Netflix Must Wait 90 Days to Stream Starz Shows

New agreement starts with “Camelot” and comes on the heels of tighter restrictions on a pact with Showtime

Looks like there's a turf war brewing. 

Starz will institute a 90 day delay on when Netflix can stream its original programs, the cable channel said Thursday. 

The new arrangement will start with the April 1 premiere of the upcoming drama“Camelot."

A spokesperson for Netflix said that contrary to reports, Starz has no intention of pulling its movies from the site. 

"We still plan to renegotiate our deal," Steve Swasey, a spokesperson for Netflix, told TheWrap. "Starz has added 800,000 new members since they started streaming with Netflix. They grew, we grew, everyone has won." 

The news follows Tuesday's announcement that, under a new arrangement with Showtime, Netflix will no longer stream current episodes from the pay channel.

Liberty Media Corp.'s Starz had been an early partner in Netflix's streaming service, giving the subscription service online access to shows and movies from Disney and Sony. Negotiations for a new deal with Starz have been closely scrutinized by analysts.

The $30 million Netflix is believed to shell out for Starz content is significantly less than the $1 billion the company is reportedly paying to stream programming and movies from Epix. The old pact is do up in 2012. 

Further complicating the situation, Netflix has increasingly been viewed as a threat to paid TV stations such as Starz. As the company's digital offerings grow, the fear is that there will be more incentive for consumers to cut the cable cord. Doing nothing to allay those fears, Netflix recently got into the original programming game by outbidding several cable channels for the rights to the Kevin Spacey series "House of Cards." 

Past seasons of Starz series, including “Spartacus,” and previously aired movies, will continue to be available for streaming. Starz subscribers will be able to access new shows through Starz Online.


 

Comments