April 1, 2021 | 2:26 pm EDT by Elaine Low
ViacomCBS has taken a stance in opposition to the Georgia voting rights law that restricts voting access, making it the first major entertainment media corporation to do so and part of a group of vocal big businesses that include Delta and Coca-Cola. “We unequivocally believe in the importance of all Americans having an equal right to vote and oppose the recent Georgia voting rights law or any effort that impedes the ability to exercise this vital constitutional right,” reads the statement.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
March 25, 2021 | 10:00 am EDT by Glen Dickson
Erik Langner, president of Signal Infrastructure Group (recently rechristened from Public Media Group), has been working to identify potential applications for broadcasters’ ATSC 3.0 data pipe. Those include targeted advertising, sending software updates to IoT or auto manufacturers and public health, safety and education organizations.
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March 29, 2021 | 5:30 am EDT by Michael Depp
Verify, a six-year-old reporting project within Tegna that presents stories in direct response to viewer queries, is ramping up dramatically with an expanded national team and multiplatform iterations including younger-demo social platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. Adam Ostrow, Tegna’s chief digital officer, and Jonathan Forsythe, Verify’s managing editor, frame out its ambitions.
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March 21, 2021 | 1:43 pm EDT by Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer: “Whenever I’m asked about the fate of the television business, I always answer, ‘As goes the next NFL deal, so goes TV.’ Well, as everyone with even the slightest interest in the subject already knows, the NFL/TV deal is done but times have changed. The NFL deal makes it very clear that it is time for the FCC to think seriously about reclaiming the spectrum gifted to the local broadcast industry. It is also time for Congress to craft policies that not only respect the state of today’s technology but aspire to leverage the technology of tomorrow.”