CMS is renowned for its outstanding full-service media, entertainment, sports practice with an exceptional team of media lawyers advising on the full breadth of work across the sector including content production and financing, broadcast and distribution, music, publishing, live events, and media regulation.
Our deep sector knowledge ensures that we can focus on the issues that matter most to you, leveraging over four decades worth of experience advising clients across the sector.
Our lawyers have been at the forefront of the development of the sector, advising on the opportunities and challenges that have arisen as a result of the continued development and convergence of media, technology and telecoms and the associated changes in the production and delivery of content and consumer interaction. Moreover, our expert team are perfectly placed to advise you on the latest regulatory developments and how the ever-evolving regulatory regime affects your business, allowing you to maximise your commercial opportunities and protect your position in a crowded market. Some of our recent focus areas have included the UK’s New Media Act, and new consumer legislation.
Our reputation for delivery and excellence is well deserved, as recognised by our Tier 1 ranking for Media and Entertainment in Legal 500 UK 2026. A number of our team are included in the Legal 500 hall of fame and listed as leading individuals, and ranked Band 1 by Chambers & Partners.
We offer the breadth and depth of expertise across media in the UK and across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and beyond.
Hghlights of our experience include:
- The BBC and BBC Studios on a series of major transactions and strategic partnerships over the last 25 years. These have included the establishment of UKTV and BBC Studios’ subsequent buyout of Discovery from the venture, the sale of a 49.9% interest in BBC America to AMC, various significant transactions with Discovery and the creation of the BritBox SVOD service with ITV, as well as implementing digital switchover (the UK’s most significant broadcast engineering project).
- Global, the Media & Entertainment group, on the launch of Global Studios, and the acquisition of leading creator network The Fellas Studios. We also advised Global on its acquisition of a majority stake in Gary Neville's sports podcast company The Overlap.
- BT on its agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to form a 50:50 joint venture to create a new premium sports offering for the UK and Ireland. This complicated transaction also involved the transfer of BT Sport’s existing business as well as securing BT’s rights to continue to distribute the JV services, as well as WBD’s other services, to its retail base. A large multi-disciplinary CMS team advised across all aspects including corporate, media, technology, anti-trust and regulatory, finance and specialist IP.
CMS has a market-leading practice in broadcast and streaming and we have advised on some of the leading deals in this area. Our team are experts in carriage and platform negotiations, media regulation, EPG rules and agreements, content acquisition and commissioning and broadcast infrastructure contracts. As the landscape continues to evolve, these deals have become increasingly complex.
We have witnessed first-hand the major structural changes within the film and television sector. These have included changing consumption habits (particularly for younger viewers), the launch and growth of new services, the shift from traditional broadcast television models to direct-to-consumer streaming services, the increasing cost of talent and lack of skilled production personnel, the demand for studio space and facilities and the need for media companies to scale and collaborate with their competitors in order to respond to these changes.
Our experience in this area includes:
- The joint venture partnership between Comcast and Paramount on the launch of its subscription video-on-demand service, SkyShowtime, including the key building blocks for the service. These included film and TV output deals with NBCUniversal and Paramount as well as consumer, data, regulatory and technology matters across the 22 European markets where this service will operate.
- Paramount Global on the launch of its premium streaming service Paramount+ in multiple territories in Europe, including on key distribution partnerships with Sky across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria and other distributors.
- The launch of Britbox, the strategic joint venture between the BBC and ITV in the UK and in other markets, and on the subsequent acquisition by BBC of ITV’s stake.
CMS’s production finance team has considerable experience acting for a wide range of producers, financiers and distributors in this space. We understand the issues facing producers and financiers in today’s competitive landscape - from development and rights clearance to financing, accessing tax credits and other production incentives and all production, financing and distribution related matters.
We act for content makers, studios, distributors and an array of debt, equity and structured financiers as well as media funds. We advise production companies throughout their lifecycle, from establishing new production businesses through to advice on the structuring and talent agreements needed for high profile shows and distribution deals. We additionally advise in relation to AI and the implications of this technology on the sector as it develops.
Our lawyers are experts in development deals for film and TV, such as option agreements for underlying rights or deals with scriptwriters and showrunners. We advise on cast, producer and director deals as well as Guild issues. We also specialise in script reads and in the exploitation and protection of content formats.
Highlights of our experience:
- Brokered and negotiated the overarching deal between Jeremy Clarkson and his team and Amazon for the commissioning and production of The Grand Tour, at its time the largest value original programme commission in the UK. CMS continues to advise Jeremy Clarkson and the team on all aspects of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm.
- Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, the creators of Emmy award winning series Black Mirror and the interactive special Bandersnatch, on setting up their new content production company, Broke and Bones, and on Netflix’s investment into the company.
- Leading UK banks: On a number of single project film and TV financings, including lending against tax credits and distribution and broadcast licences. Projects include: Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Masked Singer, and Elvis Evolution.
Further reading
Our cross-practice team in the UK and around the world advises a range of stakeholders in the live events space, be it arts, music, sports, theatre, gaming, fashion, marketing or corporate events. The range of legal issues we assist with are equally as broad from rights acquisition and enforcement, venue hire, health & safety, international tours, licensing, ticketing, corporate arrangements and investments as well as sustainability implications.
As the value of the live events sector has grown in recent years, we have seen unique issues within the sector as demand grows.
Sitting at the crossroads between live events, music, theatre and film, immersive and experiential entertainment is a growing market and one we are well equipped to advise on, as shown by our experience on:
- A global secondary ticketing platform: Advising on their engagement with regulators in both the UK and across Europe on matters of consumer and digital regulation, including in proceedings (as well as running consumer claims for them).
- Esports World Cup and Nations Cup: Advising the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) on all legal aspects of the inaugural event hosted in Saudi Arabia in August 2024 and then again in 2025 and 2026, as well as advising on the world-first Esports Nations Cup.
- Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games: Sole legal advisor for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, advising on all operational contracts and legal work to operate, host and maximise commercial opportunities for the city of Glasgow for the global games.
CMS is at the forefront of developments in the media regulatory space including the Media Act and Online Safety Act as well as international regulation. Our media regulatory practice covers all aspects of the media industry including providing advice on broadcast licensing, regulation of on demand services, OFCOM Code compliance, advertising regulation, listed events, online safety, consumer laws for subscription services and the impact of new regulatory developments.
CMS has created a Media Act Tracker offering insight into the Media Act and tracking its legislative progress and implementation. A summary of key Ofcom trends can be found in our Regulation Nation report.
Highlights of our experience include:
- Comcast Corporation on its GBP 30bn bid for Sky plc – the biggest takeover ever seen in Europe’s media industry. A team across multiple CMS territories advised on the specialist media, telecoms and gambling regulatory aspects of the deal. CMS teams in Albania and Ukraine also advised on anti-trust aspects.
- For a number of clients with respect to the impact of the draft Media Bill on their businesses. As part of our continued advice to clients, we have provided written submissions to the DCMS committee to assist it with its impact assessments. We have also represented clients in providing oral submissions.
- Many of the major Hollywood studios and sports OTT services on the launch of their direct-to-consumer offerings in multiple territories throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This involves advising on a host of consumer law, data protection, content regulation and licensing issues. We have an expert international team who work on these matters across our international footprint.
CMS provides contractual, regulatory and copyright law advice connected to both transactions and disputes to clients across the music sector. We have been at the cutting edge of digital media developments for over 30 years, assisting clients launching new and innovative services across a range of technologies as the sector has evolved. Our clients include broadcasters and other content aggregators and distributors, record companies, pure-play digital content businesses and mobile operators as well as those companies that invest in the sector.
CMS has particular expertise in the licensing of music rights (both individually and collectively) and has represented parties in leading UK Copyright Tribunal cases involving the licensing of music for use in CDs, DVDs, online and mobile music, broadcast and on-demand television. We have pioneered the establishment of licensing models for other types of music use, including in various aspects of the leisure sector.
Highlights of our recent experience:
- Warner Music Group in relation to a range of matters including acquisitions, such as the landmark acquisition of the Parlophone Label Group, comprising the Parlophone and Chrysalis labels and other former EMI recorded music operations.
- Cutting Edge Group (a leading acquirer and manager of specialist music rights), on a complex multi-territory corporate group re-organisation as a required precursor to a $500 million debt refinancing, enabling Cutting Edge to continue its acquisition of music rights.
- The UK Cinema Association in relation to a filing at the Copyright Tribunal, following the decision by PRS for Music to significantly increase the licence fees payable by the UK cinema industry.
Our Publishing team advises clients operating both in the digital market and traditional print sectors, combining areas of expertise such as corporate, intellectual property, reputation management and dispute resolution.
Digitisation has had a dramatic effect on many parts of the publishing industry. We can help with the key issues involved with online publishing and ensure that in dealing with end users, publishers comply with the regulatory matrix governing the basis on which online services are offered. We also understand and regularly advise on the advertising models and associated contracts through which online publishers monetise their content.
CMS also has established and wide-ranging experience in podcasting. The podcasting market has grown exponentially over the last few years with resulting challenges around discoverability, revenue generation and ensuring that content stands out. We are well placed to assist content producers, aggregators and advertisers in this space, as shown by our experience below:
- A leading audiobook and podcast service on its talent and content acquisition agreements, including IP licence and distribution agreements with authors and publishers.
- BBC Worldwide on a combined sale, licensing and contract publishing deal with Exponent Private Equity in relation to BBC Worldwide’s consumer magazine business and publishing ventures with Pearson, Penguin and Random House.
- Bloomsbury on the acquisition of The Consortium International Publishing Group Limited, the international academic and professional publisher from Nova/Paul Investments Capital and management shareholders.
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Further reading
CMS UK Media and Sports Highlights 2025
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