AT&T’s Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) announced a new joint venture (JV) company to distribute physical (disc) home entertainment product in North America for new releases, library titles and television content.
It is anticipated that the North American JV will be operational in Q1 2021, combining sales, retail marketing and distribution for the two physical home entertainment operations and be responsible for Blu-ray, DVD and 4K UHD distribution for up to 10 years.
The JV will allow for continued innovation while maintaining a diverse choice of product for retailers and consumers. Under the proposed structure, the studios will continue to operate their digital distribution businesses independently and retain content and consumer marketing for both physical and digital.
Separate from the North American JV, the studios have agreed to license arrangements pursuant to which UPHE will assume responsibility for the distribution of Warner Bros.’ physical (disc) home entertainment products in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan, expected to go live Q3 2020, and Warner Bros. will assume responsibility for the distribution of Universal’s physical (disc) home entertainment products in the U.K. (including Eire), Italy and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), expected to occur in Q1 2021.
