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Warner Bros, Disney, Roadshow & MGM Dissolve Aussie Pay TV Movie Partnership

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday December 5, 2012 @ 10:18pm PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Big Deals TV, Foxtel, The Movie Network

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney.

The seven Movie Network channels owned by Warner Bros, Disney, Village Roadshow and MGM will go dark on January 1 following  a decision today to dissolve the partnership. The end of the service, which was a mainstay in Australia pay-TV since its inception, follows the inability of TMN to negotiate a new deal with the dominant platform Foxtel as the current contract expires December 31. A Foxtel spokesman confirmed the TMN channels will disappear from its service on January 1. Foxtel wants to launch a single movie service in 2013 after buying the other major movie service Showtime from Paramount, NBCUniversal, Fox, Sony and Liberty Media in October. The Foxtel spokesman told Deadline that negotiations are continuing with individual studios, adding, “Our preferred position is to have a single service with improved quality for viewers.” He said a new line-up of movie channels and repricing would be announced soon.

Related: Deadline Looms For US Pay Movie Channels In Australia READ MORE »

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Deadline Looms For US Pay Movie Channels In Australia

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday November 16, 2012 @ 12:01pm PSTTags: Foxtel, The Movie Network

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney.

Could seven Hollywood-owned pay movie channels go dark in Oz on January 1? That seems a distinct possibility as The Movie Network’s contract with Foxtel expires on December 31. TMN is owned by Warner Bros., Disney, MGM and Australia’s Village Roadshow. Foxtel is trying to use its clout as the dominant pay-TV force by cutting out the middleman and buying films direct from each studio and owning and producing all its major movie channels. The TMN studios are presenting a united front, reasoning they will have a stronger bargaining position collectively than if each tried to do separate deals. Last month Foxtel went a long way toward achieving its goal when Sony, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Fox and Liberty Media agreed to sell their Showtime channels to Foxtel. Foxtel has been seeking to drive down the historically inflated license fees by as much as 40% and to end the output arrangements which enabled the studios to cram the schedules with telemovies and direct-to-DVD titles.

Related: Australia’s Foxtel To Majors And Indies: Take A 40% Haircut On Movie Deals Read More »

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