Starz To Delay, And Showtime To Stop, Showing Original Series On Netflix Watch Instand
Is Netflix losing its grip? Mere days after announcing their first major gamble by moving into original programming, their on demand service is taking two serious blows. Earlier this week, Showtime announced their upcoming deal would not include the rights to show their original programming like Dexter and Californication on the service and then Starz, one of Netflix's longest partners, said that beginning with Camelot (above) they'll begin implementing a 90 day delay before allowing their original content to show up on Watch Instantly. Plus, Starz will soon start doing the same thing with their movies.
Read more about both deals, and what this means for Netflix, after the break.
The Los Angeles Times broke the news on both the Showtime and Starz deals.
As it stands now, several of Showtime's signature shows are on Netflix Watch Instantly. But the two companies just negotiated a new deal and, once it goes into effect this summer, all of the current shows will be pulled off of the on demand service. Some shows that have been canceled, like The Tudors, will remain on there. For more information this this deal, click here.
As for Starz, beginning with Camelot on April 1, all of their original programming will not appear on Netflix until 90 days after it originally airs. In the past, the shows would appear on Netflix the day after. Also, Starz said in the future they'll do the same thing for their extensive library of movies and while Netflix says that's not true, the deal between the two companies ends next year and will have to be renegotiated.
When Netflix started, many companies jumped on board hoping to spread their products to a larger audience. However, now the consensus seems to be that with their 20 million subscribers, Netflix is becoming a competitor instead of a facilitator.
As a matter of fact, that's true. Netflix is now going to start making their own shows, basically evolving them into another outlet for people to watch content, just like Starz, Showtime, or HBO. They just happen to do it strictly on the internet as opposed to through your cable box.
Do you think this is the beginning of a house of cards? Is Netflix going to lose a lot of their steaming content and will that make you use the service less?