Wall St Speaks Out: Sports Rights, Paramount, CinemaCon, TAM, FOXA -- RBC Capital Markets

The NCAA announced yesterday that it had extended its deal with CBS and Turner for the men's basketball tournament for 8 additional years. Recall, the initial agreement was set to expire in 2024, but a contractual "look-in" period within it allowed all parties to examine terms of the deal at certain times. For $8.8 billion through 2032, CBS and Turner maintain multimedia rights and will continue to alternate the Final Four and National Championship each year. CBS and Turner are able to air the games across any platform, including those that may be created over the life of the agreement. Turner President David Levy was cited in the press as saying the deal would be profitable for all parties, specifically due to the extension of content to all platforms, including direct to consumer. (Source: Sports Illustrated)

Much ado about Paramount

The NY Post reports that VIAB has yet to send out a sales book or hold meetings with suitors regarding its announced intent to sell a minority stake in Paramount, which management has previously said they’ve received three dozen expressions of interest for and as of last month had expected to have an agreement in place by the end of the June quarter. Viacom is reportedly offering up to a 20% interest in the film studio, with the article indicating that a larger stake would come with sizeable tax leakage. The article also contradicts yesterday's WSJ article about Redstone's view of the sale, with the NYP indicating that he does not oppose it. (Source: NY Post, WJS)

Celebrating the movie-going experience

MPAA Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd highlighted growth in the global film industry yesterday at CinemaCon, in State of the Industry at the annual National Association of Theatre Owners (the other 'NATO') convention in Las Vegas. Notable results included record global box office receipts having grown 5% Y/Y to $38.3 billion in 2015, with the U.S. and Canada growing 8% to $11.1 billion. Receipts in Asia Pacific grew 13%, driven by 49% growth in China (which totaled $6.8 billion). We would note that while box office receipts hit record levels, the numbers of frequent movie-goers declined by 10%, marking the fourth consecutive year of declines for ages 18-24. These results and more can be found in MPAA’s Theatrical Market Statistics Report for 2015. (Source: MPAA, Variety)

Total Audience Measurement becoming (more) connected

Facebook announced during its April 12 F8 developer conference that Nielsen will now offer ratings on Facebook's Instant Articles via its Digital Content Ratings, part of Nielsen's Total Audience Measurement (TAM) framework that, per Nielsen, provides daily measurement of audiences across all digital content types and platforms with metrics fully comparable to television. The ratings will track users on desktop, mobile, and tablet platforms, and in the future is slated to be available to measure audio content, audience viewing on game consoles, and over-the-top devices. (Source: Nielsen)

It's JESS!

We are pleased to report the 6th season renewal of the FOX single-camera comedy New Girl. The comedy remains a tentpole of Fox's Tuesday comedy block. With American Idol now in the past, Fox will have to fill roughly 40 hours of primetime programming next season. The network has increased the number of pilots this season and has also renewed Lucifer, Rosewood, Empire, Scream Queens, Gothamand Bones. (Source: Variety)

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