Sky & Channel 4 Take Stakes in TV-Rights Venture TRX

LONDON: Sky and Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund have invested in Dial Square 86’s latest financing round, supporting the online TV-rights tool TRX.

Sky and Channel 4 will each take a minority stake in Dial Square 86, which was established by former RDF Media founders and Zodiak Media executives David and Matthew Frank. This latest funding round will raise up to £5.2 million ($6.7 million) for TRX, which enables TV-rights buyers and sellers from around the world to connect and complete licensing deals online.

The deal marks the first time Sky and Channel 4 have co-invested in a start-up.

David Frank, CEO of Dial Square 86 and chairman of TRX, said: “We are absolutely delighted that two of the U.K.’s leading content players with such reputations for innovation and excellence have decided to back what we are doing. There is real momentum behind TRX now and we’re excited about launching a truly global product that can make program distribution faster and easier while opening up the TV rights market to previously disenfranchised buyers and delivering extra value to rights holders.”

Emma Lloyd, the group business development director at Sky, said: “This latest investment reflects our ambition to partner with pioneering start-ups that can help transform the TV landscape. We’re delighted to be backing such an innovative U.K.-based company, with its roots firmly in the creative sector. Together with Channel 4, we can help TRX to grow the TV-rights market, which will benefit everyone in the industry.”

David Abraham, the chief executive of Channel 4, commented: “In post-Brexit Britain, it’s even more important for the U.K.’s creative industries to have access to innovative ways of trading across the globe. We recognize that the new TRX tool is a valuable online resource which will enable indies to connect with the world and export their programs in a digital marketplace and will help support a buoyant U.K. indie sector well into the future.”