The streaming wars, and the subsequent rise of AVOD services, have prompted many Free TV service owners to transition from a strictly linear model to one that now embraces the digital landscape. Show Tracker reveals that scripted TV content acquired by Free TV service owners have steadily been released as digital only titles over the past few years, with almost two-thirds of first window acquisitions by Free TV companies in the past two years going digital first.
This shift in focus changes the expectations of rights from traditional free TV buyers, who are now more inclined than ever to request enhanced VOD rights. These rights are sought either for exclusive placement on their digital AVOD or SVOD platforms, or to ensure that their linear acquisitions also have a strong digital presence.
In 2019, a quarter of first window acquisitions by Free TV services offered catch-up periods of 30 days or less, and some had no digital presence at all. Since then, this figure has shrunk to 5%, with most titles now released as box sets on digital platforms, with or without a linear transmission. For some of these companies, acquisitions are increasingly debuting in digital only spaces.
In Canada, CBC is focussing its linear presence on Canadian content, with acquisitions from UK suppliers instead appearing on its AVOD CBC Gem, with some experimentation in the past with content exclusive to its SVOD tier, CBC Gem Premium. In the UK, ITV has switched from airing acquisitions exclusively on broadcast-first to its AVOD platform, ITVX, and in Australia, Nine Entertainment has slowly phased out more and more of its traditional acquisition homes like its channels Nine, or its AVOD service, 9Now, to place all acquisitions on its SVOD service, Stan.
Shifting towards digital-only content does not always mean abandoning the traditional linear model for Free TV. Strong rights borne out of negotiation allows Free TV to support both their channels and their digital services by providing a footprint to linear that amplifies their growing libraries of digital only acquisitions.
However, content that only appears on linear is no longer an option for many buyers, and understanding which services are pivoting away from linear releases entirely is becoming increasingly important. For distributors, boxset priorities from Free TV may force bigger demands for exclusivity while they hold on to first window rights and mean that Free TV buyers are more likely to wait for seasons to finish their first run before acquiring content.
.svg)
