Bell Media has bought a majority stake in distributor Sphere Abacus. Revealing the deal to Deadline, Bell Media President, Sean Cohan, said it is part of a wider content and distribution push and an initiative to create more internationally successful content with a Canadian flavor.
UK-based distributor Sphere Abacus is run by MD Jonathan Ford and sells shows including Leaving Neverland, Catch You Later, and Travels with Agatha with Sir David Suchet internationally. Bell Media will fold its programming into Sphere Abacus library in the wake of the deal, meaning that catalog swells to about 5,500 hours.
The back story to today’s deal is complicated. Canadian production outfit Sphere Media, run by Bruno Dubé, completed a C$24.6M deal for distributor Abacus last year. That paved the way for the creation of Sphere Abacus. Bell Media already has a minority stake in Sphere Media and now has a majority stake in the Sphere Abacus international distribution business. The sales business will keep the Sphere Abacus branding in the wake of the Bell Media agreement.
Ford said the deal will allow the distributor to accelerate acquisitions and work with a wider range of international producers.
Dubé said: “The arrival of Bell Media will enable Sphere Abacus to significantly accelerate its vision of international expansion in content acquisition and exploitation, with the aim of positioning the company among the industry leaders.”
Sean Cohan Switches On Northern Lights
As well making a big move into international distribution with the Sphere Abacus deal, Bell Media’s Cohan tells Deadline about a project dubbed internally as ‘Northern Lights’. It will see the Canadian outfit forge a range of new international programming partnerships and seek to elevate Canadian talent and content on the global stage.
Bell Media owns the CTV broadcast net, numerous cable channels, and streaming service Crave. It has inked development deals with Point Grey and Lionsgate, as well as Tom Green’s prodco and Elliot Page’s Pageboy label.
“A big part of this is making sure we are partnering with the best in the business,” Cohan said. “Whether they live here or London, LA, New York, it doesn’t matter: some of the best creatives in the world are Canadian and it’s about working more closely with those folks.”
Canada is a favored international hotspot for production given its locations, skilled crews, talent and incentives for producers. Cohan says, however, the wider marketing message needs to be about Canadian talent and creatives as well as the cost efficiencies of producing there.
“I think Canada generally, not just Bell Media, has a little bit of a marketing challenge. The Canadian creative community has produced a lot of great content, a lot of great stories, but maybe it doesn’t always get it’s just due. And we think, as the largest commissioner and acquirer of content in Canada by a country mile, that we’ve got a responsibility here.”
The Bell Media boss and his team are currently in LA, pressing the flesh with studio execs and creatives in an effort to bolster those creative relationships.
“It’s not altruism, but a responsibility to elevate what gets made and the perception of Canadian content, Canadian creative, in the eyes of the global community. As the largest player in Canada, we are in a position to benefit disproportionately from this.
“The message is that we’re open for business, that we want to partner and make content that is great global and profitable.”
