Disney buys Potter TV rights for £149m

Media giant Disney has bought the rights to show the Harry Potter film on American television for £49m, it was announced today.

And the firm has also snapped up the rights to the next Harry Potter film for £42 million - despite the fact it has only just begun shooting and Disney chiefs have not seen any footage from it.

But the purchase means Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which is called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in America, will not be broadcast until May 2004 on Disney’s ABC network.

Pay-per-view channels will show the film sooner, giving even more cash to the film, which took in £130m at the American box office in its first 10 days alone.

The deal is the latest pay day for Warner Bros, the studio which made the film, and is the biggest deal ever between and film studio and a broadcaster.

Steve Bornstein, president of the ABC Broadcast Group, said: ‘‘We look forward to being involved with Harry and Hogwarts for many years to come.’’