

In 2021, having popular fan-favorite streaming content is essential, a lesson that’s been proven time and again by the pricey purchases of rights for things like Seinfeld or The Office. 2016 was years before AT&T would buy Time Warner, the creation of WarnerMedia, or the announcement that the newly branded company would be forming its own streaming service, which would eventually go on to be called HBO Max.

The rights were split up, with NBCUniversal getting the cable rights on SyFy and USA (and its digital platforms) for an estimated $250 million, with streaming going to Warner Bros.
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to license out to whoever was willing to pay the price. Disney’s ABC rights were set to expire at the end of 2017, and the Potter franchise was suddenly a hugely valuable chip to Warner Bros. It was a relic of an older, pre-internet era of films, where TV rights and DVD sales were the priority of the day after box office receipts, and the idea of Netflix as a streaming service was just a glimmer of an idea in Reed Hasting’s head. Unlike most major properties, Harry Potter spent the bulk of its two decades of existence unavailable on streaming services, aside from brief stints at HBO.
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Freeform would go on to spend the next half-decade regularly airing the full Potter saga across weekends, particularly around the holidays (which holiday didn’t particularly matter). The network spent the next decade collecting the broadcast rights to the remaining films as they were released, culminating in the debut of Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in winter 2013.

Harry Potter spent the bulk of its two decades of existence unavailable on streaming services
