Universal Archives

Broken Windows: Inside Hollywood’s Lucrative Film Licensing Deals

January 15, 2023 FilmTake Comments Off

The battle over film licensing exclusivity transpired as expected once Netflix transitioned from a content aggregator to a content creator. One-by-one the major studios built direct-to-consumer streaming services to compete with Netflix.

End of AMC Theatres?

December 3, 2020 FilmTake Comments Off

The world’s largest theater chain faces imminent bankruptcy if shareholders fail to purchase 200 million new shares being offered by the company.

Netflix Shatters Glass Ceiling

January 21, 2020 FilmTake Comments Off

Netflix shocked most industry observers by receiving a leading 24 Academy Award nominations, more than any other distributor, including two for Best Picture.

Box Office Declines

January 6, 2020 FilmTake Comments Off

The box office in North America was down almost 5% from 2018 even after rising ticket prices, and despite a slew of mega-budget franchise films being released.

Netflix Bets On Big Budget Films

July 31, 2019 FilmTake Comments Off

Netflix is banking on a slate of big budget films to attract new subscribers. The streamer is spending over $550 million to make just three big budget films.

The China Retreat

January 15, 2019 FilmTake Comments Off

Viacom has had enough of China. The New York-based company is in talks with at least one Chinese group to sell some or all of the company’s operations on the mainland.

Studio Netflix

February 4, 2018 FilmTake Comments Off

Netflix plans to release 80 films in 2018; nearly as many as all six major studios combined.

Point of No Return for North America’s Box Office

January 2, 2018 FilmTake Comments Off

In 2017, North American theatrical admissions fell to 1992 levels. Admissions in the U.S and Canada dropped 6% to 1.23 billion tickets sold.

Inside Baidu’s Hollywood Expansion

April 24, 2017 FilmTake Comments Off

Since launching in 2010, iQiyi has accumulated the most paid SVOD subscribers in China, however, calculating an accurate subscriber base is challenging.

Lionsgate Inks Long-Term Digital Licensing with iQiyi

December 5, 2016 FilmTake Comments Off

Lionsgate entered into a long-term content licensing agreement with iQiyi in November 2016 for upcoming features and select library films.

Hollywood Welcomes Wanda Group’s CEO Wang Jianlin

October 18, 2016 FilmTake Comments Off

Wanda’s CEO Jianlin is in Hollywood to purchase more media properties. The acquisition of Legendary for $3.5 billion was the biggest Hollywood-China tie-up.

Netflix Calls Out Theater Owners

October 11, 2016 FilmTake Comments Off

At The New Yorker’s TechFest event last Friday the CEO of Netflix attacked the theater owners for the lack of innovation in the film business.

Rush to Offshore

January 23, 2016 FilmTake Comments Off

China’s Perfect World Pictures will co-finance 25% of Universal’s B-slate over five years. The $500 million deal is the second major tie-up in a week.

Licensing Analytics

NEW: SVOD Episodic Licensing Report Series

The SVOD Episodic Licensing Series is your inside source to uncover what streaming services around the world pay distributors to license episodic content.

Netflix’s New Advertising Tier is Off to a Shaky Start

Streaming

January 25, 2023 Comments Off

Netflix’s ad-based tier aims to reduce the high churn the company faced in 2022, attract new subscribers, and lure back those who canceled. However, by all measures, the rushed experiment is failing fast.

Streaming Services Revert to Advertising to Drive Subscriber Growth

Streaming

January 12, 2023 Comments Off

Last year was the first year in the previous four years that didn’t welcome a new subscription streaming service from Hollywood’s major players. The lack of a new streaming service did not stop the existing services from offering new ways to watch content through paid and free ad-supported options.

Premium Streamers Scramble for Fresh Strategies to Retain Fickle Subscribers

Streaming

December 19, 2022 Comments Off

Streaming services are scrambling for new strategies to keep their existing subscribers in a highly crowded domestic market. The level of churn among premium streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+ has accelerated.

Disney Surpasses Netflix to Become the World’s Leading Streaming Service

Streaming

November 18, 2022 Comments Off

Disney Streaming overtook Netflix as the world’s streaming leader in July 2022. Across all Disney streaming platforms (Disney+, Disney+ Hotstar, ESPN+, and Hulu), the company boosts 222.2 million subscribers compared to Netflix’s 220.7 million.

An Inside Look at Netflix’s Latest Film Licensing Deal

Streaming

November 10, 2021 Comments Off

Netflix emerged as the winner in a nearly two-year auction process for the exclusive U.S. rights to stream Sony’s theatrical releases in the lucrative first PayTV window starting with the studio’s 2022 slate.