Subscription video on demand (SVOD) is revolutionising the audiovisual industry, with important implications for the production, distribution and consumption of both original and pre-existing works. In this fast-growing market, many local or regional platforms are competing with a few large multinationals to attract and retain the largest number of subscribers.
Some of the latter, such as Apple and Amazon, see the provision of audiovisual content as a call to their flagship products or services, while others have simply digitised their catalogues and made them available online. Netflix is a forerunner in this respect, with a natural and meteoric rise from home-video rental to the delivery of digital content on demand. Very quickly, and in order to acquire
a larger share of this promising market, SVOD platforms invested in the production of original content, while studios and TV and cable casters went after them, terminating distribution licences and monopolising access to their own catalogues. The commercial interest of some of them has also led some digital operators to make spectacular acquisitions, such as the purchase of the entire MGM catalogue by Netflix. In order to face up to increased competition, these operators no longer hesitate to pay dizzying sums to be able to broadcast major sporting events exclusively and live. The circle is complete and the distinction between platforms and broadcasters is now more theoretical than anything else.
Negotiating with SVOD operators for the content that these platforms produce is still a new, and sometimes daunting, experience for many FIA members. While rarely exploited elsewhere, the profitability of these productions is assessed differently – which can become even more complicated when these operators combine access by subscription, by advertising or by transaction.
In order to clarify the situation, and to provide its members with negotiating arguments enabling them to propose fair alternatives to flat-rate rights buyouts, also taking advantage of the precise usage data held by SVOD platforms, FIA has identified a number of collective agreements offering additional payment formulas. These models are clearly put into perspective and illustrated by concrete examples, the aim being not so much to elect which to deem the best but rather to offer a multitude of resources to help our members design formulas adapted to their reality. This directory, available in several languages, is made available to FIA members only and the federation will update it regularly to include new models that may also serve as examples.
The FIA SVOD Guide is available for download in PDF format, only for FIA memebers (please log-in to the member area via the top right tab), hereunder in English, French, Spanish and Polish:
