{"id":29306,"date":"2025-07-08T09:17:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T08:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/?p=29306"},"modified":"2025-07-08T09:17:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T08:17:40","slug":"streaming-first-or-pay-tv-forever-the-global-battle-for-film-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/2025\/07\/08\/streaming-first-oder-pay-tv-fuer-immer-der-globale-kampf-um-filmrechte\/","title":{"rendered":"Streaming first or pay TV forever? The global battle for film rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The film industry is changing: major studios are increasingly bundling their distribution channels, which makes the so-called \"pay-1\" window, i.e. the first phase after the cinema release in which films are offered exclusively on streaming platforms or pay TV, a highly competitive and complex terrain. This involves a delicate balance between exclusivity, reach and financial returns - and that comes at a cost.<\/p>

While revenue from cinemas is falling and digital sales are shrinking due to early streaming on proprietary platforms, the pay-1 window is gaining in importance. However, the clear structure that existed in the past no longer exists today.<\/p>

The end of exclusivity at Pay-1<\/strong><\/p>

The pay-1 window used to be a simple business: one platform got an exclusive on a film, paid a fixed licence fee for it - everyone was happy. Today, the reality is different.<\/p>

Universal is a good example: In the USA, most films end up on its own streaming platform Peacock after the cinema, while in Europe Universal uses Sky and SkyShowtime for countries such as the UK, Italy and Germany. In regions without their own streaming platform, Universal relies on licence agreements with third-party providers such as Amazon Prime - for example in Canada, Japan and Brazil. And although Universal is represented in Latin America with Universal+, Warner Bros. Discovery holds the pay-1 exclusivity there with Max.<\/p>

Other countries are showing a colourful mix: in France, Canal+ has secured the Pay 1 rights, in South Africa Universal is working with Showmax, and in Australia there is even a joint Pay 1 agreement with Foxtel and Netflix.<\/p>

This complex network reflects the local market situation. Where Universal does not have a strong platform of its own, the content is sold. Where they are strong, they rely on control. As a result, traditional pay-TV providers are increasingly being squeezed out.<\/p>

Netflix's dual strategy: in-house productions and licence sales<\/strong><\/p>

Netflix relies heavily on its own films - in 2024 there were 47 original English-language films. Nevertheless, Netflix uses pay-1 licences to expand its offering, as some of its own productions do not bring the success it had hoped for.<\/p>

In Australia, Netflix shares the Pay 1 rights for Universal films with Foxtel. In South Korea, Netflix is the largest licence holder ahead of the local provider OCN. In Canada, Netflix is aggressively buying Pay 1 and even Pay 2 rights, as vertical integration is made more difficult there by local streamers.<\/p>

Although Netflix has reduced its Pay 1 licence purchases for series, the streaming giant is still keeping up with films and is even trying to gain a foothold in markets where other studios are leaving gaps. This presents opportunities for independent producers, especially where large platforms are reaching their limits.<\/p>

Timing as a success factor<\/strong><\/p>

The time between cinema release and availability on streaming or pay TV is becoming increasingly important and is being specifically controlled. In the past, it was usually three months, but today it varies greatly from film to film.<\/p>

Disney usually delivers its films to Disney+ 90 days after theatrical release; blockbuster-type films can remain exclusively in cinemas for longer. Lionsgate often delays streaming windows by four months in order to earn more from digital sales. Sony takes a more traditional approach and releases films on Netflix around five months after their cinema release.<\/p>

Universal is unpredictable here: some films end up on Peacock after just three months, others like \"Oppenheimer\" only after almost seven months. Paramount also uses a mixture of fast and long windows.<\/p>

For licence negotiators, timing is a balancing act: releasing too early can reduce revenue, releasing too late often means losing momentum.<\/p>

Great Britain as an experimental laboratory<\/strong><\/p>

The UK in particular is showing how much the rules are shifting. While pay TV used to be the clear leader, streaming services such as Disney+, Paramount+ and Peacock have now become important players. Sky has lost much of its power as a pay-TV provider, with less than 50 % pay-1 films now being shown on Sky, down from 80 % in the past.<\/p>

Amazon is involved in both pay-1 and later windows. Netflix is losing pay-1 rights, but is fighting for pay-2 and pay-3. Free TV channels are picking up films earlier than before - in some cases shortly after the streaming launch.<\/p>

This development makes the later windows increasingly important - for sales, branding and franchise promotion.<\/p>

Conclusion: The pay-1 window as the key to success<\/strong><\/p>

The pay-1 window is no longer a fixed parameter, but a strategic instrument that studios and platforms use individually. Whether to strengthen their own services, for long-term value creation or to generate quick revenues: The middle section of film distribution plays a decisive role.<\/p>

Universal, Netflix and Disney show how different the strategies can be and how important it is to understand the local markets precisely. Those who remain flexible here, recognise trends in pay-2 and pay-3 and exploit gaps in the market have advantages.<\/p>

While exclusivity is no longer guaranteed, Pay-1 remains an important lever in the complex licence game - for smart licensees who know where to look.<\/p>

FILMTAKE<\/a> reports in detail.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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\u00a0 Image generated with AI, chat GPT<\/strong><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Die Filmbranche befindet sich im Wandel: Gro\u00dfe Studios b\u00fcndeln immer mehr ihre Vertriebskan\u00e4le, was vor allem das sogenannte \u201ePay-1\u201c-Fenster, also die erste Phase nach dem Kinostart, in der Filme exklusiv…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":29313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-minimal.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[51,53,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-filmwirtschaft","category-news","category-wirtschaft"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29306"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29312,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29306\/revisions\/29312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}