AfterDawn: News

Netflix announces deal with Starz

Netflix has announced another partnership, this time with Starz Entertainment, that will bring 2500 movies, TV shows and concerts to the rental company's "Watch Instantly" streaming service.

The giant rental company already has a catalog of over 12,000 movies and TV shows available through its streaming service but has been making deals at a rapid clip as of late. Netflix has over 100,000 titles available on DVD however so the gap is still huge between the content formats.



The deals also mean that the company will remain relevant if the world ever moves to digital downloads and streaming and away from DVD rentals, just like the migration from VHS to DVD a decade ago.

Starz says the deal will give Netflix viewers a chance to view the movies online alot earlier than they would otherwise be able to. One example, "Spider-Man 3" would have not been available for streaming for 9 years had the deal not been struck.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Oct 2008 0:36

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• 7 comments

• cdman2005

  this is awesome, to bad i dont have netflix anymore.

  2.10.2008 02:27 #1

• redux79

  Quote:"Spider-Man 3" would have not been available for streaming for 9 years had the deal not been struck.
  
  So does this mean that all the big releases that are broadcast on hbo, showtime, and cinemax are tied to those channels with a ten year exclusivity agreement? Or is that the length of time before a movie becomes free game so to speak, reach the lowest common denominator and become free to broadcast or be the same low price for royalties.
  
  This would explain why the smaller broadcast stations such as tnt, usa, sci-fi wait a few years to show these big budget movies, after a few years the royalties would be much less and therefore affordable for the smaller networks. That makes sense; I guess I just never really thought about it before.
  
  The trickle down effect from theater to dvd to movie channels to smaller networks has always been the norm. I just wonder what starz has to pay in royalties for each new movie.

  2.10.2008 09:20 #2

• lamain

  All I got to say is keep them coming. I just hope some day I will not need a DVD player at all.

  2.10.2008 12:31 #3

• triedis

  I want them to rent video games already, and the idea isn't too farfetched for a giant company such as Netflix.

  2.10.2008 14:55 #4

• NeoGeoz

  The Roku Netflix player and the "Watch Instantly" service is the best entertainment value available today. I've had mine for awhile and love it. Quality is good, content is good and getting better. Simple to setup (10 minutes tops) and use. Simply awesome.
  
  Netflix will not just "remain relevant" - they are leading the way. I went out and bought Netflix stock a week after I had my Roku. They have it down pat and are ahead of everyone with this service. (I have no affiliation with either company, I just know a good thing when I see it.)
  
  The new Starz deal is a big boost and validates what they have been saying about aggressively adding new content. The Roku box is being opened up to support other sources besides Netflix, so it's all good.

  4.10.2008 00:06 #5

• miltex

  But what about bandwidth caps ? How will that affect us ?
  

  When the chips are down, you can count on miltex !

  4.10.2008 00:14 #6

• NeoGeoz

  Originally posted by miltex: But what about bandwidth caps ? How will that affect us ?Well, no one can be sure, but at current levels they won't affect this and Comcast recently said they would raise them if necessary to accommodate usage. Currently the Netflix player seems to work fine in the 1.5-2 GB/s range. At lower speeds they compress more and quality drops. There are 4 quality levels (1-4 dots with 4 being best). 3 and 4 are both good, 2 is soft, 1 is marginal.
  
  I have consistently gotten 4 dots(max quality) until this weekend when they started making the Starz content available. I think this weekend they are getting hit with more volume than they can handle and I've seen quality drop to 2 dots which is the first time I've ever experienced this. Still watchable, but noticeably soft picture, audio is fine (so I'm watching a lot of concert and music selections).
  
  I'm sure they'll get it straight. It really has been a great experience overall.

  4.10.2008 16:30 #7