HBO will continue screening Universal movies

[January 07, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- HBO has renewed its deal with Universal Pictures to be the exclusive pay-TV provider of the studio's movies for another decade, the companies said on Sunday. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

HBO, part of Time Warner Inc., and Universal Pictures, part of Comcast Corp., have had an agreement in place since 2003.

The deal includes movies produced by Universal and its specialty films unit, Focus Features.

Current films from the studio include "This is 40" and "Les Miserables." It is also responsible for classics like "E.T.", "Jaws" and "Scarface."

"With our upcoming slate of films, HBO will continue to offer outstanding film content to their already vast library of movies, specials and award-winning original programming," Rick Finkelstein, vice chairman and COO of Universal Pictures, said in a statement.

The deal is key for HBO, which faces a threat from streaming movie providers like Netflix Inc. Since it is an exclusive agreement, Universal movies won't be able to be streamed on Netflix or other competitors until 2022 at the earliest.

Last month, Netflix inked an agreement with The Walt Disney Co. to start steaming its movies in 2016.

HBO also has exclusive agreements with 20th Century Fox, part of News Corp., and Warner Brothers, which is also part of Time Warner.

[Associated Press]

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