We don’t make projections anymore, unless we are paid to do so through our consultancy. The business is too subjective, and it has been a “buyer’s market” for the last decade. On top of that, over the last four years we have been riding out the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and it’s a global crisis. And on top of that, the traditional business models are all breaking down, and the new digital, on-demand platforms are overtaking the linear broadcast and physical DVD models.
License fees have declined dramatically over the years, as the content business has become commoditized. There are fewer acquisition slots as media conglomerates became vertically integrated and moved production and copyright ownership in-house, and this is especially true in the mature television markets of North America, Europe and Japan. Too much content is chasing too few acquisition slots at the linear television networks. The future is online, and on-demand.
But if there is revenue for your program from the world’s media markets, we will find it. On our very best one-hour properties, programs with enduring international appeal and high production values, we have achieved over $300,000 in gross sales in five or more years. On many properties (blue-chip one-offs or series) we have earned $75,000 to $200,000 in gross sales from international markets beyond the USA. But on still others we have “guessed wrong,” and have returned only a few thousand dollars in royalties to our producers, in some cases losing money when we were unable to recoup our entire promotional and marketing investment. But if we offer you a Distribution Agreement, it is because we believe we can earn revenue for your content, because after all, that’s how we make money too.
Even if we cannot secure high-paying deals from top-tier broadcasters in major markets (Japan, UK, France, Germany), there are opportunities from mid-level markets like Spain, Italy, the Benelux, Canada, Scandinavia, Australia, and from emerging territories like Russia/CIS and Eastern Europe, and China, Korea, SouthEast Asia, and the Middle East. DVD revenues (both domestic and international), inflight airline deals and new media platforms all can bring additional revenue streams.
