Presto, Stan prep for SVoD battle

The subscription VoD battle in Australia has escalated after two of the three forthcoming services unveiled major content deals.

Presto Entertainment, a newly-minted co-venture between dominant pay TV platform Foxtel and Seven West Media, has announced deals with premium US cablenets HBO and Showtime.

Meanwhile Stan, which is jointly owned by Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media, has signed a licensing agreement with the commercial arm of pubcaster ABC that covers a broad range of local comedy, drama, factual and children’s programming.

Both Presto Entertainment and Stan are expected to launch in January, stealing a march on US streaming giant Netflix, which is due to arrive in March.

The exclusive deal with HBO will give Presto a host of shows including The Sopranos, Entourage, The Wire, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Girls, Veep and the miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

The Showtime arrangement, which is non-exclusive, covers series including Dexter, The Borgias, Brotherhood, Californication, Deadwood, Nurse Jackie and Ray Donovan.

Both pacts are a natural extension of HBO and Showtime’s long relationships with Foxtel.

Last week Stan announced an output deal with CBS Studios that included the Showtime programming.

Shaun James, director of Presto and VoD at Foxtel, said: “We’re pulling out all the stops to ensure we have a compelling line-up of television content available for our subscribers when Presto Entertainment goes live and are thrilled to announce these amazing hits from HBO and Showtime.”

Stan’s non-exclusive deal with ABC Commercial embraces a raft of comedies including Summer Heights High, Ja’mie Private School Girl, Upper Middle Bogan, It’s a Date and The Moodys and dramas Rake, Redfern Now, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Jack Irish and Janet King.

Among the hundreds of hours of children’s programming are Sesame Street, Bob the Builder, Octonauts, Angelina Ballerina, Thomas and Friends, Fireman Sam and The Wiggles.

Stan’s director of content and product Nick Forward said: “We’re very proud to support Australian-made productions and offer Stan’s members a wide range of programming that can be viewed whenever and wherever they want. Our partnership with ABC Commercial shows a continued commitment to investing in Australian content.”

Stan has signed content deals with MGM, BBC Worldwide, Sony Pictures Television and Australian pubcaster SBS/World Movies.