Foxtel and WarnerMedia have consolidated their long-standing relationship with a major new multi-year licencing agreement covering programming from Warner Bros., HBO, HBO Max and WarnerMedia networks.
The deal provides Foxtel’s 2.5 million customers content from popular television series such as Game of Thrones, Succession, Big Little Lies and Batwoman to Friends and The Big Bang Theory, along with movies and children’s content from the Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Foxtel Group Chief Executive Officer Patrick Delany said: “We are pleased that after working together for almost 25 years we can announce an expansion of our relationship, not only with Warner Bros. and HBO, but with the extended WarnerMedia family.
“The diverse output from WarnerMedia to the Foxtel Group will power our broadcast and streaming strategy on multiple platforms and multiple brands ensuring our customers continue to enjoy the very best of TV and on demand from the world’s number one producer of television.
The win follows comments from Nine’s CEO Hugh Marks at the Macquarie Australia Conference 2020 on Tuesday, who said its subscription service Stan would bid “aggressively” to secure the HBO rights.
Marks said that due Nine’s revenue across free to air, BVOD and SVOD, the broadcaster is able to “be very aggressive” because it has the revenue base to do it.
He said: “The brand value that Stan has and its customer base and its revenue base means that it’s in a strong position to compete.”
This is despite severe ad-spend declines due to the coronavirus crisis, which has affected the entire media industry, including Network 10 and Channel Seven.
Nine’s FTA revenue fell by 29.8 per cent in April, which is ahead of competitors Seven and 10. However, Nine achieved a significant 43.9 per cent share for TV revenue in the first quarter.
Marks also said Nine would be “aggressive” in discussions around future content following ad revenue declines across its TV, radio and publishing assets.
