SkyShowtime CEO on originals strategy, streamer consolidation & writers strike

The Informant

SkyShowtime has already picked up a raft of HBO Max shows from CEE and is now looking to increase its originals push in the region, with scripted series being explored in countries such as Poland.

The recently launched Comcast and Paramount joint-streamer, which is available in a diverse array of markets that range from Spain and the Nordics to Poland and Hungary, picked up 21 former HBO Max European originals earlier this year, a move that CEO Monty Sarhan says kickstarted its originals strategy by three years.

SkyShowtime’s originals strategy

Shows from CEE such as Poland’s Warszawianka, Czech and Slovakian family comedy The Winner and Romanian series Hackerville were among IP acquired and Sarhan told NEM Dubrovnik that his nascent service is “committed” to producing in the region.

Monty Sarhan

“We are focused on storytelling. Others have exited the scripted space but we are still very much committed to programming in all its forms and that can be scripted or unscripted. We look across all genres, including comedy and drama,” he said.

Sarhan said 10 originals would be offered this year, including US fare such as Poker Face and The Curse, plus local shows from the region, with four series in the works from Spain alone.

“That happened because there are more original productions for Spain, it’s a large market and producers tend to produce there because they can leverage them for Latin America. All our regions are incredibly important, I see us doing more shows from Poland and shows from Central and Eastern Europe too, one of our top performers is The Informant for example, which comes from Hungary.”

But the former Comcast exec admitted that the range of countries in which SkyShowtime operates means a nuanced approach is required for each market.

“Our markets are not a monolith – there is a richness and diversity. People say we launched a streaming service, but we really launched something more akin to seven or eight streaming services because these markets are so different.

“It requires a very bespoke strategy for each market, and these countries are in very different places in terms of their voyage and streaming futures. In CEE, linear is still hugely important. Satellite and MPVD’s are still very important partners for us, because that’s where people are consuming content and that is a very valuable ecosystem for us,” he said.

Consolidation & firepower

Sarhan also talked up the combined firepower afforded to SkyShowtime beacuse of its joint venture nature, providing it with both content and platform knowledge.

Warszawianka

“If you look at streaming obviously the metrics of success have changed dramatically over the past year. But [launching SkyShowtime] was a capital efficient way to enter these markets, for these companies to pull their resources. And not just their best content, but also their best tech – we’re built on Peacock’s platform.”

Sarhan added that while there has been much talk of potential streamer consolidation as global streamers attempt to make the numbers stack up, the creation of SkyShowtime already hints to the future.

“JV’s are a form of consolidation and we are putting together the resources of these two companies to make the most of what is a huge opportunity,” Sarhan said, pointing to the “headroom” for further DTC growth in CEE in particular.

“We were created for these markets, we’re not a flyover service. We exist because of these markets,” he added.

Sarhan also said SkyShowtime’s backers meant it was well placed to weather the US writers strike, while its originals from Europe would provide considerable protection should the production hiatus extend.

“We want to see it resolved, of course” he said. “Overall, we feel well positioned to weather the strike, we have a pipeline of shows from Sky Studios and we’re leaning into European originals so we’re in no way wholly reliant on the US shows.

“We’re making plans to make sure we still have new content premiering on the service at all times.”