The Comcast broadcaster plans to launch 125 titles for film and television in 2021.
In 2019, the deal between Sky and HBO was extended for several years, which enabled the Comcast-supported television station to broadcast the top content of the premium cable channel from the USA HBO via Sky Atlantic. With the introduction of the in-house streaming platform HBO Max, Sky now expects that the flow of content will stall in the future. It is currently planned to successfully establish HBO Max in South America and Europe. The contract will run for a few more years, Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky UK told Variety, “but you can sum up two and two: When people go straight to the consumer, we have to present our own unique content. We have to make our business future-proof. ”
Should the day come when HBO pulls the plug on Sky, Bennet wants to be prepared. You will try with money to be able to continue to offer the content in the future, “but ultimately we have to keep control over the things over which we have control.” And that means original content. That is why Sky is now presenting a portfolio with 125 contents for the current year, which corresponds to an increase of 50 percent compared to the previous year. These include 30 Sky Original films and 30 documentaries from Sky.
Back in June 2019, Sky announced plans to spend $ 1 billion on content by 2024. For the short term this means that investments in films will be increased and that two new films will be released each month. The output is to be increased on the other hand, so that in 2022 even one film per week is to be released. The film portfolio should include the following titles: “A Boy Called Christmas”, “Extinct”, “Monster Family 2”, “Save the Cinema”, “Creation Stories”, “Six Minutes to Midnight”, “The Glorias” , “Jolt”, “SAS: Red Notice”, “The Comeback Trail”, “Breaking News In Yuba County” and “Antebellum”. Bennett explained, “We have a variety of genres, including some family pieces. The main thing is that they have top talent and are of high quality. ”
The Sky plan goes in a similar direction to Netflix’s strategy, which was recently announced and also plans to release films on a weekly basis. Sky has worked with every Hollywood studio so far – with the exception of Disney.
The pay-TV broadcaster is also planning a broad roll-out in the documentary sector. A film about Liverpoo’s role in the drug boom with the title “Liverpool Narcos” is planned. In addition, “Chernobyl 86” gives further insights into the nuclear disaster, “Positive” looks back on 40 years of fighting HIV / AIDS in Great Britain. In the field of drama series, it was already announced on Saturday that “Tenet” actor Kenneth Branagh would meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in “This Sceptred Isle”to embody. It is said to be about the chaotic measures taken by the Johnson administration on the corona virus. Other new TV originals include “Wolfe,” with Babou Ceesay as the acclaimed forensic pathologist and written by Paul Abbott, “The Midwich Cuckoos” – a modern adaptation of John Wyndham’s classic science fiction novel by David Farr, and “Extinction” – a Action thriller about a man who keeps reliving the same day, written by Joe Barton and starring Paapa Essiedu, Tom Burke, Anjli Mohindra and Caroline Quentin.
