Schlesinger
HOLLYWOOD -- In a sure sign that the German TV market is starting to percolate again, Herbert Kloiber's Tele Munchen will plunk down as much as $220 million over two years for upcoming Warner Bros. movies as well as TV series, animation and library product.
Deal encompasses the Hollywood studio's feature film slates for 2004 and 2005, which include high-profile projects like "Troy," "Cat Woman," "Batman," "Scooby-Doo 2," "Ocean's Twelve" and "The Polar Express."
Package also includes several of the studio's ongoing movie franchises like "Harry Potter" 2 and 3 as well as New Line's second and third installments of "Lord of the Rings."
"I wouldn't say that we're returning to the irrational exuberance of the late '90s," said Warner Bros. Intl. TV prexy Jeffrey Schlesinger, referring to the period when prices for Hollywood product went through the roof abroad.
"But," he added, "the deal with Kloiber is indicative of renewed competition in the German market -- and the fact that we have one of the best packages we've had in years."
Deal comes as the media industry in Germany puts the Kirch Media and Neuer Markt debacles behind it, and the Teutonic TV advertising market shows new signs of a pulse.
Lotsa series, too
Kloiber has also contracted to take upcoming series produced by Warners for network primetime (seasons 2004-05 and 2005-06), including the "Friends" spinoff "Joey" and the latest John Wells drama, "Dark Shadows."
Warners is currently the prime supplier to the six U.S. networks and typically fields 30 potential pilots each May at the upfronts, with between 10 and 15 newcomers likely making it onto the skeds.
Deal came to light Tuesday at the Mip TV trade show in Cannes, though rumors that Warners was shopping its latest content to the two or three potential station program buyers in Germany surfaced weeks ago in Los Angeles. (In recent years, Warners has put together smaller packages for all the key broadcast players in that territory.)
The final pricetag Kloiber pays depends on certain guaranteed film grosses and on agreed performance criteria for the TV series.
Some of the Warner product could be earmarked for RTL 2, a commercial station in which Kloiber holds a 30% stake, while other product could serve to boost the profile of his wholly owned Tele Funf station, which up until now has been an also-ran.
But Kloiber is also a middleman and can sublicense to whatever Teutonic stations want to step up for whatever product. That likely means powerhouse commercial station RTL 1 or its rival ProSiebenSat1 or, for some product, pubcasters ARD or ZDF.
If one assumes 25 movies a year from Warners, just five a year from New Line and no other product in the deal, that would mean that WBIT would top out at $3.5 million a title on average, a substantial increase on the prices for movies being paid in that territory of late. Adding in the TV series and the library material brings that average down naturally to roughly between $2 million and $2.5 million a title, still a hefty sum for the Hollywood supplier.
The studio has been on a good run of late, coming in second behind Disney at the international box office in 2003, and scoring big-time with its franchises "Rings," "Potter" and "Matrix."
"If the studio can do something similar this year and next with 'Cat Woman,' 'Batman' and the like, then Kloiber may end up looking pretty savvy," said one international TV veteran on the Croisette.
More dealmaking
Meanwhile, in another deal unveiled at Mip, WBIT inked its first-ever volume deal with a Chinese broadcaster, CCTV-6.
Deal was negotiated by Ted Lai, who is director of Strategic Development & Sales for the Warner Bros. intl. TV unit, and by Jia Qi, who is VP for China Movie Channel, as CCTV-6 is known.
Agreement calls for the movie channle to license TV rights to a slate of current and library feature films as well as telepics.
Said Schlesinger: "We obviously hope that this is the next step in a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship with China Movie Channel."
Qi added: "During the past few years, China Movie Channel has developed a steady business relationship with Warner Bros., and we will continue importing more good films from them into China."
It is the only nationally distributed movie channel in China and boasts 700 million viewers.
The money that changed hands in this deal is a pittance compared to the German deal, but all of the Hollywood studios are laying groundwork for a future when Chinese demand for western product, and prices paid for it, presumably will rise dramatically.
Contact Ed Meza at
ed.meza@mannaa.de