Sales Trends: Quality Content in Demand for Buyers

As the ACTF sales team head to MIPCOM in October amid an ever changing marketplace, it’s clear that as the industry adapts to new ways of doing business, quality content continues to hold its popularity with program buyers across traditional broadcasters and new VOD platforms, as reflected in recent ACTF sales.

Canadian based SVOD platform Kidoodle.TV licensed for the world the non-exclusive rights to pre-school animated series Balloon Barnyard (26 x 7 min), animated series for 4 to 6 years Little J & Big Cuz (13 x 12 min), as well as live-action comedy favourite Mortified (26 x 24 min). US based FVOD/SVOD platform Toon Googles licensed for the world the non-exclusive rights to a swag of content with everything from short-form animation such as Horace in Slow Motion (30 x 1 min) to multiple series of factual/adventure content such as Bushwhacked! (39 x 24 min) and WAC: World Animal Championships (52 x 24 min), as well as tween/teen live action drama Ready For This (13 x 24 min). Canadian based media company Unlimited Gamez Inc. licensed the non-exclusive SVOD rights for their Air G platform in Australia for Indigenous pre-school program Waabiny Time (21 x 26 min) as well as live-action comedy/drama series Double Trouble (13 x 24 min) featuring a largely Indigenous Australian cast. In Brazil, digital distributor Aggregator Media Corp. picked up the non-exclusive TVOD/DTO/EST rights for Balloon Barnyard (26 x 7 min), while at the same time licensing the non-exclusive rights to make the series available on Amazon in Brazil only.

And while these “new” deals were being done, so were many “traditional” deals…

National Geographic licensed the exclusive Pay TV rights for WAC: World Animal Championships (52 x 24 min) for their channel in the Middle East and North Africa, while RTE (Ireland) licensed the exclusive Free TV rights to Series 2 and 3 of sketch comedy program You’re Skitting Me (13 x 24 min + 26 x 12 min). The exclusive Free TV rights for Hardball (13 x 24 min) was licensed by NRK (Norway), TVO (Canada) and RTV (Slovenia), while TG4 (Ireland) relicensed the exclusive Free TV rights to the Irish language version of WAC: World Animal Championships (52 x 24 min). Balloon Barnyard (26 x 7 min) was picked up by Pay TV operator True Visions (Thailand) who licensed the exclusive rights for their territory, while ETB (Spain) licensed the exclusive Free TV, SVOD & FVOD rights to Balloon Barnyard in the Basque language.

Meanwhile, sub-distribution deals were concluded with B-Company in Vietnam for the Little Lunch series (26 x 12 min) as well as the Little Lunch specials (2 x 24 min), and Middle East Media in Jordan picked up the Middle East distribution rights to Hardball (13 x 24 min) and all three series of Bushwhacked! (39 x 24 min). CTC Media in the USA licensed a multitude of back-catalogue shows including The Girl From Tomorrow (Series 1 & 2), Spellbinder (Series 1 & 2), and The Genie From Down Under (Series 1 & 2) for distribution in the U.S. and the world.

The Genie From Down Under

Yes, the way we do business is changing, the technology is changing, the rights are changing and the windows are complex, but right now it’s evident that we’re living and doing deals in two worlds, the new and the traditional – two worlds that may eventually morph into one?!