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U.S. Over-the-top Streaming Services are Expected to Expand as Popularity Keeps Growing

LGF.A

FinancialBuzz.com News Commentary

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, November 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Data provided in a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) shows that U.S.'s over-the-top (OTT) streaming video services are estimated to have generated USD 20.1 Billion in revenue last year on 15.2% growth. It is projected that the U.S. OTT market will cross the USD 30 Billion mark by 2022 with an annual growth rate of approximately 8.8%. The OTT market is currently dominated by subscription-based and video-on-demand business models. The OTT streaming companies are part of the larger entertainment industry and are expected to play a much more significant role in the years to come. Besides popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, social media giants like Facebook have also announced plans to try and capitalize on streaming with original content of their own. The Wonderfilm Media Corporation (OTC: WDRFF), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR), Ideanomics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDEX), AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF.A)

According to data compiled by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), consumer spending in the global entertainment market reached USD 88.4 Billion in 2017. The global entertainment market is comprised of two major segments, box office spending and home entertainment. The global box office spending reached a record high of USD 40.6 Billion, while home entertainment consumer spending also increased, growing to USD 47.8 Billion. MPAA projects the market to continue its growth due to the number of movie-goers and their spending. In the U.S. and Canada, more than three quarters of the population, or 263 million people, attended the cinema at least once. The global home entertainment market also shows no signs of slowing down. Globally, the number of subscriptions to online video services increased by 33% when compared to 2016. The U.S. reported 167.5 billion views and transactions last year alone, as 49% of Americans spend their media time on a digital platform.

The Wonderfilm Media Corporation (OTC: WDRFF) is also listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol (TSX-V: WNDR). Earlier yesterday the company announced breaking news that, "on November 19, 2018 it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire 100% of Starbury Media ("Starbury") from Sun Seven Stars Investments Group ("SSSI"), 34% of Grapevine Logic Inc. ("Grapevine") and a slate of over twenty-five movie production script packages from WOL Productions Inc.("Production Packages") in an arm's length transaction for CAD$30,000,000 (the "Transaction").

Starbury, the sporting brand and media company co-founded by Dr.Bruno Wu and Stephan Marbury, provides immediate access to a network of elite, high profile athletes and sports personalities who aim to capitalize on and transcend their sporting success by developing their personal brand through acting roles, branding services, merchandising and events.

Starbury's Fighting Group, a fighting sports digital asset operation company and division of Starbury Media, will kickstart fighters and action stars by working together in media, led by its recently appointed Chairman and legendary Canadian & British boxing champion Lennox Lewis.

Grapevine, the world's leading end-to-end social media influencer marketing platform, will leverage Wonderfilm's original content and pursue monetization strategies with celebrity influencers by penetrating the loyalty management market exclusively for motion pictures, TV production and sports media. Grapevine now has the production outlet necessary to bring their 4,700 corporate brands into broader media channels, while Wonderfilm has direct advertising, marketing, analytics and alternative distribution channels for its own original content.

Additionally, a slate of over twenty-five movie and TV series (English and Chinese language) production script packages will be provided by WOL Productions Inc.(majority owned by SSSI), which includes the action thriller, "Ana", starring Gong Li with Martin Campbell attached as the Director.Given that some of these assets are already fully packaged, Wonderfilm is able to immediately begin the pre-selling process.

Combining Starbury, Grapevine and the Production Packages with Wonderfilm's worldwide film & television production strength, increases the Company's vertical and horizontal integration into the wider entertainment industry. Wonderfilm's new subscription video on demand ("SVOD") digital channels will be among the first beneficiaries of the unified companies, immediately gaining top tier access to the sports market, significant social media coverage, corporate advertising, sponsorship revenues and exclusive Grapevine content.

"We are executing Wonderfilm's strategy of becoming an entertainment and media innovator by combining social media, film & TV production, online applications and new branding sources to integrate viewers and fans to their media through continuous online engagement and cross-pollination of media consumers through branded Apps, AI and cutting-edge interactive features that seamlessly blend online interaction with premier broadcasts on the digital channel, which includes the launch of Wonderfilm's new digital movie channel expected in 2019," stated Kirk Shaw, CEO of Wonderfilm.

Dr.Bruno Wu, co-chairman and CEO of SSSI remarked, "We believe that the combination of these platforms, which include our asset digitization and artificial intelligence teams, will differentiate us in the marketing and advertising business. Global sport is increasing in unison with the entertainment and media space, so it is natural for us to join these arms and create synergies that are extremely beneficial for all involved to provide a truly unique, scalable and superior offering to the market".

About The Wonderfilm Media Corporation: Wonderfilm is a leading publicly traded (TSX Venture Exchange: WNDR) entertainment company with production offices in Los Angeles, corporate offices in Vancouver BC and its Asian distribution office in Seoul, South Korea. The Company's core business is producing market-driven independent feature films and quality television series for multi-platform global exploitation. Current productions include the feature films, Moose (staring John Travolta) and Primal (starring Nicolas Cage.) The Company's guiding philosophy is bringing new financing solutions to an entertainment industry increasingly looking for funding and co-production alternatives. Wonderfilm is a producer and distributor only for the projects disclosed. The legal ownership of movie productions are held in a special purpose legal entity held at arm's length to the Company to facilitate for the qualification of various levels of domestic and foreign government tax credit incentives that are customary in the film and production business."

Ideanomics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDEX) announced this week its third quarter 2018 operating results for the period ended September 30, 2018. In the third quarter of 2018, Ideanomics, formerly known as Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc., continued its transition from its legacy video-on-demand business towards becoming a next generation financial technology ("fintech") company, with the intention of offering financing solutions and logistics management solutions, each based on the emergence of systems that utilize blockchain and artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies. The company has indicated that, "to support our development of a financing solutions business, we have been building capabilities both in providing business consulting services related to traditional financings, as well as in developing digital asset services via AI and blockchain enabled financial services platforms." 

Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is what's happening in the world and what people are talking about right now. From breaking news and entertainment to sports, politics, and everyday interests, see every side of the story. Twitter returned to the Digital Content NewFronts with an expanded slate of new live and original video programming, presenting advertisers with powerful opportunities to connect with content tied to relevant and engaging cultural moments. Over 30 new collaborations and renewals were recently announced across entertainment, news, sports, gaming and beyond, nearly doubling the number of deals presented in 2017. "We're not guessing, we're listening. People tell us what they want to see with the conversations they share on Twitter," said Twitter's Global Head of Content Partnerships Kay Madati. "In the past year, we've really expanded our efforts with the best publishers and content creators in the world to bring a slate of programming that reflects those diverse content interests."

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) is the largest movie exhibition Company in the U.S., in Europe and throughout the world with more than 1,000 theatres and 11,000 screens across the globe. AMC Theatres recently announced that AMC Stubs A-List, the VIP tier of the Company's AMC Stubs loyalty program, is expanding A-List's flexibility and convenience by also allowing members to obtain their ticket through AMC's ticketing partners, Fandango and Atom Tickets. A-List members who may use Atom Tickets and Fandango for movie tickets can enter their A-List membership number during checkout, securing a ticket reservation with their membership, which is applied as one of the member's three movies per week. "The guest feedback and membership sign-up rate have far exceeded our expectations, but we're constantly looking for ways to provide more opportunities for guest value through A-List," said Stephen Colanero, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, AMC. "Expanding the online ticketing availability of AMC Stubs A-List to include our great partners at Fandango and Atom Tickets is keeping with our mission of providing our loyal guests with as much convenience and flexibility as possible."

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF.A), the first major new studio in decades, is a global content leader whose films, television series, digital products and linear and over-the-top platforms reach next generation audiences around the world. Lionsgate India and SonyLIV are partnering to kick off next week's Diwali Festival with the launch of LIONSGATE PLAY on the SonyLIV streaming platform, the two companies announced today. SonyLIV is one of the largest local broadcast-owned over-the-top platforms in India in terms of viewership and consumption. It is renowned for hit series like Indian Idol and Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to Be A Millionaire) amongst others and also licenses the rights to the best sports programming in the territory. Additionally, SonyLIV is home to fitness, original Web series, blockbuster movies and more. "We're excited to partner with Sony LIV to launch LIONSGATE PLAY in India," said Lionsgate India Managing Director Rohit Jain. "Our collaboration is the latest milestone in elevating our brand in India, and we're delighted to kick off our partnership with a robust portfolio of Lionsgate and Starz programming.  Sony India has a reputation for bringing cutting-edge entertainment to Indian audiences, making them the perfect choice for us to deliver some of our most successful premium English-language content. Consumption of English-language content is still at its early stages in this market and, with this collaboration, we're well positioned to fulfil that latent demand. This is a great starting point for our two companies, and we are excited about the journey ahead of us."

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