Nine Entertainment streaming service Stan, who are on the hunt for an investor or someone who will buy the business outright, are facing a new lot of pain, after archrival Foxtel Group snared the rights to NBC Universal content which Nine Entertainment were banking on to prop up their content portfolio in 2023.

Nine who are tipped to announce a Tennis Australia deal tomorrow, is struggling to build out content deals is believed to have threatened NBC Universal executives in Singapore recently when they were told they had lost the deal.

The new multi-year deal will see Foxtel hold the biggest partnership with the US studio in Australia while giving subscribers to BINGE and Foxtel access to an array of movies and TV series and programs created for NBCU’s streaming service Peacock.

Foxtel Group’s chief content and commercial officer Amanda Laing said the company’s long-standing partnership with NBCU has spanned more than two decades and this latest deal was a big win for Australian viewers.

“The environment has become increasingly competitive, and all these studios and content producers and providers have been courted by everybody, so they (NBCUniversal) have had their choice of partners,” she said.

“We do remain the partner of choice and by adding to our content that we have been getting from NBCU with this new and bigger library and premiere first-run scripted shows, we become the largest distributor of NBCU content in Australia.”

The deal comes as Network Ten owner moves to jack up the price of their Paramount + service around the world in Australia.

Recently Seven West Media signed a multi-year deal with NBCU that will see the free-to-air network screen content including reality and true-crime programs on the Seven + streaming platform.

Observers claim that the NBCUniversal loss will leave a gaping hole in Stan’s its content offering.

The new Foxtel partnership will see premiere Australian rights for Universal Pictures and Peacock original movies, and it will be the exclusive rights holder for premiere TV from first-run scripted series by Sky Studios and Universal International Studios.

Most of the content will be available from 2023 on Foxtel and streaming service BINGE.

The NBCUniversal kids and family content available on the DreamWorks channel will also continue.

According to News Corp publications who are also the controlling partner in Foxtel two new channels will also be added for subscribers including MSNBC on Foxtel and news streaming service Flash, and NBC News NOW will also be available for Flash subscribers.

NBCUniversal International’s networks and direct-to-consumer and distribution for Australia and New Zealand, Chris Taylor, welcomed the new content deal with Foxtel.

“We are thrilled to continue bringing Foxtel Group subscribers an amazing breadth of NBCUniversal’s top content and much-loved channel brands via our ongoing, successful relationship,” he said.

BINGE subscribers will also see advertising on the streaming service from next year after Foxtel recently announced the introduction of ads on its streaming service, following a similar strategy that has been adopted by Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go.

Foxtel Group has more than 4.5 million subscribers — including its streaming service BINGE, which was introduced in mid-2020 and now has more than 1.3 million subscribers.

SWM is also launching a new free-to-air channel in 2023, 7Bravo, and will air content that is produced for Peacock.