Starting the Conversation: why you opened this review

• Briefly tell your reason for exploring distribution partnerships right now. Options: Direct-to-consumer acquisition cost above LTV, Major carriage or renewal upcoming, Need new retention levers, Exploring new distribution channels, Other
• How urgent is resolving acquisition cost and churn for your next planning milestone? Options: Immediate, this quarter, Within 3 months, Within 6 months, Longer term
• Share the acquisition cost per net paid subscriber your team uses as the DTC benchmark and the target you would accept from partner-sourced subscribers.
• Estimate your blended acquisition cost per paid subscriber over the last 12 months. Options: Under $10, $10 to $25, $25 to $50, Over $50, Unknown / needs analysis
• Would meeting an acquisition cost target alone be sufficient, or do you need a measurable churn improvement to proceed? Options: Cost alone sufficient, Need cost plus churn improvement, Need clear net revenue uplift, Unsure

Why your acquisition math feels unsustainable

• If paid marketing stopped scaling tomorrow, what part of your growth plan breaks first? Options: Subscriber adds fall off, ARPU declines, Churn increases, Revenue targets missed, Other
• Describe the last time a distribution arrangement materially moved your acquisition cost or retention, and why it worked or failed.
• Which of these acquisition levers are you prepared to deploy in the next 90 days? Options: Bundled offers with partners, Carrier or broadband promotions, Device preloads or placements, Targeted partner referral programs, Increased paid media, Other
• How does your finance team currently attribute subscribers acquired through partners versus direct channels? Options: Separate attribution line and tracking, Estimated attribution with assumptions, No clear attribution method, Not tracked
• If presented with modeled bundle unit economics and an expected churn delta, what single outcome would convince your CFO to greenlight a pilot?

Who signs, who can pause, and who must be convinced

• Who on your leadership team can approve changes that affect revenue recognition, content exclusivity, or minimum guarantees? Options: Chief Commercial Officer, Head of Distribution, CFO, General Counsel, Head of Content, Board or committee
• Name the three stakeholders we must have aligned to finalize commercial terms within your organization.
• Do any of those stakeholders require a formal business case, scenario runs, or board paper before engaging in negotiations? Options: Formal business case required, High level scenarios sufficient, They will engage before formal materials, Unsure
• Where in your internal approval workflow does procurement or legal typically insert review, and how long do those reviews take on average?
• Confirm whether any standing veto rights exist that could block a third-party pilot, for example content strategy or compliance veto. Options: Yes, legal veto, Yes, content strategy veto, Yes, compliance or privacy veto, No standing veto, Unsure
• Could the project proceed on delegated signoff if one stakeholder withheld approval? Options: Yes, delegation available, No, unanimous approval required, Depends on draft terms, Unsure

Are your data and access ready to model real subscriber economics?

• Describe the exact datasets your team can make available to run subscriber LTV and per-service unit economics, including cohorts, revenue, licensing, and marketing spend.
• Select which of these data sources are currently accessible to external partners within your company. Options: Subscriber cohort tables, Billing and revenue ledger, Channel level marketing spend, Content licensing contracts, Partner performance reports, None are accessible
• Who is the data owner for subscriber cohorts, billing records, and content contracts, and who can sign data access authorizations within two weeks?
• Estimate how clean and query-ready your subscriber and revenue data are on a 1 to 5 scale. Options: 1 - fragmented and incomplete, 2 - needs heavy cleaning, 3 - usable with work, 4 - mostly clean, 5 - analytics ready
• Are there regulatory, privacy, or partner consent constraints that will require extra reviews before anonymized cohort data can be shared? Options: Yes, legal review required, Yes, partner consent required, No known constraints, Unsure
• Which single missing dataset would prevent you from accepting modeled outcomes? Options: Subscriber cohorts, Billing revenue, Channel marketing spend, Licensing and exclusivity terms, Partner reporting, None would prevent acceptance

Other paths on the table: who and what you are comparing us to

• List the alternatives you are actively evaluating besides an outside negotiation advisor, including internal options and incumbent firms. Options: Do it with internal team, Renew with incumbent advisor, Hire a different advisor, Platform-driven distribution program, Pause and revisit later
• Do any internal teams argue that you should solve this without an external partner, and if so which teams? Options: Product/engineering, Commercial/in-house negotiations, Legal or business affairs, No internal push to keep it internal, Unsure
• Explain what would have to be true about your current approach for you to keep it rather than change to a partnered model.
• Rate the internal team's confidence in handling complex carrier or device negotiations on a 1 to 5 scale. Options: 1 - not confident, 2 - low confidence, 3 - moderate confidence, 4 - high confidence, 5 - very high confidence
• Could staying with the incumbent or doing this internally still deliver acquisition costs below your DTC benchmark within six months? Options: Yes, No, Maybe with significant investment, Unsure

Where deals get stuck and what that costs you

• When have past distribution negotiations derailed, and who ultimately bore the biggest operational or financial cost?
• Identify the top three operational failure modes that consumed time or budget in previous deals, for example missing data, partner approvals, or rights gaps.
• Where in your contract lifecycle do exclusivity windows or promotional commitments cause the most negotiation friction?
• Would a required exclusivity window longer than six months be a deal killer for your programming team? Options: Yes, deal killer, Would require significant compensation, No, acceptable with terms, Unsure

If the numbers prove out, what needs to happen to move fast

• Imagine a pilot model shows acquisition cost 30 percent below your DTC benchmark, what internal approvals and documents would be required to sign a 12 month pilot?
• Give the earliest realistic date your team could begin a data handoff and a 90 day modeling sprint. Options: Immediately, Within 2 weeks, Within 1 month, 2 to 3 months, Longer
• Select which deliverables you require to accept a pilot result: detailed LTV model, deal term scorecard, signed term sheet template, or an executive summary. Options: Detailed LTV model, Deal term scorecard, Signed term sheet template, Executive summary for leadership, Other
• What single contractual authorization would allow your legal team to begin drafting partner agreements immediately? Options: Data access NDA, Template term sheet, Budget or PO confirmation, Board or executive mandate, None of the above
• Confirm the primary KPI your CFO will use to accept success for this effort: acquisition cost per net subscriber, churn reduction, or net revenue per user. Options: Acquisition cost per net subscriber, Churn reduction, Net revenue per user, Other

• Advisory Approach and Scenarios Walkthrough

• Confirm the current state and its cost to your team
• You confirm the restated current state and accept the quantified cost impact presented.
• Deliver a tailored scenario model using the metrics discussed and provide a sensitivity table showing acquisition cost per subscriber across three bundle structures within 7 business days.
• Provide latest ARPU, cohort churn curves, marketing CAC by cohort, and an ordered list of the top three distribution partner targets within 3 business days.
• Walk through the advisory methodology mapped to your decision roles
• You identify at least one deal archetype from the examples that would be acceptable to test in your portfolio.
• Review comparable deal archetypes and the mechanics that drive unit economics
• You agree to a short list of metrics and a timeline that will allow the seller to deliver a tailored scenario model.
• Confirm the names and approval timelines for the decision makers who will sign off on modeled scenarios and negotiation authority.
• Run a buyer-context scenario using your key metrics
• Is this what you meant when you said you needed bundle structures that reduce acquisition cost below your direct-to-consumer LTV?
• Agree next evidence and decision milestones

• Advisory Approach and Scenarios Walkthrough
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief — Advisory Approach & Scenarios

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Design bundle pricing and tiering
• Build subscriber LTV & unit-economics model
• Deliver benchmarking dataset of comparable deals
• Structure minimum guarantees and escalators
• Negotiate carrier and device distribution agreements
• Negotiate content licensing and exclusivity terms
• Draft contract redlines and definitive agreements
• Negotiate marketing and promotional commitments
• Establish subscriber attribution and reconciliation
• Model financial scenarios and sensitivity analysis
• Configure revenue-share and payment waterfall
• Prepare rights windowing and territory schedules
• Execute deal closing and operational handoff
• Operate pilot bundle activation with partner

Design bundle pricing and tiering

• Which existing bundle names and price points do you currently offer to subscribers? Options: Single-service monthly, Multiple-tier monthly, Annual prepaid, Promotional trial tiers, No current bundles
• How many distinct price tiers do you want modeled for the new bundle structure? Options: 1, 2, 3, 4 or more
• Who on your team owns pricing approval and can sign off on tier changes?
• Provide the current average revenue per user (ARPU) by tier as extracted from your billing system or a CSV export.
• Estimate the promotional discount depth you will allow for partner-subsidized activations (for example 25% off for 6 months). Options: No discount, Up to 25%, 26-50%, More than 50%

Build subscriber LTV & unit-economics model

• Which subscriber cohorts should be included in the lifetime-value model (for example new partner-acquired users, paid DTC cohorts, churn-risk cohorts)? Options: Partner-acquired, Direct-to-consumer (DTC) paid, Promo-to-paid converters, High-churn cohort, Custom
• How many months of historical churn and ARPU data can you provide as CSV exports from your analytics platform? Options: 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24+ months, None available
• Indicate the attribution window to use for partner-acquired subscribers when calculating acquisition cost per subscriber (for example 30 days post activation). Options: 7 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, Custom
• Specify which billing events we can ingest from your billing platform (invoice created, payment success, refund, churn/entitlement revoke). Options: Invoice created, Payment success, Refund, Churn/entitlement revoke, Other
• Quantify acceptable model assumptions ranges you want stress-tested (e.g., monthly churn ±2 percentage points, ARPU ±10%).

Deliver benchmarking dataset of comparable deals

• List the distribution partner archetypes you consider comparable for benchmarking (for example major mobile network operators, national broadband providers, global device OEMs). Options: Mobile network operators, Broadband ISPs, Device OEMs, Retail platform bundles, Other
• Identify the deal attributes you need benchmarked (for example minimum guarantees, effective CPM-per-subscriber, promotional pricing duration, revenue share percentages). Options: Minimum guarantees, Effective acquisition cost, Promo duration, Revenue share, Exclusivity windows
• Provide a file or link to any previous term sheets or historical carriage agreements you will allow us to use as baseline comparables.
• Confirm whether you require anonymized third-party deal sources to be cited in the benchmarking dataset as evidence for each comparable data point. Options: Yes, cite sources, No, summary only, Partial citation acceptable
• State the acceptable recency for comparables (for example transactions within the last 12 months) to be included in the dataset. Options: Last 6 months, Last 12 months, Last 24 months, No limit

Structure minimum guarantees and escalators

• Which minimum guarantee (MG) payment cadence do you prefer to propose (for example quarterly MG, annual MG, or per-subscriber MG reconciliation)? Options: Quarterly MG, Annual MG, Per-subscriber MG reconciliation, No MG preferred
• How will you measure the subscriber delivery that triggers escalators (for example activations recorded by partner provisioning API or billing events)? Options: Partner provisioning API, Billing invoice events, S2S activation events, Third-party measurement
• Who will own the financial reconciliation with the partner for MG true-ups and who can approve reconciliation reports?
• Indicate escalation triggers you want included (for example when monthly average activations exceed X, apply higher revenue share or lower MG).
• Are there payment term constraints from your finance team we must honor when proposing MGs (for example net 30, net 60, escrow arrangement)? Options: Net 30, Net 60, Escrow arrangement, Custom payment term

Negotiate carrier and device distribution agreements

• Which partner integration APIs are available for provisioning and subscriber activation (for example carrier S2S activation, OEM deep link, RADIUS/SIP integration)? Options: Carrier S2S activation, OEM deep link, RADIUS/SIP, Manual code redemption, Other
• How many geographic markets and country-specific operators will be part of the negotiation set? Options: 1, 2-3, 4-10, More than 10
• Who in your operations team will manage technical onboarding for carrier provisioning and device entitlement APIs?
• Specify any regulatory constraints in target markets that could affect bundle deployment (for example local content quotas, telecom consumer protection rules).
• Identify the SLAs you require from distribution partners for activation latency and error rates (for example sub-24-hour provisioning, <1% activation failure). Options: 24 hours provisioning, 72 hours provisioning, <1% activation failure, Custom SLA

Negotiate content licensing and exclusivity terms

• Which content catalogs or title lists (for example top 50 owned titles or current licensed sports rights) should be prioritized in exclusivity discussions?
• How long of an exclusivity window are you willing to consider for selected titles within a bundle (for example 30 days, 90 days, seasonal exclusivity)? Options: 30 days, 90 days, Seasonal/quarter, No exclusivity
• Indicate the rights granularity required by territory and platform (for example SVOD global, AVOD desktop only, linear channels excluded). Options: Global SVOD, Territory-limited, Platform-limited, Custom combinations
• Who on your legal or rights team maintains your master rights schedules and can provide title-level metadata for negotiations?
• Are there pre-existing third-party obligations (for example pre-sold windows to other distributors or sports sublicenses) that will restrict bundling options for specific titles? Options: Yes, No, Unsure — need review

Draft contract redlines and definitive agreements

• Which clause types must receive bespoke redlines rather than template edits (for example indemnities, audit rights, IP ownership, data sharing terms)? Options: Indemnities, Audit rights, IP ownership, Data sharing, Payment terms
• Provide a copy of your standard master services agreement or template definitive agreement we must base redlines on.
• Who is the authorized signer for contractual commitments and what is the required internal review timeline to approve final redlines?
• Which contract review workflow do you use (for example legal track changes in Word, redline PDF, or a contract lifecycle management system export)? Options: Track changes (Word), Redline PDF, CLM system export, Email with comments
• Specify any non-negotiable terms your finance or legal teams require (for example max liability cap, minimum insurance level, data protection clauses).

Negotiate marketing and promotional commitments

• Which co-marketing deliverables do you expect from distribution partners (for example IMS placement, homepage carousel, pre-install, bespoke campaign emails)? Options: Homepage placement, Pre-install, Email campaigns, Co-branded ads, In-store POS
• How will promotional performance be measured for marketing credits or rebates (for example tracked activations, unique promo codes, partner reporting)? Options: Tracked activations, Promo codes, Partner reporting, Third-party tracking
• Who will manage creative approvals and what are the lead times required for campaign assets (for example 14 business days for creative QA)?
• Indicate budget or in-kind marketing contribution ranges you will accept from partners (for example $100k media credit, co-funded discounts). Options: No contribution, Small in-kind ($0-50k), Medium ($50k-200k), Large (>$200k)
• Are there any brand compliance rules that must be enforced in partner placements (for example trailer lockups, parental guidance display, logo usage)? Options: Yes, No, Partial — provide guidelines

Establish subscriber attribution and reconciliation

• Which attribution signal will be the primary source for partner-acquired subscribers (for example S2S activation event, promo code redemption, billing event match)? Options: S2S activation event, Promo code, Billing invoice match, Third-party MMP
• How frequently do you require reconciliation reports for partner-sourced subscribers (for example monthly, quarterly)? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Per-invoice cycle, Ad-hoc
• Identify the data fields required in reconciliation exports (for example subscriber id, activation timestamp, country, plan id, promo id).
• Indicate whether you will permit partner access to anonymized activation logs for dispute resolution and how that access should be provisioned (for example S3 bucket, secure API). Options: S3 bucket, Secure API, CSV email, No partner access
• Specify the financial dispute resolution timeline you require for reconciliation disagreements (for example disputes raised within 45 days of invoice). Options: 30 days, 45 days, 60 days, Custom

Model financial scenarios and sensitivity analysis

• Which scenario levers should be modeled as sensitivities (for example churn improvement, promotional conversion lift, partner take rate, revenue share changes)? Options: Churn improvement, Promo conversion lift, Partner take rate, Revenue share changes, Other
• How many scenario permutations do you expect in the final deliverable (for example base case plus three downside and three upside scenarios)? Options: Base + 2 scenarios, Base + 4 scenarios, Base + 6 scenarios, Custom
• Provide the target internal rate of return (IRR) or payback period threshold you use to accept a distribution deal.
• Indicate whether you need waterfalled P&L outputs by legal entity or consolidated only. Options: Consolidated only, By legal entity, Both
• State the file formats you require for scenario outputs (for example Excel with formula-preserved sheets, CSV summary exports, PDF executive summary). Options: Excel workbook, CSV exports, PDF summary, All of the above

Configure revenue-share and payment waterfall

• Which revenue events are eligible for share (for example net subscriber revenue after VAT, gross operator billing, ad-supported revenue)? Options: Net subscription after VAT, Gross operator billing, Ad revenue, Other
• How should refunds, chargebacks, and fraud adjustments flow through the payment waterfall in reconciliations? Options: Deduct from partner share, Absorb by us, Split pro rata, Custom rule
• Identify the payment frequency required for partner settlements (for example monthly with 45-day lag). Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Per-invoice cycle, Custom
• Who will be the accounts payable contact for payment receipt and remittance confirmation?
• Are there tax withholding or VAT recovery constraints in target territories we must encode into the waterfall calculations? Options: Yes - specify, No, Unknown - need review

Prepare rights windowing and territory schedules

• Which titles require title-level windowing schedules to be produced (for example current season dramas, theatrical releases, live sports franchises)? Options: Current season dramas, Theatrical releases, Live sports, News programming, Other
• How granular must territory schedules be (for example country-by-country versus region-level such as EMEA/APAC)? Options: Country-by-country, Region-level, Global only, Mixed
• Who maintains your master rights database and can provide title metadata and pre-existing encumbrances?
• Specify any content blackout or simultaneity rules required for partners (for example no concurrent SVOD if partner pre-buys linear windows). Options: No blackout, Blackout required, Conditional - specify
• Are you willing to accept staggered windowing for partner bundles (for example early access for partner subscribers for 30-90 days)? Options: Yes - 30 days, Yes - 90 days, No, Conditional

• Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Data Access Authorization
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Authorization to Act as Agent
• Fee & Payment Schedule (Order Form)
• Decision Milestones & Governance Plan
• Change Order Agreement

• Content Inventory Working Session
• Comparable Deal Benchmarking Framework
• Subscriber LTV and Per-Service Unit Economics Model Build
• Model Validation and Acceptance

• Record any open validation items and a plan to resolve them during negotiation if they arise.
• Produce a short note describing normalization rules and any assumptions used when converting terms.
• Confirm inputs from inventory and benchmarking
• Model structure and calculation logic are approved for scenario development.
• Base-case assumptions are recorded and the initial scenario run is produced for review.
• Version control and documentation expectations for the model are agreed.
• Load the validated inventory and benchmarking inputs into the model template.
• Run and export the initial set of scenarios including baseline, downside, and upside cases.
• Prepare model documentation describing modules, key formulas, and input sources.
• Present scenario results and sensitivity analysis
• Model deliverable is accepted or a concise list of edits is agreed for finalization.
• A chosen scenario is confirmed to guide negotiation strategy.
• A final checklist of documentation and evidence required for the model package is produced.
• Apply the agreed edits and produce the final model package with full documentation and version history.
• Export scenario summary tables and an executive model brief for negotiation use.
• Confirm scope and required outputs
• Inventory template and field definitions are agreed and accepted for modeling use.
• A validated inventory file is marked as complete or a prioritized list of missing items with required sources is produced.
• Acceptance criteria and delivery method for the modeling-ready inventory are documented.
• Provide the cleaned inventory file with the agreed fields and formats.
• Collect and supply the licensing documents or redacted extracts needed to verify each flagged licensing field.
• Deliver a short data quality note describing any remaining uncertainties in the inventory.
• Re-state benchmarking objectives and use cases
• A benchmarking dataset and normalization rules that feed model inputs are agreed.
• Comparator cohorts and weighting approach for scenario inputs are documented.
• A prioritized list of missing comparables or term fields with sourcing actions is produced.
• Assemble the normalized benchmarking dataset in the agreed format for import to the model.
• Source or estimate the missing comparable deal terms identified in the session.
• Define required model outputs and KPIs
• Review inventory template and field definitions
• Validate key assumptions against source evidence
• Present candidate comparables and data sources
• Define deal-term fields and normalization rules
• Walk the catalog by category
• Walk through model modules and calculation logic
• Agree model edits and limitations
• Decision and acceptance of model package
• Populate base-case inputs and run initial scenarios
• Segment comparator cohorts and set weighting rules
• Identify and prioritize data gaps
• Document remaining data gaps and sourcing plan
• Confirm next steps for inventory completion
• Confirm modeling governance and file controls

• Receive fully executed contract documents
• Deliver final financial model package
• Obtain model validation sign-off
• Secure buyer legal sign-off on contractual terms
• Secure buyer commercial sign-off on headline economics
• Provision and verify operational data access
• Record and approve success criteria and measurement plan
• Establish shared issues and change-request log
• Obtain written authorization to issue final invoice

• Go-live Health Check (weeks 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (weeks 4-10)
• 90-Day Performance Review and Stabilization
• Quarterly Realization Review (ongoing)
• Annual Impact Review

• Publish the prioritized enhancement and issues log with requested delivery windows for the next quarter.
• Trigger any agreed partner actions specified in the remediation plan and log expected impact dates.
• Update the issues and enhancement log with outcomes from the 90-day review and priority levels.
• Trend review of core metrics
• Maintain a clear view of whether acquisition cost per subscriber and churn impact remain within the tolerance levels recorded in Engagement Scope.
• Ensure the issues and enhancement requests log is prioritized and specific for the upcoming quarter.
• Confirm expected metric change and timeline for any active remediation items.
• Reconfirm success criteria and owners
• Produce a brief quarterly metric snapshot comparing partner-attributed ACPS and churn delta to Engagement Scope targets.
• Prepare the data package for any partner performance discussions flagged during the review.
• Year-to-date cumulative outcomes
• Confirm the cumulative subscribers and average acquisition cost per subscriber meet the multi-period objectives recorded in Engagement Scope.
• Document the net impact on subscriber LTV and per-service economics from distribution partnerships.
• Agree a refined annual reporting and operational cadence to support continued measurement and issue resolution.
• Produce the annual executive performance summary with cohort-level LTV impact and distribute to the documented owners.
• Archive the year-end datasets and version the financial model inputs used for the annual review.
• Update the shared enhancement backlog with lessons learned and recommended process changes for the next year.
• Confirm that partner reporting feeds and attribution are delivering the required fields for measurement.
• Produce a tracked list of open issues with target resolution dates to enable the first measurement meeting.
• Ensure owners for each success criterion recorded in Engagement Scope are confirmed and committed to providing data.
• Publish the deployment validation log with a checklist of required data fields for the first measurement.
• Enable or correct any partner reporting endpoints identified as failing during validation.
• Circulate a short data quality sample from each partner feed for async confirmation before the next meeting.
• Present first-period outcomes
• Verify whether acquisition cost per subscriber and bundled-subscriber churn delta meet the thresholds recorded in Engagement Scope.
• Identify the top 2 drivers of any shortfall in net subscribers delivered via partner channels.
• Agree a timebound remediation plan to reach the acceptance window metrics recorded in Engagement Scope.
• Update the financial model with actual partner performance and circulate a sensitivity run showing ACPS versus DTC benchmark.
• Create a partner reconciliation ticket list for each discrepancy and log target resolution dates.
• Schedule targeted partner follow-ups for channels underperforming on subscriber delivery or acquisition cost.
• Restate numeric targets from Engagement Scope
• Confirm whether 90-day outcomes for net subscribers and acquisition cost per subscriber meet the targets recorded in Engagement Scope.
• Decide and document either a remediation plan with milestones or a continued monitoring cadence to reach targets.
• Ensure all measurement gaps that would prevent accurate future comparisons are closed or under active remediation.
• Publish the 90-day performance pack with cohort-level data and the agreed remediation or monitoring plan.
• Deployment and reporting validation
• Open issues and enhancement requests log
• Realized LTV and per-service unit economics
• Present 90-day aggregated outcomes
• Data validation and source reconciliation
• Root-cause diagnosis for any gaps
• Performance status and decision on stabilization
• Retrospective on issues and enhancements
• Early adoption and activation signals
• Progress on active remediation items
• Blockers and open issues
• Operational adjustments for next quarter
• Agree operational improvements and reporting cadence
• Agree corrective actions and timeline
• Agree remediation or monitoring plan and timeline
• Agree immediate remediation actions