The UK market for studio movies has experienced a shift across all three licensing windows in recent years due to the rise of D2C platforms, fostering a highly competitive landscape for movie acquisitions. Movie Tracker breaks down these changes in the UK buyer’s market for titles from major US studios.

*As of October 2024
The most notable shift is the rise of Studio SVOD as a first-window (pay-one) destination, driven by the UK launches of Disney+ and Paramount+, which have displaced Pay TV (Sky) from its dominant position. Today, less than half of first-window premieres occur on Pay TV, down from nearly 80% in 2019. This change is powered by vertical integration, as Disney and Paramount increasingly prioritise their own streaming services. Sky, however, maintains a solid foothold by partnering with Paramount, ensuring many Paramount+ first windows also appear on Sky, alongside its own integrated content through Universal Pictures via Comcast. Consequently, despite the surge of Studio SVOD premieres, Pay TV has retained a measure of stability over the past three years.
Netflix, meanwhile, has ceded significant first-window ground to Amazon, shifting focus to its original productions. Amazon has absorbed some of Netflix’s second-window share as well.

*As of October 2024
Pay-Two or the second window in the UK was historically dominated by Netflix, with Studio SVOD holding almost 20% of second window premieres due to the vertical integration of studio movies that had previously been licensed to third-parties prior to the launch of their D2C SVOD services. Free TV has managed to make some gains in the second window over the last few years, acquiring content earlier than before. Since 2023 however other SVOD and AVOD services have taken some of Free TV’s share. Platforms like Freevee, Tubi, and Plex, along with broadcaster AVODs like ITVX, have started to claim high-profile second-window premieres, such as ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ and ‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’, following their Disney+ debuts. ITVX has established a similar relationship with Disney for scripted series.

*As of October 2024
The third window is where we see Free TV’s former dominance retreat due to both Netflix and Amazon, who frequently will take the third window after their competitor has taken the second. In this way they can ensure to still have high-profile movies in a relatively timely manner after release.
The UK previously had a predictable licensing path, with Sky ruling the first window and Free TV broadcasters commanding the third. COVID and studio-owned SVODs have upended that model in the UK and other markets, creating a new yet unsettled status quo. As studios open more content to third-party sales, Free TV may soon acquire high-profile titles earlier than ever. In a world with many studios containing their own cinematic franchises containing many titles, releasing titles in the second or third window on a wide reaching service can be a fantastic way to market a franchise’s latest release while still bringing in distribution revenue.
The UK is just one market experiencing this shift and Movie Tracker continues to monitor the global impact of evolving studio strategies.