EU: Hollywood in spotlight as EU builds antitrust film case

The European Union is delving into the movie industry’s business model as part of a crackdown on contracts that prevent pay-TV viewers in one country from watching films and shows intended for customers in other parts of the 28-nation bloc.

Regulators quizzed Hollywood studios including 20th Century Fox and Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures about their income from pay-TV channels compared with theaters, web-streaming and DVDs as regulators fine-tune an antitrust case into geographical curbs on movie sales, according to a copy of the questionnaire obtained by Bloomberg.

Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Brothers unit, Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures as well as pay-TV giant Sky Plc were also questioned by officials seeking details of the so-called windowing system, when studios make separate deals for screening of movies on different types of media.

“The potential consequences are potentially absolutely enormous,” Ed Barton, an analyst in charge of TV and video research at Ovum in London, said by phone. “The entire studio revenue model depends completely on the windowing system.”

Full content: Bloomberg

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