Comcast’s European television platform Sky has filed a federal lawsuit against Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), alleging the entertainment giant failed to live up to certain expectations that were outlined in a multi-year agreement between the two companies.
The lawsuit largely centers around a pact between Sky and Warner Bros that was formed back in 2011, which pre-dated Comcast’s acquisition of Sky and well before Warner Bros merged with AT&T and, later, Discovery Communications.
Then, Sky struck a £150 million (around U.S. $200.6 million) licensing deal to license the entire content library of HBO, which was distributed through a new pay TV channel called Sky Atlantic.
The deal was renewed in 2019, around the same time that Comcast acquired Sky, with it and Warner Bros agreeing to additional terms, including a cooperative production pact that would see Warner Bros create four shows per year that Sky would have the exclusive rights to for at least two decades.
In a complaint filed in federal court on Friday, Comcast and Sky said that part of the deal was meant to prevent Warner Bros, and later WBD, from siphoning content away from Sky in favor of its own HBO Max platform in Europe.
The agreement is set to expire in 2025, and WBD executives have floated the idea of moving on from Comcast and Sky in favor of distributing via another partner like Amazon or targeting viewers directly by spinning up a regional variant of HBO Max (now called “Max”) in the United Kingdom. The timing of the lawsuit seems to indicate that things are rapidly progressing in a direction that cuts Comcast out in the future.
Related: WBD could launch Max in UK after Sky deal runs out
The lawsuit filed on Friday makes numerous complaints about a future TV production centered around the popular “Harry Potter” franchise, which WBD has green-lit for 2026. Comcast and Sky complain that they were not given the opportunity to co-produce the series with WBD, as per its contractual agreement. The series is mentioned 79 times in the complaint, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes at a precarious time for WBD, which is trying to reorient the future of its business around direct-to-consumer streaming services while also fighting numerous legal battles in court.
In addition to the Comcast lawsuit, streaming service Fubo is also suing WBD and two other entertainment companies over their plans to develop and launch a sports-focused joint venture called Venu Sports. The case claims the joint venture violates antitrust laws because WBD and its two other partners, Disney and Fox, are offering more-favorable distribution terms for its sports-inclusive linear channels to Venu Sports than what other cable, satellite and streaming providers enjoy. Last month, a federal judge approved a temporary injunction that effectively puts Venu Sports on hold until the case finishes.
On the other end, WBD is battling the National Basketball Association (NBA) for signing a long-term telecast deal with Amazon’s Prime Video that will see the streaming platform offer a package of regular-season NBA games once aired on WBD-owned TNT Sports. The company is also suing Paramount Global over a deal that allowed it to distribute episodes of “South Park” on its Max streaming service in the United States.
