Discovery signs deal with 560 Media for secondary rights

Discovery Communications has inked a deal with 560 Media to help the broadcaster better cash in on secondary rights in international markets.

“During the past 18 months Discovery Communications has reinforced its focus on secondary rights management for our catalogue of high-quality content, which satisfies curiosity, entertains, and inspires viewers worldwide. 560 Media’s fresh and flexible approach to catalogue representation will assist Discovery in this specialist area, allowing us to maximize remuneration in the international arena,” said James Bryant, director of global music services at Discovery Communications, in a statement.

560 Media will collect international revenue on behalf of Discovery for secondary rights, which can include retransmission rights, educational copying, private copying, rental and lending rights.

As C21 Media points out, nearly 40 producers and distributors have signed up with 560 since it launched in December. 560 Media is run by John O’Sullivan, the co-founder and former CEO of Compact Collections.

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Discovery has a significant presence in Europe. In 2015, Discovery paid $534 million to fully acquire sports broadcaster Eurosport. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said his company is using Eurosport to create a “sports Netflix” by offering live sports content directly to European consumers for $8 per month.