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ABC, Disney Channel pocket "Princess"
submitted by: Lisa D.
source: Variety
Date: August 9, 2001
By John Dempsey
NEW YORK - ABC and the Disney Channel have claimed the television rights to Walt Disney Pictures' "The Princess Diaries," which grossed a healthy $22.86 million in its first three days at the box office last weekend.
The broadcasters will share the license fee for "Princess Diaries," which will end up at about 15% of the eventual domestic box office gross. ABC will pay more than the Disney Channel because it gets the first exclusive run, for the Sunday-night "Wonderful World of Disney" showcase.
"Diaries" becomes available to ABC in May 2004, following its pay TV run on Starz. ABC, the Disney Channel and Walt Disney Pictures are all units of Walt Disney Co.
The "Princess Diaries" deal is the latest example of the benefits of vertical integration, as TV networks rely mostly on their sister movie companies for theatrical product, buying fewer pictures from outside suppliers.
The demand for theatricals by the networks has fallen off because most of the movies have not delivered the mass TV audiences they once did. Also, networks are tightening their programming budgets as advertising revenues shrink, a casualty of the soft advertising market.
Just in the last couple of months, Fox and FX have bought 20th Century Fox's "Planet of the Apes" and "Dr. Dolittle 2"; AOL Time Warner's TBS and TNT have picked up sister company New Line's "Rush Hour 2"; and ABC has locked up Disney-owned Dimension's "Scary Movie 2."
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