Disney/ABC has signed content licensing agreements with two streaming rivals on the same day: Netflix and Amazon. The deals with both companies are similar: the streamers gain access to hundreds of episodes of popular ABC television shows.
Netflix
The Disney/Netflix deal will bring hits such as Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost and Private Practice to Netflix. Current series content will be available to Netflix subscribers 30 days after the season’s final episode.
Ted Sarandos, chief content officer with Netflix, offered the following on the deal:
“Disney and ABC have been and continue to be an innovative and supportive partner for Netflix . . . The diverse but always excellent programming from the different channels and networks are favorites of our members, and we are thrilled to broaden the scope and extend the terms or our relationship.”
Amazon
Under the terms of the Disney/Amazon deal, the latter will add more than 800 episodes from programs such as Grey’s Anatomy and Lost to its Prime streaming service.
Brad Beale, director of video content acquisition for Amazon, was as effusive about the deal as his rival at Netflix:
“We are excited to add some of the very best content available from Disney/ABC to Prime instant video . . . This includes every episode of past seasons from … fan favorites like ‘Felicity’ and ‘Greek,’ the popular Disney Channel show ‘Phineas & Ferb’ and great animated series from Marvel.”
(via Home Media Magazine here and here)
This deal is in a way a mixed blessing. It’s nothing unique for either (well Netflix still comes out on top but they were before). The good part is that if the studios license to two or all three then we won’t have to subscribe to all three.
I wonder how long that will last however. Eventually Netflix and Hulu will realize that they aren’t making headway and will start fighting for exclusives. Either that or it will work out as each will maintain customer base.
I have got all of Lost. And really don’t care for the rest of it. I dumped NetFlix /
I have Hulu and Netflix but not Amazon, this will help keep me away from Amazon as I don’t need redundancy and I don’t like Amazon’s pricing schemes.
I watch things I can’t watch on the other obviously but I choose Netflix over Hulu simply to avoid the commercials (and Hulu has crap presence on Roku, it doesn’t like to load correctly or pause without dying) and I pay Netflix more for that option.