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HBO Pays Over $1 Billion for "The Big Bang Theory" Streaming Rights

posted by martyb on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:06AM   
from the obviously,-Sheldon-Cooper-was-the-better-negotiator dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20870140/big-bang-theory-hbo-max-streaming-exclusive-worth-billion-seinfeld-netflix-friends-the-office

Just one day after Netflix secured the streaming rights to Seinfeld in a deal reportedly worth more than $500 million, WarnerMedia’s HBO Max has gone one step further, acquiring the rights to The Big Bang Theory in a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion.

The deal gives WarnerMedia’s HBO Max the exclusive domestic streaming rights for five years, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That means another streaming service could carry the show in global markets. The deal also extends the syndication deal between Warner Bros. Television and TBS through 2028.

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Original Submission

• A naive question... A naive question... (Score: 4, Interesting) by theluggage on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:17AM (1 child)

  by theluggage (1797) on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:17AM (#895568)

  a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion

  Sorry, I've only got college-level bullshit, so I'm not a native speaker - does "a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion" mean "HBO are cutting someone a $1bn check as we speak" or does it mean "if you carefully cherry-pick various quid-pro-quo exchanges of intangible assets with arbitrarily assigned values involved in a complicated deal, you can get a figure of $1 billion for 'the value of the deal'"?

  Or, to put it another way, is that the figure for the shareholders or the figure for the people who calculate royalties/residuals... (although ISTR that, again 'reportedly', some of the actors got paid enough per episode for most of us to retire on...)

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• Re:A naive question... (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:31AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:31AM (#895573)

  "HBO are cutting someone a $1bn check as we speak" or does it mean "if you carefully cherry-pick various quid-pro-quo exchanges of intangible assets with arbitrarily assigned values involved in a complicated deal, you can get a figure of $1 billion for 'the value of the deal'"?

  They literally cut a cheque, or at least wire the cash. But instead of $1 billion, it probably comes in over time.

  They are not investing in production of something. They literally just buy the exclusive rights to legally be able to stream it on their platform. It's a *cash* transaction.

  Parent