The latest skirmish in the ongoing battle between pay-TV and over-the-top providers to woo customers by building the most alluring content ecosystems has been won by on-demand streaming service Netflix (albeit, yesterday it was pay-TV’s day). Netflix has inked a deal with U.S. Warner Bros for the exclusive online rights to eight current Warner Bros Television Group shows airing in the 2012-13 season — namely: J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions post-apocalyptic America drama Revolution; Sigourney Weaver vehicle Political Animals; Western mystery series Longmire; supernatural thriller 666 Park Avenue; Kevin Bacon FBI thriller The Following; plus Chuck; Fringe; and The West Wing — as well as “potential future shows”.
Under the agreement, the pair said the shows can also be made available via “traditional syndication windows, electronic sell-through services and on a catch-up basis for recently aired episodes”. Netflix, which now has more than 30 million streaming members worldwide, described the deal as “unprecedented” — owing to how quickly it’s been able to secure rights to such “prominent” shows, and the exclusivity of the deal. Last month the company scored another big win, striking a wide-ranging deal with Disney – including exclusive rights from 2016 to movies from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Disneynature.
For its part, Warner Bros said the deal is a sign of how it’s continuing to adapt its business model to accommodate subscription video on demand. ”SVOD has become an important window for our serialized dramas, allowing viewers a chance to discover a series that before might have been intimidating to tune into mid-run,” said Bruce Rosenblum , President, Warner Bros. Television Group in a statement. “We continue to adapt our business models to include SVOD when it makes sense for the long-term value of each show and are thrilled to have Netflix as one of our distribution partners.”
In another recent over-the-top win, late last week ecommerce giant Amazon inked a deal with A+E Networks to beef up the content ecosystem of its Prime Instant Video streaming service.
Warner Brothers is a subsidiary of Time Warner, and one of the largest film and TV producers.
Netflix is the world’s leading Internet television network with more than 33 million members in 40 countries enjoying more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including Netflix original series. For one low monthly price, Netflix members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Learn more about how Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is pioneering Internet television at...
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