British Firm Reported Making Progress on Film Deals : Entertainment: British Sky Broadcasting is in talks with Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. and Touchstone Pictures to trim licensing costs.

British Sky Broadcasting PLC, the London-based satellite TV service formed last year by the merger of rival ventures Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting, appears to be close to winning some concessions from three Hollywood studios for its costly program contracts.

According to sources in London, BSkyB has negotiated cheaper contracts with Sony Entertainment’s Columbia Pictures division, Warner Bros. and Disney’s Touchstone Pictures unit. A report of the new deals first surfaced in Sunday’s edition of the Independent, a London newspaper.

Officials at two of the three studios, however, said formal agreements have yet to be completed.

Robert Daly, chairman of Warner Bros., said negotiations are continuing, “but we have no closing on a new arrangement.” An official at Disney, who asked not to be identified, said the studio also did not yet have a new contract with BSkyB. A spokesman for Columbia declined comment.

BSkyB has been negotiating for nearly a year to restructure film licensing deals entered into before the two ventures merged last November. The steep prices--ponied up, in some cases, when Sky TV and British Satellite were aggressively competing for film libraries during their start-ups--are largely blamed for the continuing losses at BSkyB.

Renegotiation of BSkyB’s film licensing deals is considered crucial by the firm’s officials if the satellite service is to become profitable. The service is half-owned and managed by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

According to an authoritative source in London, the merged BSkyB committed to pay about $1.4 billion over five years for films to broadcast on its two movie channels. In 1991, BSkyB is expected to spend about $221 million for film rights, or 45% of its operating costs, if it fails to renegotiate its agreements.

Still unresolved, however, are separate licensing deals with United International Pictures, an overseas theatrical distribution company jointly owned by Paramount, Universal and MGM/UA.

BSkyB has sued United International in Britain’s High Court and filed a complaint with the European Commission in Brussels alleging that its joint agreement on behalf of the three studios is anti-competitive.

The 3-year-old UIP deal covers more than 1,000 films from Paramount and Universal and reportedly costs $600 million to $800 million. MGM/UA titles are licensed to BSkyB under a separate agreement.

During a television conference last weekend in Cambridge, England, BSkyB Chairman Frank Barlow said the satellite network had been able to cut losses from about $19 million per week at the merger to about $2.6 million per week now. He said licensing agreements for films were the biggest expense.

Barlow on Monday declined to comment on the negotiations.

BSkyB has five channels but is about to add a sixth with comedy programming next month. It says the service is available in 2.7 million households in the United Kingdom and Ireland through satellite dishes, cable TV and SMATV (satellite TV hooked up to apartment buildings).

Jeff Kaye reported from London and John Lippman reported from Los Angeles.