U.S. SVOD Operators Gaining Ground in Europe as Public Broadcasting Funding Declines

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThere’s a new contender in the arena.As Discovery begins its new era of operating Warner Bros., HBO and Turner, all eyes are on how the new company will navigate the media sector’s streaming wars with thousands of hours of content from popular TV brands like TLC, TBS, TNT, CNN and HBO. Behind that effort, however, could look a new sports giant that is poised to add another deep-pocketed player vying for major league negotiations that it previously ignored.Warner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” isn’t bewitching audiences, at least, compared to other films set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.The latest chapter in the prequel saga, which takes place decades prior to the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione, opened at the international box office over the weekend and pulled in $58 million from 22 overseas markets. That’s a steep drop from 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the previous entry in the fantastical series, which collected a spell-bounding $191 million in its international debut.“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” opens in North America next weekend.

ITV, Comcast, Discovery and Paramount have been tipped as potential Channel 4 buyers, along with outside bets such as European giant Vivendi, as the UK government’s two-year-long process to privatize and sell the broadcaster begins.

book Kitchen Confidential, he was working as Brasserie Les Halles’ executive chef — where he’d been since 1998.Now that space — closed since 2016 – has reopened as La Brasserie. Francis Staub, who operates a cast iron cookware company under his own name, signed a 15-year lease for the 173-seat restaurant. The eatery closed in 2016 and Bourdain, who tragically committed suicide in 2018, had been long gone from behind the stove.

Emiliano De Pablos Beta Film’s high-concept spy thriller cycle “Agent Hamilton – New Missions” has scored a series of territory deals, including the U.S. and Northern Europe.The stand-alone reboot of the “Agent Hamilton” series has been sold to MHz for the U.S., TV2 in Norway, DR for Denmark, NPO for Netherlands and Syn for Island.Based on the iconic novels and characters by best-selling author Jan Guillou, as was its predecessor “Agent Hamilton,” “New Missions” is produced by Dramacorp Pampas Studios in co-production with TV4/C-More, Beta Film and ZDF.In further deals on its 2022 MipTV slate, the Munich-based international distributor has sold to France Télévision and Israel’s Hot Network the Norwegian YA series “Rod Knock,” a Fenomen and Storyline Studios production for NRK, which is back for Season 3, and was honored with seven Gullruten awards in 2021.

Naman Ramachandran Veteran businessman Ian Cheshire has been appointed the next chair of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, media regulator Ofcom revealed on Sunday. Cheshire will join the broadcaster’s board on Apr.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentWith U.S. streamers still driving local market growth, TV producers in continental Europe are juggling between the Hollywood studio business model — under which Netflix and the likes get all rights in return for full-financing plus a fee — and the pre-existing European model based on co-productions that leave indie producers with backend and give them more creative control.But that is starting to change.Thanks to the E.U.’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS) — currently in various stages of implementation across Europe — there are early indications that giant platforms are slowly becoming more open to flexibly structured deals.

Last week saw former Love Island star and social media influencer Molly-Mae Hague jetting off to Paris for a short working break.The 22-year-old invited fans along with her via a series of updates on her social media channels, particularly Instagram, upon which she regularly uploaded jaw-dropping snaps from around the French capital. A handful of fans have noticed however, that Molly Mae has been Photoshopping a number of these photos. A clip uploaded to video sharing app TikTok yesterday captioned, "The skills tho [laughing emoji", showed the Pretty Little Thing Creative Director preparing to pose before some popular Parisian landmarks, surrounded by civilians watching her in the background.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorSaint Laurent has entered the Oscar party race.The legendary French fashion house held its first pre-Oscar soiree on Friday night. Hosted by Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello, the evening began with a VIP dinner for about 50 people at the Harvey house, a John Lautner-designed architectural gem in Los Feliz owned by Mitch Glazer and Kelly Lynch. A late-night reception for about 150 included a performance from indie band Wet Leg and waiters who passed around steak tar tar on potato chips and tomato crostini.

BTS, Adele and Taylor Swift contributing to a £19.5billion increase.According to industry trading body International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in a new report published Tuesday (March 22), revenues for global recorded music grew by 18.5 per cent in 2021, totalling £19.63billion (US$25.9billion), largely driven by increases in paid subscription streaming.The report stipulates there were 523million users of paid subscription accounts at the end of 2021 – up from 443million in 2020 – generating an increase of 21.9 per cent, or £9.32billion (US$12.3billion).Streaming in 2021 accounted for 65 per cent of total revenues, while downloads equated to four per cent, 19 per cent made up by CDs, vinyl and cassettes.According to IFPI, this means the industry is in its seventh consecutive year of growth, IFPI chief executive Frances Moore told the BBC: “We lived through that dire period after 1999 where the industry declined by 40 per cent.Recorded music revenues grew in every region in 2021. Asia grew by 16.1 per cent, with South Korean superstars BTS the biggest-selling act for the second consecutive year.After being named 2020’s second-biggest seller, Taylor Swift achieved the same position in 2021, with Adele, having released her fourth studio album, ’30’, in November, sold 4.7million copies, making it the most popular album overall.Similar results were seen in Europe – the world’s second-largest music region – with a growth of 15.4 per cent up from 3.2 per cent.

French hip-hop series Le Monde de Demain has scooped the Grand Prize at the Series Mania International Competition.

Ryan Fischer, employed to walk Lady Gaga’s dogs, became the focus of international headlines when he was shot in the chest by assailants who abducted the singer’s beloved French bulldogs.

Manori Ravindran International EditorAmazon Prime Video is continuing its mission of commissioning “local for local” shows as its European operation becomes more entrenched.Georgia Brown, head of Amazon Studios for Europe, told a packed Series Mania session in Lille on Thursday that her regional staff across the continent aren’t looking for international ideas, but rather location-specific conceits.“If we’re commissioning a big show in Spain, I need it to be a hit in Spain,” said Brown. “Lots of people come to us saying, ‘We have a great international show,’ and that doesn’t really work for us.

Amazon Studios Europe Boss Georgia Brown has revealed how the streamer “completely turned storymaking on its head” for upcoming hybrid grime/drill musical Jungle. 

WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia President Priya Dogra has talked up the U.S. media giant’s plan to “ramp up investment in local creative communities across Europe,” with 40 shows in the pipeline for 2023.

Manori Ravindran International EditorParamount is the latest studio to plant its flag in the ground at French TV drama festival Series Mania, where international CEO Raffaele Annecchino broke down the company’s international distribution and SVOD strategy.In a keynote moderated by Variety’s Italy and West Asia correspondent Nick Vivarelli, Annecchino detailed plans to focus internationally on premium SVOD service Paramount Plus and FAST offering Pluto TV, which has more than 64 million monthly users. Also in the mix to “compete with our ecosystem,” according to Annecchino, is Paramount’s JV with Comcast, SkyShowtime, which is launching in 20 European markets where Paramount Plus won’t be available.By the end of 2022, both Paramount Plus and SkyShowtime will be in more than 60 markets in Europe.