Distribution in Focus: Paramount Global’s Lisa Kramer

With buyers flocking to London TV Screenings and Mip London this week, Broadcast International speaks to Lisa Kramer, president of international content licensing at Paramount Global Content Distribution, about the return of buyers, stabilising budgets and flexibility.

Distribution is thriving. Paramount Global Content Distribution continues to satisfy our licensing partners on both a global and regional basis. With such a broad range of content from scripted to unscripted to films to international co-productions and formats, we are able to conduct global and pan-regional business and succeed in the regional business as well with our local sales executives in market.

Production costs have risen sharply at the same time that our licensing partners are either being more cautious due to ad markets or shoring up their business models. The mix of these factors puts pressure on the distributor to be more creative and adaptable to find multiple revenue streams.

Flexibility and multiple exhibition windows for content are providing great benefit to our licensing partners. Where second windows on series may have been initiated as a cost-effective means for multiple parties to access great titles, we are now finding the strategy is beneficial for all parties, as the incremental exposure creates greater title awareness for both the second window licensee and the first window licensee that finds increased demand for new and upcoming seasons.

We are happy to see more buyers back at the table with stabilised budgets. There is more care in the acquisition process as buyers ensure their acquisitions will be effective.

We will continue to expand our relationships with our clients and offer new opportunities for them including windowing of content and FAST channels. We have content for every market and business model, and our growth will come from windowing and generating more transactions overall.

Paramount Global has a distinct streaming strategy with its owned and operated services Paramount+ producing originals, we also co-produce original content on a regional basis. We therefore have multiple strategies for content production and distribution including downstream licensing to global streamers. We are, therefore, less effected by global streamers co-production strategies.