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Studio Three not so Comcastic - September 18, 2008

BusinessWeek.com has an interesting piece up on the struggles of the planned new premium TV/VOD channel backed by Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate to land a distribution partner. Originally, the Studio Three Partners, as the venture is known, thought they had a fourth: Comcast. But the cable MSO decided not to take a piece of the action. Later, Comcast indicated it might sign an exclusive distribution deal for the channel, but that, too, fell through, according to the report. Then comes this sentence: "Now, Comcast, which wouldn't comment, is said to openly question whether there's a need for yet another movie channel. It points out that movie watching is declining on channels such as HBO and Showtime, which now entice viewers instead with original programs like HBO's Entourage and Showtime's Weeds."

Ouch.

The BW piece goes on to note that the planned launch of the channel is still a year off, and it's possible Comcast is simply negotiating. But I wonder how much Comcast's apparent souring on Studio Three, which the partners promise "will use traditional and new digital distribution technologies to bring great film and television entertainment directly to the consumer," is related to Comcast's own growing ambitions for using "new digital distribution technologies" to deliver movies and TV shows "directly to the consumer."

Should make for interesting negotiations.

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