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EQUITY INVESTMENTS
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]  
EQUITY INVESTMENTS EQUITY INVESTMENTS
The Company holds equity investments in Spiegel TV Geschichte und Wissen GmbH & Co. KG (the “Spiegel Venture”) and Watch Nebula LLC (“Nebula”). The Company accounts for these investments under the equity method of accounting.
The Company’s carrying value for its equity method investment in Nebula as of June 30, 2025, and December 31, 2024, was as follows:
(in thousands)
Total
Balance at December 31, 2024$3,848 
Equity method investment loss(307)
Balance at June 30, 2025$3,541 
The carrying value of the Company’s equity method investment in the Spiegel Venture was reduced to zero as of December 31, 2024, and remains unchanged as of June 30, 2025.
SPIEGEL VENTURE
In July 2021, the Company acquired a 32% ownership in the Spiegel Venture for an initial investment of $3.3 million. The Spiegel Venture, which prior to the Company’s equity purchase, was jointly owned and operated by Spiegel TV GmbH (“Spiegel TV”) and Autentic GmbH (“Autentic”), operates two documentary channels, together with an SVOD service as well as a free advertising-supported streaming television (FAST) channel, which provide factual content to audiences in Germany and certain German-speaking regions of other countries. The Company has not received any dividends from the Spiegel Venture as of June 30, 2025.
Per the Share Purchase Agreement (as amended in early 2023, the “SPA”), in the event the Spiegel Venture achieved certain financial targets during its 2022 fiscal period, the Company was required to make an additional payment related to its 32% equity ownership to both Spiegel TV and Autentic (the “Holdback Payment”). During the three months ended June 30, 2023, the Company determined the Spiegel Venture had achieved such financial targets, resulting in the Company paying a Holdback Payment in the amount of $0.9 million to Spiegel TV and Autentic during July 2023. The Company recorded this transaction as an equity investment in its balance sheet.
The Company has a call option that permits it to require Spiegel TV and Autentic to sell their respective ownership interests in the Spiegel Venture (the “Call Option”) to the Company. The Call Option, exercisable at a value based on a determinable calculation in the SPA, is initially exercisable only during the period that is the later of (i) 30 business days following the adoption of the Spiegel Venture’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year 2025, and (ii) the period between March 1, 2026, and March 31, 2026.
Together with the Call Option, each of Spiegel TV and Autentic has a put option that permits them to require the Company to purchase their interests (the “Put Option”) at a value based on a determinable calculation outlined in the SPA. The Put Option is only exercisable during the period that is the later of (i) 60 business days following the adoption of the Spiegel Venture’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year 2025, and (ii) the period between April 1, 2026, and April 30, 2026.
In the event that neither the Call Option nor the Put Option is exercised, both options will continue to be available to each respective party in perpetuity beginning in the following year, with exercise limited to the applicable date range outlined above.
NEBULA
Nebula is an SVOD technology platform built for and by a group of independent content creators. Prior to the Company’s investment, Nebula was a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Broadcast LLC (“Standard”). On August 23, 2021, the Company purchased a 12% ownership interest in Nebula for $6.0 million. Upon its initial investment, the Company obtained 25% representation on Nebula’s board of directors.
Since the time of its original investment, the Company purchased additional incremental ownership interests, each for a payment of $0.8 million and representing 1.625% of equity ownership, if Nebula met certain quarterly targets. The Company made three subsequent incremental purchases, bringing its total ownership interest in Nebula to 16.875% as of June 30, 2025. The opportunity or obligation to make additional purchases ended as of September 30, 2023. Because the Company did not purchase at least two consecutive ownership interests in Nebula, effective December 15, 2023, Standard removed the Company’s seat on the Nebula board of directors. The Company has not received dividends from Nebula as of June 30, 2025.
Beginning August 2021, the Company included access to Nebula’s SVOD service as a part of a combined CuriosityStream / Watch Nebula subscription offer and as part of the Company’s Smart Bundle subscription package. As part of this arrangement, the Company shared revenue with Nebula based on certain metrics and paid monthly. On September 26, 2023, Nebula provided the Company with a notice of non-renewal, resulting in the expiration of the revenue share agreement at the end of 2023. Nebula was required to make its service available to subscribers of these offerings through the end of the term of any such subscription that existed as of December 31, 2024.