By Connie Thiessen
Crave has announced a long-term, exclusive Pay-One window licensing agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) that will see the streamer become home to a library of content that includes the Spider-Man, Jumanji and Ghostbusters franchises.
The deal, announced yesterday, gives Bell Media-owned Crave first pay window rights to new and upcoming SPE titles in Canada following their theatrical and home entertainment windows.
Starting in April, Crave will become the exclusive Canadian streaming home of all new SPE feature films, including upcoming titles from the Sony Pictures’ Marvel universe like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Kraven the Hunter, and Madame Web. Along with new installments of the Insidious and The Equalizer franchises, other original films include No Hard Feelings and Gran Turismo, among others.
“This significant deal expands Crave’s content offering,” said Karine Moses, Senior Vice President, Content Development and News and Vice Chair, Québec, in a Bell Media announcement. “A diverse slate of premium content is what differentiates Crave from its competitors, and we are happy to be working with Sony Pictures Entertainment to deliver a large collection of quality, award-winning, fan-favourite films to our subscribers, in both official languages.”
SPE library content has started rolling out on Crave, beginning with the Spider-Man library: Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) which are now available for streaming. Jumanji (1995) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) will follow later this month.
As part of the deal, Bell Media has committed to promoting SPE content through in-product merchandising and experiential marketing initiatives.
This story first appeared in Broadcast Dialogue and is reprinted with permission.
