According to Lionsgate’s exec VP of TV distribution, Jon Ferro, the licensing of content for wireless distribution is in its infancy but some things are already clear — distributors want all the rights, and wireless is not included. “(Wireless and digital) rights are additive, of course, but they all influence each other. Strategies have to be created that take all of these various rights into account. Mobile rights influence other channels.”…Indeed, recent events in Italy have proved that mobile releases close to or overlapping the theatrical window can significantly affect revenues.”
“We prefer to do all-rights deals because there is a major conflict between, especially, broadcasters and DVD distributors as to who should have the various rights,” says Julie Goldman of New York-based Cactus Three, a producer and sales agent that deals primarily with documentaries.”
This confusion around rights is fairly common with new media, but wireless rights should be easier to sort out than internet rights — it’s a lot more simple to keep wireless rights within a particular region.
The bigger issue appears to be the revenue model. Beta EOS managing director Dirk Schuerhoff said that “On the wireless side, when we do sell those rights, it’s on a 50-50 revenue-share basis.” This differs from the traditional way of selling: “People have traditionally sold in terms of wholesale,” said IFTA prexy Jean Prewitt. “It’s a bit of a struggle to think in terms of head count. It creates difficulty in market and difficulty in accounting.”
Related stories:
–Italian Content Distributors Demand Wireless Rights
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