Streaming TV wars: Under pressure, Disney does deals with Seven and Nine

The studios may have underestimated the economics of direct-to-consumer. Fraser McLeish, a media analyst from MST Marquee, said that they are again looking at licensing some content to third parties.

The streaming market is very competitive. It makes sense to start monetising some of the less exclusive, more second tier content that Disney doesn't license.

The revenue from license fees in Australia increased by more than 180 million dollars in the year 2022.

Revenue from cinema distribution, subscriber fees, merchandise royalties, broadcast and media licensing and distribution are all referred to as "licence fees". License fee deals are its new deals.

Licensing fees for Disney increased from $369.8 million in 2016 to $554.3 million in 2020. New distribution and licensing revenue from major broadcasters would only account for a portion of that rise, given that Seven will pay $45 million in its first year for a much broader deal with NBCUniversal.

The arrangement included a catalogue of content, a new free-to-air channel, 7Bravo, as well as a potential partnership should NBCU launch a local version of its own Peacock subscription streaming platform.

Disney had more than a million subscribers within five months of launching in Australia. According to Telsyte, it has more than 3 million subscribers, which is behind only Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

Disney started taking key content in-house. The Simpsons, Family Guy and other shows were no longer available from the Foxtel Group.

The goal is to play both sides. Disney was pulling lots of content from other streaming services onto Disney+ as it was building its exclusive content base, according to an analyst.

This is a new theme in media. The traditional networks don't make money on their streaming services. The licensing business to TV has gotten smaller since the introduction of the streaming service.

The existence of recent content deals between Seven and Nine and Disney has been confirmed by multiple senior executives. The historic rights to several Disney films are held by Ten, which is owned by Paramount.

Seven, Nine and Disney didn't say anything.

Older content licensed to Seven and Nine isn't likely to drive as many Disney+ subscribers as newer films and TV shows. Seven and Nine have different shows, for example, Greek, The Catch, and Devious Maids.

They will know what the high value is. Homeland and M*A*S*H are shows that have been running for a long time.

He said that the market was very competitive. More than 12 others are included, including Apple TV+, Binge, Stan, and more. Stan is owned by Nine.

There is lots of big budget content on these platforms. There is a lot of scope for penetration to grow over time. Cost of living pressures are going to have an effect.