Foxtel has claimed that Stan's deal with Showtime is far from the "most significant content licensing deal in recent Australian television history", and that the SVOD platform owned by rivals Nine and Fairfax has overpaid for what they will be getting.
Stan announced a few weeks ago that they had signed an agreement with CBS, the parent network of Showtime, for exclusive access to the US cable network's new shows in Australia. At that time, Stan labelled the deal as one of the most significant deals in recent history, but according to Foxtel (who part-owns the rival Presto SVOD service), the deal isn't that significant at all.
According to Foxtel's Director of Television Brian Walsh, Stan's deal isn't all its cracked up to be and may only bring just one new show to Stan in 2016, a show that according to Walsh has "bombed" already.
“There’s been a lot of propaganda in the Fairfax press about the significance of the deal. To suggest it’s the most important deal in recent Australian television history is laughable, I think,” Walsh told TV Tonight.
"In the US last year there were 409 Dramas made. Of those 409, 4 were on Showtime –so there are 405 others that are available to acquire. All Stan will get from the deal this year is Billions, which has bombed. It debuted to a modest 341,000 in the US and then fell 65% from its lead-in which was Shameless. It’s averaging 324,000 people in 18-49. So it’s not the huge hit Stan was expecting and they won’t be getting any new product until 2017 with Twin Peaks."
Walsh also claimed that Stan may have overpaid for the Showtime deal.
“Stan needs content and if they were prepared to pay the sort of money Showtime demanded then good luck to them," says Walsh.
Foxtel currently still has first-air rights to a number of hit Showtime shows, including Ray Donovan, The Affair and Penny Dreadful, with Presto retaining the SVOD rights to these shows. But once Showtime's agreement with Foxtel and Presto expires, many of these series will be migrating to Stan.
