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Oz SVoD service signs MGM

Australian streaming start-up Stan will get exclusive Australian subscription VoD rights to Fargo as part of a multi-year deal with MGM International Television Distribution.

The pact encompasses non-exclusive SVoD rights to a slate of recent and classic MGM films and the TV series Teen Wolf, The L Word and Will and Grace.

SBS outbid paynet Foxtel for the Oz rights to Fargo and aired the crime drama this year. The pubcaster retains free-to-air rights to the second season.

It’s Stan’s second deal with a US major following the announcement of a licencing arrangement with Sony Pictures Television (SPT).

The SPT deal with Stan holding company StreamCo includes all Australian rights to Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul and exclusive SVoD rights to the complete series of Breaking Bad, which, along with Fargo, will feature in its initial line-up.

Owned by Nine Entertainment (NEC) and Fairfax Media, StreamCo has yet to reveal a launch date but C21 understands a mid-December start is being targeted.

MGM president of international television distribution and acquisitions Chris Ottinger said: “MGM is thrilled to offer Stan’s audience access to a wide variety of premium entertaining content, including new and classic titles from our catalogue, as well as Fargo, our breakout Emmy-winning miniseries featuring world-class talent.”

StreamCo CEO Mike Sneesby said, “Fargo has proved to be one of 2014’s best new series and adds to the line-up of high-quality dramas Stan will have at launch. MGM’s library includes some of the greatest movies ever made.”

The MGM deal includes Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, the RoboCop remake, 21 Jump Street, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and library titles such as When Harry Met Sally, The Silence of the Lambs, West Side Story, Four Weddings and a Funeral and the Rocky, RoboCop, The Pink Panther and Legally Blonde franchises.

Titles will be available to watch instantly in full HD on multiple platforms including television, tablets, computers and mobile phones, priced at about A$10 (US$8.70) per month.

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