ABC & Warner Bros. Ink Deal for Stacking Rights

LOS ANGELES: ABC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Group have agreed to an unprecedented stacking-rights deal for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 broadcast seasons.

Under the terms of the new pact, ABC may offer all episodes, rather than the current practice of trailing five in-season episodes, of any Warner Bros. series launched in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons on a variety of video-on-demand platforms. Warner Bros. will have end-of-season SVOD rights and early syndication rights as well as day-after EST and early DVD rights.

“This is a real win for network television viewers,” said Jana Winograde, the executive VP of business operations at ABC Entertainment. “Giving our audience even more opportunities to catch up on their favorite shows in their entirety, on demand, only enhances their loyalty to and engagement with ABC and our series.”

“Along with our partners at ABC, we’re pleased to offer viewers the convenience to discover and watch our shows on their own schedule and on the screen they choose,” added Craig Hunegs, the president of business and strategy at Warner Bros. Television Group. “For our studio, the more people watch our shows, the more valuable they become for us over the long run.”