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October 2004, Week 5

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Subject:
From:
Darryl Wiggers <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 29 Oct 2004 07:41:21 -0400
Content-Type:
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Who owns it - The movies/events (e.g. Sports events) are owned by the
suppliers, and service owned by the cable/satellite companies
Who profits - Both
Relationship with the cable companies - Suppliers own the product, cable
companies own the PPV, and they both want to profit. However it is the
discretion of the cable company as to what product is stocked on the
shelves. They don't want Rice Krispies if they know people would rather buy
Corn Flakes. Unless, of course, a company such as Time Warner owns the cable
company. They will favour Time Warner titles.

How profits distributed - Depends. Each deal is different and can change
year-to-year, movie-to-movie, depending on the terms of their agreement. The
cable companies and suppliers usually spend a great deal of time negotiating
a breakdown. Both sides obviously want to keep most of the profits so they
have to settle on a split they are both happy with. Then once the service is
made available, the number of views is tracked, the cable companies collect
the cash and (probably) once-a-month pass on the applicable share to the
suppliers. I'm only guessing about payment schedule.

How many countries - Depends if the service is available in a particular
region, and if the supplier has a right to distribute in that region. For
example Shaun of the Dead was distributed theatrically by various different
smaller distributors in each country (e.g. Focus Features/Rogue Pictures in
the U.S.) but they all have ties with NBC Universal. In Canada the
theatrical distributor was Odeon Films, which is handled by Alliance
Atlantis, but Alliance has had a partnership with NBC Universal for about 5
years to share certain titles, hence the connection there. That's why you
see different distributors for theatrical, video and tv. Just research the
distribution history of The Passion of the Christ and you'll see how it
changed through the various stages of its development and later success.

Anyway the cable companies don't cross borders. Their signals all stay
within their country's borders, and often within a particular region. Again,
a Canadian example, satellite services such as ExpressVu and StarChoice
reach the entire country, but the two main cable companies (Shaw and Rogers)
service one-half each of the country - Shaw services the western half,
Rogers the eastern.

The number of subscribers -- or reach -- a cable/satellite company has is a
factor in how much PPV money they can collect which is why the terms have to
be negotiated separately. There is no hard standard.

It's also worth noting that besides live events, movies have particular
"windows." Here's a link that provides a decent breakdown of how windows
work:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hollywood/business/windows.htm
l

You may also want to ask someone in your Business Administration department
who specializes in broadcasting at USC.

> From: ayana mcnair <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 17:02:24 -0700
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [SCREEN-L] Pay-Per-View
>
> Hello all, does anyone have any info on Pay-Per-View, in terms of who owns it,
> who profits
> from it, its relationship w/ cable companies, how profits are distributed, how
> many countries it
> reaches, etc.? Any sources of info would be exceedingly helpful and
> appreciated.
>
> Thanx,
>
> Ayana
>
>
>
>
>
> Ayana McNair
> Graduate Student, Irvine Fellow
> Cinema-Television Critical Studies
> University of Southern California
>
>
> We have to consciously study how to be tender with each other until it becomes
> a habit, because what was native has been stolen from us, the love of Black
> women for each other...
> -Audre Lorde
>
>
> Trying is the first step towards failure.
> -Homer J. Simpson
>
> ----
> Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
> University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu
>

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