Hughes Hubbard’s Media and Entertainment Practice

Hughes Hubbard’s Media and Entertainment practice group advises clients across the industry, helping them navigate complex challenges and seize opportunities. With the resources of a leading international firm and deep knowledge of advanced technologies, we deliver practical solutions tailored to our clients’ needs.

“The firm has a deep team across every facet of transactions, including M&A, capital markets, tax, corporate and securities.” —Legal 500, 2023

Our experience spans the full spectrum of the media and entertainment industries, including film, television, music, video games, esports, digital video, podcasting, publishing, theater and immersive entertainment, radio, advertising, marketing, data, sports and others. We’ve represented major industry players such as Condé Nast, Madison Square Garden, Paramount Global, Sony Music Entertainment, AMC Networks and FanDuel, as well as private equity firms and other investors in these sectors.

Our services cover a wide range of legal needs, including mergers and acquisitions, financings, joint ventures, private equity and venture capital transactions, litigation, arbitration, and strategic counseling in the areas of intellectual property, artificial intelligence and data privacy, employment, executive compensation and tax.

We excel in structuring, negotiating and drafting agreements relating to the acquisition, development, production, financing, marketing, distribution, publishing, sale, licensing, branding, merchandising and sale of content and products. These include television programs, motion pictures, music, digital video, podcasts, print content, theater and immersive exhibits, advertising and branded content, video games, and consumer goods.

For more information please contact the Chair of the practice:

Sabrina Silverberg

Chair

Selected examples of our work include representing clients such as:

Roku Inc., a TV streaming distribution platform, in the acquisition of Nielsen’s advanced video advertising business, including a strategic partnership to integrate Nielsen ad and content measurement products into the Roku platform.
AMC Networks in the purchase of BBC Studios’ equity in BBC America, as well as the business and legal aspects of a first-time, a la carte, direct-to-consumer OTT app launch in several new international territories, including the Sundance Now and Shudder mobile apps.
MSG Sports in the combination of Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), in which MSG Sports previously owned a controlling interest, with NRG, a professional gaming and entertainment company, leading to MSG Sports becoming a noncontrolling equity interest in the larger, combined NRG/CLG company.
Madison Square Garden Company in the design, development and distribution of mobile applications for the Madison Square Garden arena and its resident professional sports teams (Knicks, Rangers) involving event ticketing, merchandise and other product sales conducted via mobile application.
Madison Square Garden Company and TAO Group Hospitality in the sale of TAO Group Hospitality to global investment company Mohari Hospitality.
Media company Advance Publications Inc. and its portfolio company 1010data, a leading provider of enterprise analytics, in the sale of 1010data to SymphonyAI.
A News Corp.-owned affiliate in a variety of technology, licensing and marketing partnerships concerning in-store marketing campaigns and e-commerce solutions for mobile platforms, including coupon issuance, device identification (e.g., NFC, beacons, wallet integration, QR codes), mobile payment and fraud detection.
A predecessor to Paramount Global in e-commerce and m-commerce initiatives involving the integration of third-party platforms, consumer product procurement and merchant processing services in support of its programming networks (e.g., MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central).
A major entertainment company in developing its standard approach to, and forms of, artificial intelligence vendor and partner agreements.

Sabrina Silverberg

Chair