Major UK broadcasters Sky and Channel 4 have invested in The RightsXchange (TRX).
TRX, owned by Dial Square 86, is a global online deal-making tool that enables TV rights buyers and sellers to connect and complete licensing deals entirely online.
Soft-launched in Asia last month, the platform has over 5,000 hours of programming available from rights holders such as Discovery and All3Media.
David Frank, CEO of Dial Square 86 and chairman of TRX (pictured), said, “We’re excited about launching a truly global product that can make programme distribution faster and easier, while opening up the TV rights market to previously disenfranchised buyers and delivering extra value to rights holders.”
Sky’s production and distribution arm, Sky Vision, will also use the TRX tool to ‘help develop its suite of enterprise tools’.
Emma Lloyd, group business development director at Sky, said, “This latest investment reflects our ambition to partner with pioneering start-ups that can help transform the TV landscape.
“Together with Channel 4, we can help TRX to grow the TV rights market, which will benefit everyone in the industry.”
The move is the latest digital business venture for Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund, which is using its £20 million facility to back TRX and ‘support the future health of the UK indie sector.’
David Abraham, CEO, Channel 4, said, “In post-Brexit Britain, it’s even more important for the UK’s creative industries to have access to innovative ways of trading across the globe.
“We recognise that the new TRX tool is a valuable online resource which will enable indies to connect with the world and export their programmes in a digital marketplace and will help support a buoyant UK indie sector well into the future.”
