Viacom is considering taking its Spike brand global as part of a continued international expansion.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., Monday, CEO Philippe Dauman (pictured) said that following the rollout of the Paramount channel, Viacom would look to develop another big brand internationally.
Viacom’s MTV and Nickelodeon brands are already well known worldwide. The company has also been rolling out Comedy Central, which is now in about 60 territories as well as Paramount.
Spike is the candidate for an international rollout, Dauman said. “This is going to be enabled by the fact that we have been creating a lot of original programming on Spike in the U.S., much of which will be able to travel,” he said. He noted that Spike is increasing the amount of scripted programming it airs. The international version of the channel would also have programming from other Viacom networks.
It was not clear what the timing of a Spike rollout would be. “We are doing a bit of proof of concept,” Dauman said.
BET has also been expanding internationally. “That would not be possible without original content,” Dauman said.
During his presentation, Dauman noted that affiliate revenues have been rising at high-single digit to double digit rates and predicted that global fees would reach $8 billion by 2020 from $4.25 billion in 2013. “We have a clear pathway to get there,” he said.
