Paramount Inks Multi-Year Deal for Harry Potter Linear
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- Paramount inked a multi-year licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for exclusive linear rights to all eight Harry Potter films and three Fantastic Beasts movies across MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, and Paramount Network.
- MTV will kick off the deal with a marathon of all eight Harry Potter movies airing from noon ET/PT on July 3 through July 5.
- Paramount Network will air one of the 11 films each weeknight beginning July 13 at 6 p.m. ET/PT, continuing through July 19, with weekend airings starting at noon ET/PT.
- Nick at Nite will host a week-long showcase of the eight Harry Potter movies beginning Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
- Laurel Weir, head of programming and acquisitions for Paramount Media Networks, framed the deal as underscoring Paramount's commitment to delivering world-class franchises across its audience-demographic brands.
- NBCUniversal was the longtime prior linear home of the Harry Potter franchise under a deal that originally took effect in 2018; the films remain available to stream on both Peacock and HBO Max.
- The deal was announced less than two weeks after the U.S. Dept. of Justice's antitrust division approved a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which still faces other regulatory hurdles.
Why it matters: Paramount displaces NBCUniversal as the exclusive linear home of a top-tier film franchise NBCU had held since 2018, giving MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, and Paramount Network tentpole programming across four distinct audience segments. The timing — arriving less than two weeks after DOJ cleared the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger — means Paramount is already licensing marquee content from its would-be merger partner.
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