Back in September 2011, a collapse in negotiations left Netflix and Starz unable to come to terms on a deal that would extend the contract between the two companies. At the time, Starz said that they had to protect the “premium nature of the brand” by making sure they keep the “appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive brand.” According to sources inside the negotiations, Starz wanted Netflix to pay them much more to renew the licensing fee and they also wanted a tiered pricing system for their content.
When that didn’t work out, the date of execution was set for February 28th. Look at the calendar, my friends – Starz content (which includes Disney and Sony content) is a dead man walking.
After today, some big films are going to drop off of Netflix’s list of offerings: Toy Story 3, Young Frankenstein, Apocalypto, JFK, Scream, Big, Hellboy, Night of the Living Dead, and over 1,000 more.
So, Netflix is losing a lot of content. But they are hoping to lessen the sting by announcing a string of new, exclusives coming to the platform in the upcoming months.
Last week, Netflix announced a new licensing agreement with the Weinstein Company that includes many foreign and documentary films. The deal aslo includes certain other “speciality” films, all of which will be appear on Netflix exclusively, before they appear on cable pay networks like HBO.
With the announcement of that agreement, we knew that films like Best Picture Winner The Artist and Best Documentary Winner Undefeated were coming to Netflix soon. Now, Netflix has elaborated on the Oscar films that will be gracing their catalog in the near future.
“The Artist” took home the top prize of Best Picture and ultimately won 5 of the 10 awards it was nominated for including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score. It will make its debut on Netflix and not be available on any premium pay TV services in the U.S. Best Documentary Feature winner “Undefeated” will also makes its exclusive debut on Netflix this year.
They also announced that Best Animated Feature Rango and Best Picture Nominee Hugo will also become available exclusively through Netflix in the near future. Current box office hits Act of Valor and Good Deeds will also be Netflix exclusives.
Do these additions make up for all the losses happening because of the Starz deal? Probably not. But Netflix has been adding content over the past few months in the hopes of beefing up their streaming catalog. But if you still can, make sure you watch Teen Wolf before it disappears from your queue (because I know it’s sitting there).
