licensing: Last News

Don’t expect to see Andor or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on Netflix any time soon.

Along with programming updates, HBO and Max Content CEO Casey Bloys took on a handful of business topics during a 2024 slate event in New York, among them licensing, content spending and password sharing.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor CANNES – Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish delivered a testimonial to the power of “new age” local and regional content licensing partnerships during a wide-ranging Q&A held Tuesday after the Viacom veteran was feted as Mipcom’s Personality of the Year. During a wide-ranging Q&A that followed the award presentation, Bakish batted down industry speculation about Paramount’s financial health (“To say we were saved by the strikes is totally an overstatement”) and his hope that the SAG-AFTRA strike will soon be in Hollywood’s rear-view mirror (“We’ll get there”). Paramount Global unveiled a multi-year pact with Greek pay TV service Cosmote TV just before Bakish sat for a Q&A with Variety co-editor in chief Cynthia Littleton.

In the past few minutes, Warner Bros Discovery has set out plans for its new look international sales team following Robert Blair‘s exit.

EXCLUSIVE: The major U.S. studios heading to Mipcom are proving global streaming and third-party licensing “can co-exist and work together,” says the event’s director.

K.J. Yossman “Lord of the Rings” owner Embracer told shareholders and investors that the fantasy franchise, which they snapped up last summer for $395 million, has been a significant growth driver in Q1.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “The Conners” is making its way to off-net syndication, as Tom Werner’s Werner Entertainment has stuck a deal with both Lionsgate Worldwide Television Distribution Group and Debmar-Mercury to distribute the sitcom’s first five seasons (and future seasons as well). “The Conners” will be sold for a fall 2024 launch in domestic syndication.

Mattel is renewed its licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, continuing as the studio’s toy licensee in preschool, plush, dolls, vehicles, games, and novelty toy categories.

Ellise Shafer Warner Music Group and TikTok have announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to expand the licensing agreement of Warner Recorded Music and Warner Chappell Music to TikTok, TikTok Music, CapCut and TikTok’s Commercial Music Library. The multi-year, multi-product deal will “expand the level of partnership, collaboration and innovation between the two companies,” according to a press release. “It will create new revenue, marketing and insights opportunities for WMG’s artists and songwriters, while deepening the engagement with TikTok’s huge audience of passionate music fans.” It also includes a licensing deal for TikTok Music — the app’s newly launched streaming service that is now only available in Brazil and Indonesia, but has plans for growth in other markets — and CapCut, TikTok’s video-editing sister app.

Darrell Issa Guest Columnist Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet represents California’s 48th Congressional District. Later today on the Nashville, TN campus of Belmont University, I’ll convene a field hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. The hearing won’t just take place in Music City, USA but five years after Congress achieved that rarest of things: A consensus solution that recognized the rights of musical artists and created a way they could be compensated fairly by publishers. It may be hard for some to believe, but at the time we crafted this legislation, the music industry and other content owners were being crushed by widespread piracy and an inability to monetize the value of musical creativity.

HBO’s potential deal to license a slew of library titles to rival Netflix, as revealed by Deadline, was met with derision by some, another example of Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav selling off the crown jewels to hit his savings targets.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor German film and TV distribution and licensing company Telepool, which is owned by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook, is moving into lead producing movies and series, its CEO Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann tells Variety exclusively in her first interview since joining the company in January. Munich-based Telepool is celebrating its 60th anniversary on Wednesday, and although it has a barrel-load of experience in selling, distributing, licensing, financing and co-producing movies and series, this shift into initiating and lead producing represents a significant step for the company. It also forms part of Westbrook’s broader strategy for international expansion, which – in part – lay behind its acquisition of Telepool in December 2021.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer HBO Max’s parent company has filed a lawsuit that accuses Paramount Global of reneging on parts of the $500 million licensing deal set in 2019 for the streaming rights to episodes of “South Park.” The suit, filed Friday in New York state Supreme Court, asserts that Paramount breached the contract by steering “South Park” specials and other content to its own Paramount+ platform. The suit alleges that Paramount “blatantly intended to prop up Paramount+ at the expense of Warner/HBO,” and that Paramount engaged in “multiple and flagrant duplicitous contortions of fact and breaches of contract.”

After entering the smart-TV sector years ago by licensing its interface and brand, Roku now plans to design and manufacture its own line of TV sets.

Tin Roof Media Names Rod Henwood Executive Chairman

A Stenhousemuir shop will be able to sell alcohol until 10pm, Falkirk Council' s licensing board has agreed.

South Lanarkshire Council is to introduce a licensing scheme for short-term let properties in the area.

Apple is instituting significant price increases starting today for streaming service Apple TV+ along with Apple Music and the Apple One bundle, citing higher licensing and content costs.

Pub bosses at The Carrick in Irvine have been given permission for an outside drinking area.

Naman Ramachandran Trioscope, the company behind “The Liberator” (Netflix) and George R.R. Martin-produced “Night of the Cooters,” has launched its patented Trioscope Platform to license its proprietary technology to third-party content creators.

Netflix plans to launch its advertising tier in early 2023 but not all of the shows that are currently streaming on the service will make the cut.