Following the news of Paramount’s new “SpongeBob SquarePants” film ditching theatrical and going the premium video on demand (PVOD) and later CBS All Access route domestically (and direct-to-Netflix overseas), ViacomCBS global distribution president Dan Cohen has revealed that the company is likely to do more deals like this in the future.
Speaking Thursday at an online conference hosted by the Digital Entertainment Group (via Deadline), Cohen says he finds PVOD: “a really intriguing model. It’s obviously getting a lot of attention right now with theaters being closed. I think I have rented every movie Universal has put out in PVOD, plus a few independent films. There’s something to it.”
He says price is still a factor to be worked out as the current $20 for 48 hours rental price: “may be a little high for some consumers, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.” What is needed now is a more widely shared set of performance metrics around PVOD titles to serve as a benchmark, much like box office numbers have for decades which impacts licensing prices of content.
Such metrics will be needed as not just by film studios but subscription streaming outlets and premium cable networks who are “looking at PVOD as a potential replacement for theatrical”. He goes on:
“PVOD is a different equation but it does generate transactions and it does generate revenue. Discussions are starting to happen where if a studio chooses to do PVOD instead of theatrical, or in addition to theatrical, that revenue could be counted on some basis. That will help drive adoption as well.
When you have Comcast owning NBCU and owning Sky and AT&T owning Warner Bros. and DirecTV, there is some natural momentum toward figuring out how to get content into the home more quickly. So I think you’ll see a lot more of this behavior going forward.”
One thing that has exploded recently is ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) which, even three years ago, wasn’t as major as it is now and because of that Paramount is willing to put out its best performing library titles like “Top Gun” and “The Godfather” onto AVOD services like Pluto TV, Tubi and the basic tiers of Hulu and the just launched Peacock. ViacomCBS did a wide-ranging licensing deal with the latter just before its nationwide launch this week.
For now, the company’s longtime strategy is to continue licensing to third parties even as they’ve built their own niche SVOD services like CBS All Access and Showtime. A good example case is “The Affair” and “Ray Donovan” with both series remaining a part of the Showtime ecosystem but are also on Peacock. Cohen says: “That’s a model we’re comfortable with. … You’ll see more of that going forward.”
