ViacomCBS and South Korea’s CJ ENM announced a global content deal encompassing coproductions for original TV shows and films as well as content licensing and distribution across the companies’ streaming services.
Also under the pact, the companies will launch Paramount Plus in South Korea in 2022 as an exclusive bundle with CJ ENM’s TVING streaming service — marking its first launch in Asia.
News of the deal comes less than a month after CJ ENM paid nearly $1 billion for an 80% stake in Endeavor Content, the production entity that Endeavor was forced to divest after losing a showdown with the Writers Guild of America.
“Korean entertainment has become a cultural juggernaut with unprecedented demand, and CJ ENM is behind some of the biggest international hits that transcend borders, including Academy Award-winning film ‘Parasite,’” Dan Cohen, president of ViacomCBS’s global distribution group, said in a statement.
The ViacomCBS deal is part of CJ ENM’s strategy to expand its global entertainment presence. “CJ ENM’s vast library of original IP will create synergy with ViacomCBS’ production capabilities and distribution channels to develop into global smash-hit content,” commented CJ ENM chief executive Kang Ho-Sung.
The companies detailed some of the joint productions and collaborations planned under the partnership:
- Paramount Television Studios and CJ ENM/Studio Dragon will codevelop and coproduce English-language scripted series based on CJ ENM/Studio Dragon’s titles for distribution on Paramount Plus
- ViacomCBS and CJ ENM will codevelop and cofinance movies for theatrical and streaming releases with the plan to distribute one theatrical movie per year in various territories
- ViacomCBS and TVING will cofinance new Korean series for global distribution on Paramount Plus
- Paramount Plus will license Korean-language series from CJ ENM’s library
- Pluto TV, ViacomCBS’s free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service, will launch a dedicated CJ ENM-branded channel on Dec. 14 featuring K-content for U.S. audiences