Netflix, Starz fail to reach terms

By on Sep 2, 2011 at 8:01 AM
Business September 2, 2011

Netflix on Thursday confirmed that as of early next year, it will no longer offer Starz content to its “Watch Instantly” subscribers. The streaming movie and television show service, which can be had for as little as $7.99 per month, allows users to stream any content from Netflix’s digital portfolio on demand. Said portfolio currently includes approximately 1,000 titles from the Starz movie library, and those films will all disappear as of March 1st next year when the current contract expires. According to the Los Angeles Times, Netflix offered Starz as much as $300 million per year to continue offering its content, but Starz was pushing for a deal closer to the terms it has with DirectTV and Time Warner Cable, which reportedly amounts to approximately $7 per subscriber. Netflix service starts at just $7.99 per month, so the only option was to walk away. Read on for more.

Famed entrepreneur Mark Cuban notes that Netflix was smart to walk away from the table. The outspoken billionaire wrote Thursday night that “No one joins [Netflix] for specific content. Rather for breadth and quality,” and the somewhat limited availability of new titles in Netflix’s streaming catalog certainly supports that theory. Cuban went on to state that Netflix can easily purchase more content for less money with its available cash. Netflix has additional content deals in place with numerous studios and networks beyond Starz, and it will soon offer its own original programming when the new Netflix-only series House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey begins airing next year.

Read [LA Times] Read [Mark Cuban]

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  • Bullet Tooth Tony

    Oh well… When the industry is ready to move that direction, they will…. only took music like… a decade.  Sure does make that price increase even more bitter though!

    • Fat Mams

      Starz content sucks, although this does not fare well when the prices go up ..

      • Bullet Tooth Tony

        Yeah……….. I think you have Starz confused with Showtime… Starz is easily the second best option after HBO.  They have Disney, which is huge… especially considering people have children, and there’s more Disney stuff than just childrens movies.  Then there’s Sony, Columbia, TriStar, Warner Bros older stuff, New Line, MGM, Paramount, Universal…

        …and then there’s Encore for the older stuff.

      • Anonymous

        Starz content is good on the network, but their library on Netflix sucks and its not available in HD either.

  • Anonymous

    Dear Netflix, 

    Thanks to your price increase, I recently canceled my DVD option. Many customers have done the same.
    Improve streaming, or we’re leaving.

    Signed, Your Angry Customers. 

    • Ethan_V

      have fun wasting your money on where ever you go

      • Anonymous

        Torrents?

      • Anonymous

        lol torrents. Usenet. I still use netflix too though.

      • Anonymous

        I need access to a good usenet group. Anyone care to help?

      • Bullet Tooth Tony

        Redbox?  Local video store that charges the same price as Redbox?  I think I’ll have a hard time watching 15 movies every month to cover the total cost Netflix was… so I’ll miss being able to watch my old episodes of Fraggle Rock…… I’ll live.

    • Brian82

      Netflix would let you stream every movie and TV show if they could.  It’s the greedy movie and TV companies who severely overvalue their product.  

  • JPELLIS

    I have cancelled my service, since the GREED of doubling the cost to have the options of DVD rental and streaming are seperate Costs…  I just hope everyone helps teach Netflix, and anyone else that if you want to RIP off your loyal customers, just because of the want of million dollar yearly bonuses for upper management….  It would be nice to see NO bonus, due to the loss of 60% of you user base!!!   There are many other cheaper options out there.  Use them instead of GREEDY NETFLIX!

    • Anonymous

      It’s not greed. Do more research. Netflix did it because of the studios greed. Take this article for example, the morons wanted way more cash when they could have taken $300 million. But because of their greed Netflix walked away. Look at Miramax for example, the studios greed caused it to fail anD a group of investors swooped in and bought it out. The first thing Miramax did after that? Well, they struck a deal with Netflix.

      • ReyLuca

        You are absolutely right on the money with your comment!  The studios control the content and more importantly the length of license contract.  Netflix would have loved to have had a longer deal in place but the studios dont like longterm deals of their content.  They like to keep it short and If goes well, they’ll spike up their asking price when renewal….

      • Anonymous

        Right. Its exactly why Netflix jacked up the price, to be able to continue its large library of videos because the studios have caught on and their disgusting greed (whats new in the Movie & Music biz?) causes Netflix to have to pay up more. It was also to be able to pay more for more titles. 

        All these people that only look at it from what side of the road bitching and moaning and cancelling their subscriptions dont help the cause.

  • Terry C Henry

    What i would like to see netflix do is put in a bid for hulu…

  • http://twitter.com/drbyers Donnie Byers

    Wow. Netflix is gonna be even less of a bargain.

  • Anonymous

    Netflix:
    skipping along
    Blockbuster Boulevard –

    True Story™®©

  • CMC

    Starz wanted $7 a customer?  Um, greed yeah?  This is another blow for netflix — they lost Sony, now Starz, wonder who’s next.  The library seems to be shrinking.  A significant amount of content is not available to stream instantly.  Really sad.  All they can do is increase prices.  Here we go again with content providers being so overwhelmingly greedy that it forces people to look for in other ways.  I predict the rise of torrent again.

    • Yomama

      their content was utter crap! not to mention that most were not even in hd…..

      we were living like we were back in the early 2000s’

    • ReyLuca

      I agree f…k em!  I’ll torrent them like I used to.  Starz,  you were getting at least some money from netflix through its customers.  Now, you’re getting zero from Netflix and your content will just get torrented.  Good bye Starz, cause I dont even want you as a movie channel package.  7 dollars on top of a 50 dollar cable bill!  Yeah, right!  So long sucker, i’ll torrent you…

      • Anonymous

        Heads up content providers…greed will get you no where.  If you get too greedy people will find other ways to entertain themselves or get your content illegally. I will remain a Netflix subscriber (streaming) as I still think it is a great value.  I don’t have cable any more (don’t need it with Roku’s 300 internet channels).  I can watch evening news and TV shows on internet TV with no commercials.  

  • Anonymous

    Netflix needs to create content or buy a content provider. Other than that they wont survive the greed of the hollywood studios. And yes the price hike of netflix is annoying, but its due to the studios not netflix. If you want to be angry, be angry at the studios not netflix.

  • Anonymous

    Greedy content providers.

  • http://silicoxvalley.com person287

    I really don’t get the possible benefit for starz. By doing this they’ve effectively lost $300 million and pissed off a lot of customers.
    Netflix did all they could, and I think they seem like they’re looking out for the best for the customer.
    Businesses can sometimes be total ****s (guess what that means)!

  • Anonymous

    This is definitely one of those cases of a lose-lose situation; Starz was an also-ran until their deal with Netflix, and Netflix still needs their content, regardless of what they say. Now they will part ways, and each will suffer as a result. It only makes me realize that ending my subscription to Netflix (after 9 years!) is the right move.

  • Agentsmith631

    I dropped to one dvd a month. streaming content is lacking. Who is running netflix? They are doing a poor job.

  • Anonymous

    Rot in hell Netfucks.  I am dumping your 60% price increasing ass this month.

  • ItsSoooAwkward

    I see a lot of people who are downgrading their Netflix membership to streaming only.  This does little to send a message to them that a 60% increase is insanity.  Also their streaming catalog sucks and I need discs to get what I want.  I cancelled my membership on August 29th.  It was fun while it lasted but the “little company that could” has become just another greedy corporation.  I guess it was inevitable.  RIP Netflix 1997 – 2011.

  • ItsSoooAwkward

    I see a lot of people who are downgrading their Netflix membership to streaming only.  This does little to send a message to them that a 60% increase is insanity.  Also their streaming catalog sucks and I need discs to get what I want.  I cancelled my membership on August 29th.  It was fun while it lasted but the “little company that could” has become just another greedy corporation.  I guess it was inevitable.  RIP Netflix 1997 – 2011.

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