The offerings got divorced because Netflix was starting to trip on problems related to too many people on streaming for their existing (cheap) licensing deals,

The offerings got divorced because Netflix was starting to trip on problems related to too many people on streaming for their existing (cheap) licensing deals, and deals were coming up for renewal at (not cheap) pricing. So they needed to make more money off the streaming users to be able to pay for more expensive licensing deals. Example: Netflix licensed content from Starz for $30 million/year. Starz licensed content from Sony, but agreed that only a certain number of people would watch via the internet. So Sony movies got pulled from Netflix "temporarily". And Netflix had to up their offer for Starz from $30 million/year to $300 million/year - and Starz decided it still wasn't enough, because they were worried about people watching their stuff for $8/month hurting their other $1.3 billion/year revenue stream. Interesting sources: Sony licensing problem: http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/starz-tells-netflix-to-yank-sony-movies-over-contract-concern/ http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/starz-tells-netflix-to-yank-... Starz income, 1.3 billion vs 300 million: http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline/future-of-film/Inside-Starzs-Netflix-Quandary.html http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline/future-of-film/Insi... 30 million to 300 million for Starz: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-offered-starz-300-million-230734 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-offered-starz-...