- Movies and shows are licensed rather than sold directly
- Pay TV and video on demand are often licensed before streaming
- Rights are increasingly licensed to multiple platforms
If you are like me and love watching a good game the most new movies You’ve probably asked this question more than once about an exciting new version of a great home theater suite: When will it be released? Best Streaming Servicess – Which streamer will it be on? The answer is: it’s complicated.
In a simpler world, every movie would be on every streaming service. But of course, we live in a messier world, which is why we’ve written a separate guide covering the best upcoming movies Netflixarrive Disney+arrive maximumarrive high quality videosarrive paramount plus and arrive Apple TV+.
So how do certain movies end up on certain streamers, and who decides who gets what content when? let’s see.
Why can’t the movie sell?
When we talk about movie distribution, it’s important to clarify what it means. Movies are not sold directly; in most cases, the companies who pay them own them and want to keep them that way. What studios and their distributors do is sell licenses to show, sell, or stream movies in certain ways, in certain places, and during certain times.
When your local big box theater showed “Wicked,” it didn’t buy the movie; Theater chains have purchased licenses to show shows in certain areas for weeks or months. Likewise, when Prime Video, Max or Paramount Plus offers a movie as part of your membership, the streamer buys a license that gives it streaming rights – again, in certain territories, for a period of time.
In addition to licensing to different companies in different parts of the world, film licenses are also sold in several stages. Studio films are typically released first in theaters, made available digitally on a pay-per-view or purchase-to-own basis, and then made available on streaming.
The situation is slightly different with the TV show, as there is of course no theatrical release. But unless the show is produced in-house by the streamer, it will be licensed in much the same way as movies.
Window to the world
The film industry uses the term “release window” to describe the different stages of a film’s distribution activity. So you have a theatrical release window, a pay-per-view window, a first-to-streaming release window, and so on.
The first release window was the initial theatrical release. It used to be a long time, usually three to six months or more, and then COVID came along. With theaters closed, studios have either drastically reduced theatrical release times or given up entirely in favor of pay-per-view and streaming deals. Thankfully, while coronavirus shutdowns are a thing of the past, shorter release times are still here to stay.
Theater licenses are traditionally exclusive: You generally can’t rent or buy a movie anywhere while it’s still in its first release. But the time between a movie being released and being available to rent, buy or stream is much shorter than it used to be.
everything is accelerating
according to independent wireThe average release time for all major studio movies in 2023 is just 37 days. There are outliers, e.g. Oppenheimerwhich only lasted 122 days in theaters. But that man was certainly unusual. from the same studio Excellent mario buddy movie More typically (and more profitable), it ended its theatrical run after 41 days.
Indiewire’s analysis shows that Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie averaged 60 days, while Disney movies averaged 62 days, A24 movies averaged 48 days, and Paramount movies averaged 42 days. sky. sony 35 days. Shortest dramatic window? Five Nights at Freddy’sit doesn’t: it’s available on Peacock from day one.
FNAF is the third highest-grossing horror film in film history, but its release is unlikely to be widely replicated. The consensus is that simultaneous releases are more likely to cannibalize box office revenue — especially in genres like horror movies that teenagers like to watch together in theaters — and miss out on the word-of-mouth that can turn a small success into a big one.
when the run ends
After the theatrical screening is over, it is time for the release window that is crucial for the anchor. This is known as the “pay one,” the period when movies move from theaters to home viewing.
During the Pay Single Window, screening rights for films are sold to two different markets: the PVOD/TVOD market (Paid/Transactional Video on Demand, aka Pay to Rent and Buy to Own) and the SVOD market, which is short for Streaming Video on Demand .
SVOD refers to streaming media such as Max, Prime, Netflix and Hulu; TVOD refers to rental and purchase, etc. apple TV (but not Apple TV+), google playthis Microsoft shop, Amazon (but not Included in Prime) and other digital storefronts.
It’s always clearest if we use a real example, so let’s take a look Barbie. Barbie’s The series will be released in July 2023 and will be exclusively released in theaters until September 2023. It will then be available as a paid rental and purchased digital version through the TVOD platform. Max subscribers will be able to watch the show starting in December 2023.
When the “pay once” window expires, it’s time to sell more licenses. The next release window is called the “Pay Two Window,” when older movies are licensed, often to other streaming services, rather than during the “Pay One” period. For example, Sony has a Pay One agreement with Netflix, but a Pay Two agreement with all Disney platforms.
Of the two windows, the pay-for-one window is more popular: pent-up demand for big-name movies drives sales of new streaming subscriptions in a way that older movies can’t. But it’s often cheaper to pay for two Windows licenses, meaning they allow streamers to expand their catalogs relatively cheaply.
Relationship status: Very complicated
Traditionally, Pay One Window offers last for up to 18 months and are exclusive – so if a movie is going to be available to stream on Peacock, it won’t be available to stream on Amazon Prime for at least more than a year. But the modern film market is more chaotic, and type According to reports, most studios now license to multiple streamers simultaneously or slightly staggered.
As if that wasn’t complicated enough, some movie studios also own anchors, and some anchors also produce movies. For example, Apple TV+ and Netflix produce movies that are released in theaters first but are made with streaming in mind; The Walt Disney Company owns Disney Studios and Disney+ streaming, so Disney movies will move to Disney+. But Disney also owns 20th Century Fox and Searchlight, and these movies will eventually appear not only on Disney+ or Disney-owned Hulu, but also on Disney-owned Hulu. They are also typically licensed to HBO and Max.
Variety describes it this way. “Netflix gets major studio fare from Sony Pictures and other big-name titles from Sony Pictures Classics, while Prime Video offers a rotating selection of Universal and Paramount films, as well as Amazon’s MGM titles. Post-streaming content on MGM+.
As we said, it’s complicated—and it’s only going to get more complicated.