TORONTO – Corus Entertainment and Astral Media both finalized multi-year deals with NBCUniversal Television Canada Tuesday for the linear and non-linear rights to numerous titles from the Hollywood studio and content provider.
Corus said that the deal means that big screen hits such as Little Fockers, The Adjustment Bureau, Bridesmaids and the upcoming release Tower Heist will be featured on its Movie Central service in 2011 and 2012.
Astral’s agreement includes first-window titles such as Little Fockers, Hop, The Adjustment Bureau and Fast Five which will be available to subscribers of The Movie Network, Mpix and Super Ecran. In addition, new releases will first appear on the pay-per-view service Viewers Choice, which is partially owned by Astral.
"We are very pleased to be continuing our long-term partnership with NBC Universal," said Doug Murphy, president of television at Corus, in the announcement. "Representing a catalogue of many of Hollywood's current box office hits, NBCUniversal's content complements Movie Central's already robust lineup of premium offerings and delivers on our commitment to provide subscribers with an unmatched viewing experience across multiple platforms, whether it's on our linear channel, online, on demand and in high definition."
"Universal Pictures has an outstanding slate of new movie titles both in the current pay-television window and looking forward to what's in theatres and in production. We are pleased to be able to bring what will amount to hundreds of new titles to our pay-television services," said Kevin Wright, Astral’s SVP of programming, in that company’s announcement. "This multi-year deal also expands upon our ability to offer this sought-after content across multiple platforms, including our on-demand channels and through TMN OnLine, our broadband streaming service which is offered through distributors such as BellTV, Rogers and Videotron."
