Sister chief executive Jane Featherstone has predicted that the TV distribution model will be “reignited in a serious way” as streamers and broadcasters rein in their budgets.
Speaking at Mip TV, Featherstone acknowledged the current financially-challenged market and predicted that changing distribution models will help indies make projects work.
“Necessity is the mother of invention,” she said. “I believe there’ll be far more space for traditional distribution but in a modern, digital way. The period of ‘exclusivity in perpetuity’ is probably numbered.”
The former Kudos chief executive observed that streamers are increasingly open to sharing rights now that the brands are established in the market, making original project exclusivity less vital.
“Now brands are clearer, they need to share more to make sums add up, and we’re already seeing that happen with FAST channels buying rights to various projects. There’s far more opportunity to collaborate with different windowing and premiering models.”
When asked, Featherstone did not rule out a potential move into distribution for Sister, which has produced dramas for Amazon Prime (The Power), Sky/HBO (Chernobyl) and BBC/AMC (This Is Going To Hurt) since its launch in 2015.
“We are nimble and independent and we’ll see where it takes us, but I do think the distribution model will be reignited in a serious way,” she said.
A version of this story appeared in Screen’s sister site Broadcast.
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