The Business of Television

In this expanded and updated second edition, esteemed television executive and Harvard lecturer Ken Basin offers a comprehensive and readable overview of the business, financial, and legal structure of the U.S. television industry, as well as its deal-making norms. The Business of Television explores the basic structure and recent history of the television and streaming business, rights and talent negotiations, intellectual property, backend deals, licensing, international production, and much more. This expanded and updated second edition also features an in-depth exploration of the evolution of the streaming business, offers valuable new insights about negotiation, reflects the historic impacts of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, addresses the intersection of artificial intelligence technology and intellectual property law, and provides a greater breadth and depth of technical material about a wide variety of common television deals. The book also includes breakdowns after each chapter summarizing major deal terms and points of negotiation, a significantly expanded glossary, an extensive list of referenced articles and cases, and a wealth of real-world examples to help readers put the material into context. Written for a diverse audience of working or aspiring creative professionals, executives, agents, managers, lawyers, and students, The Business of Television is the definitive reference guide for the ever-changing television industry.

Ken Basin is a long-time executive leader in the television industry, innovating new models in content licensing and production management across head and senior business affairs roles at Paramount Television Studios, Sony Pictures Television, and Amazon Studios. Recognized by Variety as one of "Hollywood's New Leaders" and by The Hollywood Reporter in its annual "Next Gen Executives" ("35 Under 35") feature, Ken most recently served as Global Head of Business Operations (Film/TV) at Riot Games, where he also executive produced the second season of the Emmy Award-winning Arcane.

1. Introduction, 2. Chapter 10: Overall and First Look Deals, 12.