Comcast’s Sky has settled a lawsuit with Warner Bros. Discovery, in which the former accused the latter of “multiple material breaches” of a 2019 deal around the co-funding and co-production of exclusive premium TV shows.
According to a new court filing obtained by TheWrap, both companies have agreed to “the dismissal with prejudice of all claims in the action,” with every party bearing its own fees and costs. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
A spokesperson for Comcast confirmed that the litigation is resolved, while a WBD representative did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
The suit, which was filed in September in New York federal court, argued that WBD was obligated to present Sky with at least four shows per year in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
According to the initial complaint, Warner was required to offer Sky no less than four Max original series that met certain contractually specified qualifications every calendar year from 2021 to 2025, each of which Sky would have the option to co-fund and co-produce. Sky was then required to select at least two series per year from the qualifying offers, but had discretion to pick any two and was entitled, at its sole option, to select any number of series beyond the contractual minimum.
However, Sky said that WBD “fell far short of that mark, in certain years offering barely a single qualifying series while also withholding critical, contractually required information necessary for Sky to evaluate any potential options that it did receive.”
The co-funding agreement also stated Warner would assign Sky all media rights for each series in the geographic territory covered by the contract, which included the U.K. and multiple countries in Europe, for a period of 20 years from delivery of the last episode of each season per series. Sky was also entitled to “retain all revenue generated from exploitation of [these media rights].”
“This misconduct has deprived Sky of its bargained-for opportunity to co-fund, co-produce and subsequently exploit exclusively in U.K. and European territories all manner of top-end Warner content,” the complaint stated. “If all that were not enough, Warner has now even brazenly denied Sky its right to partner on Warner’s highly valuable decade-long, tentpole television series adapting J.K. Rowling’s iconic ‘Harry Potter’ novels, set to premiere in 2026 or 2027. Instead, Warner has largely disregarded the parties’ agreement and sought to keep the Harry Potter content for itself so that Warner can use it as the cornerstone of the launch of its Max streaming service in Europe.”
A WBD spokesperson previously told TheWrap that the lawsuit was a “baseless attempt” by Sky and Comcast to try and gain leverage in its negotiations ahead of the expiration of its licensing agreements at the end of 2025.
“We know HBO-branded shows are critical to Sky, as evidenced by their desire for over a year to find a way to renew our agreements, and this lawsuit makes it clear that Sky is deeply concerned about the viability of its business were it to lose our award-winning content,” the spokesperson added at the time. “WBD will vigorously defend itself from this unfounded lawsuit.”
The settlement comes after Comcast and WBD entered into a new multi-year distribution agreement that would deliver the latter’s portfolio of content to Xifinity and Sky UK and Ireland customers.
The agreement also provides continued carriage of HBO and expands Comcast’s rights to package the ad-supported versions of Max and Discovery+ in its streaming bundles. Comcast will also continue to offer WBD content as part of its U.S. NOW TV streaming services.
Additionally, Sky UK and NOW customers will continue to be able to watch WBD movies and television in the U.K. and Ireland. Warner Bros. Discovery content is currently available on Sky Cinema as well as Sky Atlantic. Under this agreement, customers will also have access to a non-exclusive, ad-supported Max app when the service is launched in the U.K. and Ireland in early 2026. This service will be seamlessly integrated into Sky NOW.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
