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Demanding times  US CABLE PROGRAMMING: Jon Feltheimer, CEO and co-chairman of prolific producer of cable series Lionsgate, reveals to Jules Grant what's next for the studio behind Crash and Mad Men.  Lionsgate started 2009 with a bang, purchasing TV Guide Network and the TV Guide Online properties from digital media outfit Macrovision Solutions for US$255m. The deal demonstrates further growth for the film and television studio, presenting it with the opportunity to build its presence in the domestic cable market. It already produces top-rating cable shows like AMC's Mad Men, Starz's Crash and Showtime comedy Weeds. "Now with TV Guide and TV Guide.com, it's really going to take our game to a different place in terms of dealing directly with the consumer," explains Lionsgate CEO and co-chairman Jon Feltheimer (above). The company's last major acquisition was independent production and distribution company Mandate Pictures, which it bought for US$62.9m in September 2007. Feltheimer said at the end of last year that the economic situation may create opportunities for it to buy more assets at reduced prices.  The LA- and Vancouver-based company has also stepped into the channels business. It set up video-on-demand channel Fearnet as a co-venture with Sony and Comcast, and its partnership with MGM, Viacom and Paramount, multi-platform entertainment company Studio 3 Networks, is set to launch its Epix channel in October."In terms of on-demand, it gives audiences a chance to look at ways they are buying their content and for us, as a very large producer and distributor of content, it gives the opportunity to deal more directly with the consumer than, frankly, we've ever done," he says. "There is no question in my mind that coupling traditional media outlets with on-demand opportunities means that the pie is getting bigger. We just have to be smarter and may have to look at it as thinner slices." Feltheimer claims the three parties involved in Epix control around 30% of the new content and library content in the market, and there is an opportunity for Lionsgate to rethink the way a premium channel handles distribution. "There's the opportunity to price it the way we want it, window it the way we want it and to deal with the on-demand element in a way that we want. Studios of our size should be controlling our own destiny, dealing direct with the consumer when we can and not tying up our product as long as a traditional window would."  Lionsgate also generated more than US$450m at the North American box office in the past year and has turned out Oscar-winning movies Crash and Monster's Ball, as well as Tyler Perry's half-dozen movies.In TV, AMC has greenlit a third season of Emmy-winning Mad Men (above). After months of negotiations with Lionsgate, the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, has just closed a seven-figure overall deal to continue on the series. The pact is Lionsgate's biggest to date on the drama side. Feltheimer is also hoping that Perry's Meet the Browns will do well in 2009, following the success of his House of Payne, which was a ratings driver for the firm among 18-49s. However, for all the year's successes, Feltheimer acknowledges that difficult times lie ahead. "In some ways the buyers of television shows will be a little more discerning. That will be okay for us because we tend to produce our shows and distribute shows aimed at specific audiences for channels that know what they want," he says. "But we will be a little more circumspect about how much we spend on shows and how much we spend on films. I also think that there will be some opportunities from the economy, such as the opportunity to spend marketing dollars more efficiently. "There is no question that viewers are going to be out there and very specific about what they spend their hard-earned dollars on. In this environment, we have to be very sensitive to that. It's going to affect everything we do from production, how much we spend on marketing and, of course, the buyers - how much they buy, what they buy and how much they spend on it." Jules Grant 20 Feb 2009 © C21 Media 2009 
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