WBD, SkyShowtime Pact With Spain’s Movistar Plus+ Which Secures ‘Barbie’, Max, ‘Yellowstone’
In two new landmark, multi-year deals for Spain’s top pay TV operator, Movistar Plus+ has inked partnership carriage deals with Warner Bros. Discovery and SkyShowtime. Both agreements were announced Friday.
Extending its partnership, the WBD deal takes in current linear networks on Movistar Plus+ – Warner TV, TCM, Discovery Channel, Eurosport and CNN – plus premier Warner Bros. entertainment from Jan. 1 such as “Barbie,” “Meg 2,” “The Nun 2,” “Friends, “The Big “Bang Theory,” “Mrs Davis” and “The Winchester,” plus Max, scheduled to launch in Spain in Spring 2024.
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SkyShowtime launched in February 2023 in Spain. The Movistar Plus+ pact marks SkyShowtime’s first deal with a Spanish operator.
No financial details have been given of either deal.
Crucially, in a move from aggregation to integration mirroring Apple TV+’s deal with France’s Canal Plus Group, both Max and SkyShowtime will form a seamless part of Movistar Plus+’s main navigation system and on-demand service, without any need for clients to click on dedicated apps, though SkyShowtime has one.
“Yellowstone” and “Poker Face” are now displayed prominently at the top of Movistar Plus+ user interface branded as SkyShowtime and Movistar Plus+ titles, and can be found by the service’s search engine. To find “Lupin,” however, clients have to click on Movistar Plus+’s Netflix app.
In bundling terms, Max and SkyShowtime will both form part of the Ficción Total package offered by Movistar Plus.
The deals mark milestones in Movistar’s Plus+’s strategic build in home entertainment in Spain. To date, Spain’s underperforming Vodafone, now sold to investment company Zegona, has held down an exclusive distribution agreement in Spain with HBO Max
The SkyShowtime offer includes hit movies and original series from Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount+, Showtime, Sky Studios and Peacock, as well as SkyShowtime original series.
That takes in not only “Yellowstone” but “1923,” “Tulsa King,” “Special Ops: Lioness,” “Halo,” “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and the “Frasier” reboot.
SkyShowtime’s first deal with a Spanish operator, the Movistar Plus+ pact includes a new dedicated SkyShowtime linear channel featuring its new releases, films, and series.
Spanish-language content includes “Fleeting Lies,” produced by Esther García, Agustín and Pedro Almodóvar, “Bosé” and “The Envoys” and will swell after the appointment of ex-Netflix exec Juan Mayne as regional content director, Iberia.
“This alliance is very special for our platform because it completes a content offering that we consider unbeatable and highly attractive to our clients,” Cristina Burzako, Movistar Plus+ CEO, said of the hugely expanded WBD deal.
“Spain represents one of the key territories for Warner Bros. Discovery and the partnership with an operator like Movistar is a crucial factor for the continued solid and steady growth of our streaming business internationally,” added Alessandro Araimo, managing irector, Warner Bros. Discovery, Southern Europe.
Burzako, talking of the agreement with SkyShowtime, commented: “On one hand, we welcome an international platform with high value and quality content, with a large number of attractive titles for our clients, which will be added to our integrated offer.
She added: “On the other, we will be able to incorporate the new contents in a more accessible and intuitive way for our customers,”
“This is a momentous deal for both Movistar Plus+ and SkyShowtime and we are proud to be bringing our amazing entertainment to even more subscribers in Spain,” stated Monty Sarhan, CEO of SkyShowtime. “Our agreement demonstrates the importance and strength of partnerships and how we can work together to drive value for our respective businesses.”
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