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Between the Lines

Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

Netflix, NBC Universal renew contract; more shows for streaming

By | July 13, 2011, 2:36pm PDT

Summary: While everyone continues to go mad over the Netflix price hikes, at least the online rental service is holding on to some of its Hollywood studio contracts and adding more content.

While everyone continues to go mad over the Netflix price hikes, at least the online rental service is holding on to some of its Hollywood studio contracts and adding more content.

However, some of that new content will likely not be enough to please subscribers who are upset over the fact that unlimited DVD rental plus streaming plans start at almost $16 now.

Netflix recently lost a whole slew of Sony-owned content from its digital library, and it’s had issues with other studios and networks, namely Showtime, in the last year. Considering many subscribers and the media can now be added to its frenemy queue, Netflix can need all the partners it can get.

Enter NBC Universal. The Peacock Network and Netflix renewed their multi-year licensing agreement, which not only keeps content from that studio available online, but it also brings some new stuff along with it. Of course, that extra stuff comes with more licensing fees, so you can see why Netflix rates are going up.

Some of the film picks that will be available in Watch Instantly are top notch (at least in my humble opinion), including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Motorcycle Diaries.

New episodes from the standard and generally popular NBC programs such as The Office, Law and Order: SVU and 30 Rock will also be added to the collection.

Mysteriously, The Los Angeles Times reports that new episodes of Saturday Night Live will not appear anymore in the Watch Instantly section, at least not for now.

Yet, more episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane will become available. Those shows might not be enough to justify paying an extra $6 per month for most Netflix subscribers, but those are just a few of the many programs and movies incorporated to this deal.

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Topics

Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

Disclosure

Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

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RE: Netflix, NBC Universal renew contract; more shows for streaming
ZedDead 14th Jul
Netflix is being as greedy as an oil company. Their spokesman actually compared the price increase to buying a latte. I'm so tired of that sort of comparison. Last I checked, I paid for services in dollars, not lattes.

The economy is bad, this is a 60% price increase, and Netflix is offering absolutely no new value in return for the increase. I'm gone. I'm gone on principle alone. I'm not switching to a streaming only plan like they want me to. If Netflix doesn't care about me after a half-decade of loyalty, I'll buy my lattes elsewhere.
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More Crap
jpr75_z Updated - 13th Jul
I guess there are people who like watching re-runs of vapid sitcoms, but come on. And how many times have you tried to stream a movie from Netflix only to have it say, "DVD Only" (That is going to be on Netflix's tombstone.) Raise prices - maybe - but what are we getting for it?? Just more brainless, moronic TV shows - No Thanks. Gotta re-think my Netflix Subscription (but I love the Blu-ray DVDs).
@jpr75_z I dropped the streaming capability because there was so little available. We like to watch foreign films and so its dvd only for us.

I am hoping Amazon steps up their game with streaming, their service is easy to use.
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That's right burn in hell Netflix. Thanks for wasting my time for a year and a half with your lousy streaming selection. Thanks for rigging your search results to show that most everything is DVD only. Thanks for telling the world you're moving to a streaming only model, yet still keeping around your crappy mail in DVD service. There's only so many times you can blame your contract conditions. You suck Netflix. The future of streaming will survive without you!
Netflix is being as greedy as an oil company. Their spokesman actually compared the price increase to buying a latte. I'm so tired of that sort of comparison. Last I checked, I paid for services in dollars, not lattes.

The economy is bad, this is a 60% price increase, and Netflix is offering absolutely no new value in return for the increase. I'm gone. I'm gone on principle alone. I'm not switching to a streaming only plan like they want me to. If Netflix doesn't care about me after a half-decade of loyalty, I'll buy my lattes elsewhere.

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