ITVSGE enlists 560 Media for rights

ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVSGE) has joined forces with fledgling rights collection agency 560 Media to exploit secondary rights for its catalogue of more than 40,000 hours of content.

John O’Sullivan

560 Media has won a long-term contract with ITVSGE after a tender process to manage the collection of international revenues through secondary TV rights exploitation.

The company was launched last year by former Compact Media founder John O’Sullivan, aiming to take a “fresh approach” to secondary rights management and allow companies to exploit parts of their catalogue that would otherwise be ignored.

It is now working with more than 40 producers and distributors and agreed a similar deal with Discovery Communications in November last year.

Duncan Walker, chief operating officer of ITVSGE, said: “Secondary rights are an important income stream, so it’s essential to partner with an organisation who understands the market thoroughly.”

O’Sullivan added: “To add a distributor of the size and status of ITVSGE to our portfolio is a testament to both our experience and our reputation for reliability, cost-efficiency and service.

“We recognise that today’s content owners are operating in a fiercely competitive environment where every penny counts. In response, we’ve streamlined our services to give our clients much closer control over their entire revenue ecosystem.”