U.S. studios go online with Spain's Wuaki

MADRID -- Pinning their hopes on incremental home entertainment revenues from online distribution in Spain, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, Sony and Paramount have licensed part of their content to Spain's new over-the-top service Wuaki.tv. Wuaki launches November in Spain and will sell or rent north of 1,000 feature films and TV skeins for streaming. Moving out of its beta launch period, Wuaki claims near 60,000 registered users. "Our business model with the studios is pure revenue share," said Wuaki co-founder and CEO Jacinto Roca. Company has clinched deals with indie distributors Aurum, Vertice and Filmax, plus toon house BRB Internacional, and is in talks with Fox and NBC, according to content director Josep Monleon. One strong pillar of Wuaki's market strategy is its agreements with smart TV manufacturers Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Philips to integrate Wuaki access onto their screens. "Users aged 25 to 50 will be seduced by the convenience of controlling everything from the remote," Roca said. One of Wuaki's main challenges is to convert the millions of Spaniards who make unauthorized Internet downloads into legal buyers in a country included in the priority piracy watch list of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus. Wuaki has a large space in which to grow. According to IHS Screen Digest, over-the-top online movies transaction revenues for 2011 will reach only $6.6 million in Spain, far below the U.K. ($80.1 million), France ($63.5 million) or Germany ($46.6 million). However, some key international players are moving into Spain's online market. iTunes started to offer U.S. studio films in November; Netflix launches next year. "Although right now the online market is still small in comparison to TV, it is growing," said Patrick Stuart, senior manager, Disney Media Distribution, Spain and Portugal. "Wuaki is a great opportunity to give consumers in Spain wider access to our programming, and the ability to enjoy it in even more flexible ways," he added. Juan Angulo, general director at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Spain, commented: "A general priority for Warner is to develop all the legal markets for its product, specifically for digital distribution." The Wuaki deal fits in with that policy, Angulo added. Backed by risk capital funds Axon Capital and Bonsai Venture Capital, Wuaki partners have invested $6.7 million in the venture. They plan to expand operations to Brazil later this year. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com