For media studios, production houses and other content owners, media licensing is likely a key avenue for generating revenue. But traditional methods and practices for doing so are often having to adapt to make way for new platforms, changing consumption habits and, more recently, the need to exclusively promote and sell content catalogues online.
Through the years, Imagen has helped many organisations to get their digital content in order and provided a future-proof platform that enables them to maximise value no matter the changes in the marketplace.
Let’s take a look at the key forms of content licensing and how we can help:
Clip Sales
Clips cover a variety of video sources including extracts from existing programmes, news and sports footage, and video from more unusual places such as inside court rooms.
An emerging trend over the past decade is the use of amateur footage, often shot on mobile phones, to construct news reports, adverts and television programmes.
Clips are generally licensed on an ad hoc basis to fulfil requirements of a particular brief. Whilst sourcing directly from programme makers does occur, it is far more common for clips to be licensed from an intermediary sales agent representing a particular collection or archive of user generated content.
Watch LADbible explain how they use Imagen to scale their clip licensing operations.
Programme & Feature Licensing
Acquiring the rights to show series, one-off shows, and feature films in full.
This common form of licensing is utilised heavily by almost all major broadcasters and online platforms. Content is generally acquired in finished form, and does not require extensive editing, or post-production, though localisation in the form of dubbing or subtitling is necessary, where the content is destined for a new territory speaking a different language.
Licensing in this form is rarely absolute, with agreements covering where, for how long, and even how many times content may be shown. The advent of “catch-up TV” and digital-only platforms has led to licensing deals becoming more complicated as bidders compete for ever-more niche licenses.
Media Licensing in the Current Climate
Format Sales
Allowing the usage of the concept and branding of an existing television show.
Format licensing is often seen as a low-risk way to introduce tried-and-tested programming to a new territory. Whilst the branding, and general concept may stay the same, often tweaks are made so the show appeals to local tastes.
Frequently, audiences watching popular formats may not even be aware that other local versions exist in other countries. Game shows and reality TV concepts are two of the most popular programme types which lend themselves to format licensing, but fiction-based formats such as comedies and dramas are also frequently licensed.
Imagen helps sports and media companies promote and sell their content online
We provide you with a fast and intuitive media platform in the cloud that enables your teams to securely and intuitively promote and share your content catalogue remotely and on any devices.
Organisations such as Channel 4, BBC and Reuters rely on Imagen’s Video Management Platform to manage and exploit their content libraries.
