NBCUniversal continued to prioritise its own platforms for Pay-One titles in 2024, vertically integrating the majority of its films onto Peacock in the US, Sky channels in the UK, Italy and Germany, and SkyShowtime in other European markets (including the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden). Movie Tracker reveals the main buyers of NBCUniversal content in the Pay-One window across markets where the studio has a more limited service presence.
Amazon Prime is one of the most prominent buyers of NBCUniversal titles, acquiring the largest volume in Canada, Japan and Brazil. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery remains the leading buyer across the rest of Latin America, securing NBCUniversal titles exclusively for Max, despite the presence of Universal+ in the region.
Outside of Sky, the only significant Pay TV operators acquiring NBCUniversal titles at scale are Canal+ in France - benefiting from French regulations that limit how quickly titles can move to SVOD - and Multichoice in South Africa, which has long been the dominant buyer in the region and also maintains a direct partnership with NBCUniversal through its Showmax platform. In Australia, Foxtel continues to be a key buyer of Pay-One titles, usually sharing rights with Netflix through a co-exclusive arrangement where most films premiere simultaneously on both services. Netflix has also emerged as the leading buyer in South Korea, replacing OCN.
In general, broadcasters have been most affected by the launch of SkyShowtime in European markets. Previously, companies such as Movistar in Spain, Viaplay in Sweden, and Canal+ in Poland were among NBCUniversal’s top local buyers. However, the arrival of the NBCUniversal/Paramount-owned SVOD platform has disrupted these opportunities.
Today, a broad mix of buyers remains for NBCUniversal content, and there is still scope for key local services to secure recent Universal Pictures releases. Amazon and Netflix, in particular, have shown strong interest in acquiring these titles, often returning for later window opportunities in markets where they were unable to license the content in Pay-One. There likely remains a huge demand from third-party platforms in SkyShowtime territories, particularly for its big Oscar winners like Wicked, so future distribution will depend on NBCUniversal’s willingness to switch priorities towards distribution revenue over the SVOD in the future.
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