The Licensing Letter

Sony Partners With Canada’s Crave, Paramount+ Expands in Europe

By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
There were two major offensives in the global streaming wars, as both Sony Pictures and Paramount+ moved to secure international audiences.
Sony Pictures and Canadian streamer Crave announced a long-term and exclusive Pay-One window licensing agreement for theatrical feature films.
The deal gives Crave first pay window rights to new and upcoming Sony Pictures titles following their theatrical and home entertainment windows, significantly strengthening Crave’s offering and bolstering its position as the Canadian home of theatrical content.
“This significant deal expands Crave’s content offering,” said Karine Moses, Senior Vice President, Content Development and News and Vice Chair, Québec. “A diverse slate of premium content is what differentiates Crave from its competitors, and we are happy to be working with Sony Pictures Entertainment to deliver a large collection of quality, award-winning, fan-favorite films to our subscribers, in both official languages.”
Crave is Canada’s primary streaming service, primarily competing with the country’s public broadcaster CBC, which runs the Gem service that is mainly focused on airing Canadian content. Gem has both a free and paid service, the latter coming on stream just recently.
Crave, on the other hand, carries a mix of Canadian and international content, as it also has access to networks owned by parent company Bell Media, the entertainment subsidiary of a Canadian-based telecom.
Crave already carries content from HBO, HBO Max Originals, SHOWTIME, STARZ, Hollywood-hit movies, and boasts a robust slate of English and French original series.
Beginning in April 2023, Crave becomes the exclusive Canadian streaming home of all new SPE feature films.
“We are happy to extend our relationship with Bell Media and make Sony Pictures’ robust library of premium content available to more viewers across Canada,” said Stephanie Shinkoda, Vice President, Distribution and Co-Country Manager, Sony Pictures Television and Home Entertainment Canada.
The deal will see Crave customers getting exclusive access to Sony Pictures content after their theatrical and home entertainment window, including upcoming titles from the Sony Pictures universe of Marvel characters, such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Kraven the Hunter, and Madame Web.
Along with new installments in the Insidious and The Equalizer franchises, other highly anticipated filmmaker-driven original films include No Hard Feelings, Gran Turismo, and many more. Additionally, SPE library content has started rolling out on Crave with a selection of films from the Spider-Man library including Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) which are now available for streaming; followed by Jumanji (1995) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) later this month.
Additional library films will be confirmed at a later date.
As part of the deal, Bell Media commits to spotlighting this sought-after content through elevated promotional campaigns, including in-product merchandising and experiential marketing initiatives.

Paramount+ Entering the GAS Market

Across the pond in Europe, Paramount+, the global streaming service from parent company Paramount has launched in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, following the launch of the service in France on Dec. 1. The launch is part of a broader global expansing, with the service now live in 45 markets.

The streaming service provides Paramount+ originals, TV shows and movies across every genre from Paramount’s various studios, including CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Showtime and the Smithsonian Channel.

But Paramount+ is not just bringing its North American content offerings to the German-speaking market in Germany. The service says it will also have local content streaming on the service in those countries, including German originals like “Der Scheich (The Sheik),” “Spotlight,” “Simon Beckett’s Chemistry of Death” and “Kohlrabenschwarz.”

“There is no doubt 2022 has been the year of global expansion for Paramount+,” says Marco Nobili, executive vice president, international general management, Paramount+. “With the latest launch in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and France last week, we are now streaming in key markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and soon in India.

“With our unbeatable content offering to entertain the entire family, deployed across such a vast footprint, we are well-positioned to continue our momentum in 2023.”