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.
