AMC Global Media is nearing a deal for the next round of rights to The Walking Dead, with the company looking to keep a share of the rights and several large players are in pursuit.
The flagship iteration of the franchise, a cornerstone for the company, had its finale in 2022. It remains popular on streaming and via multiple spinoffs.
“We’ve been really excited about the, the inbound for discussion on the licensing rights for The Walking Dead,” CEO Kristin Dolan told Wall Street analysts during the company’s first-quarter earnings call Friday. “We’re really looking at every scenario. There’s a variety of ways to look at it. We definitely feel it’s important to keep some of the content for ourselves co-exclusively, so we’re emphasizing the fact that we’re looking predominantly a co-exclusive deals, but there are some very large and enthusiastic partners in the bidding process right now. So, we’re really looking at any variety of constructs, but the key thing for us is co-exclusivity.”
Asked whether the company would do a comprehensive deal with one partner or try to break the rights into smaller pieces, perhaps in individual global territories, Dolan said all options remain on the table. “We may chunk it up, may all go to one partner, domestic versus international. There’s many, many ways to skin this cat,” she said.
Results from the licensing deal are not slated to hit the company’s 2026 financial results, executives said on the call, but will be a boost down the line.
The comments came after the company reported mixed results, with revenue slipping 2% to $542.1 million and earnings shrinking from 52 cents a share to 8 cents on an adjusted basis. Both metrics beat analysts’ consensus estimates. Streaming revenue rose 11% to $174 million, largely due to price increases, with subscriber levels dipping 3% to 10.1 million.
Netflix has had a significant relationship with AMC, helping lift ratings for a number of the company’s original series as they stream seasons in the leadup to new episodes returning to the air. AMC has also experimented with a major activation on HBO Max, and continues to lean into its “channels” relationships with Amazon, Roku and other streaming providers.
MORE to come …