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To really understand the golden age of streaming TV, you have to know about the Netflix/Starz deal [1] In ~2008 Netflix delivered DVDs by post, and the only pe

To really understand the golden age of streaming TV, you have to know about the Netflix/Starz deal [1] In ~2008 Netflix delivered DVDs by post, and the only people getting their video online were pirates and anime fans. So when Netflix approached Starz to license streaming rights nobody else wanted them, and Netflix got a great price for loads of content like recent Hollywood movies. Allowing them to offer a huge catalogue to US viewers for $10/month. By 2012, when the contract came up for renegotiation, Hollywood had worked out that streaming rights were big business - and they figured their output was worth way more than $10/month. There were $100/month cable packages that got you less than you got from a $10/month netflix membership, that's a lot of money left on the table - so of course the deal didn't get renewed. And Netflix has never been the same since. [1] https://money.cnn.com/2012/02/29/technology/netflix_starz/index.htm https://money.cnn.com/2012/02/29/technology/netflix_starz/in...

thunky 4y ago
What I don't understand is how Netflix is still able to give access to Hollywood movies (new releases), but only by DVD. 10 years later, why can't Netflix or a competitor work out a deal to do the same thing but streaming instead of DVD? For example, a plan that let's you stream one new release per week.
- bentley 4y ago
  Easy—thanks to the first sale doctrine, Netflix doesn’t need any deal to rent out DVDs. They can just buy the DVDs off the shelf and rent them out. If renting out physical media were considered a right of the copyright holder under US law, you can bet that Netflix wouldn’t have been able to come to a deal on that either.
  - lathiat 4y ago
    I assume this is partly why it used to be that new movies went to rental first for a couple months before public sale. Because they’d charge the rental places a much higher cost per unit and they couldn’t just get them from the store.
  - FreakLegion 4y ago
    Years ago there were a few companies[1] that tried a clever workaround for streaming broadcast TV. The scheme ultimately didn't hold up in the US, but I've always wondered what keeps Netflix from doing something similar with their physical discs. Controlled digital lending[2] isn't exactly settled terrain, but given their resources and increasingly precarious position you'd think Netflix would press the issue. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aereo#Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aereo#Service and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilmOn#Legal_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilmOn#Legal_issues 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_digital_lending https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_digital_lending
iJohnDoe 4y ago
We are long holdouts on Netflix’s DVD service. We kept the subscription since it first came out in the 90s. It was the only way to get the latest releases easily, and some movies were only available on DVD and not streamed anywhere. Then Netflix had to make a deal with with the studios to delay new releases on DVDs for 30 days on their rental service. So, when we were desperate to watch any new release on a Friday night, we would just go to Redbox and rent it. That made it pointless to keep the Netflix DVD service and we canceled the subscription. Then I think Redbox was also forced to delay new releases. I’m fuzzy on timing, but I think the Redbox restriction came much later. So, no new releases on Redbox DVD either. Now, we just rent or purchase any movie we want to watch on Prime. We’ll do a quick search if the movie is available on the other platforms and then just pay for it on Prime. $19.99 is our limit for a brand new movie. I’ll even instinctively start to just pay for a movie before I remember to check the other streaming services. I still get the Redbox emails about new releases hitting the boxes and I always think, “We watched that a month ago.” I worry if Redbox will survive.
- tomjen3 4y ago
  That is interesting. I was totally fine with watching even very old content on Netflix (I watched Buffy 3 times or so before they removed it), I wonder how many people, like you, mostly go for the latest release?

thunky 4y ago

What I don't understand is how Netflix is still able to give access to Hollywood movies (new releases), but only by DVD. 10 years later, why can't Netflix or a competitor work out a deal to do the same thing but streaming instead of DVD? For example, a plan that let's you stream one new release per week.

bentley 4y ago
Easy—thanks to the first sale doctrine, Netflix doesn’t need any deal to rent out DVDs. They can just buy the DVDs off the shelf and rent them out. If renting out physical media were considered a right of the copyright holder under US law, you can bet that Netflix wouldn’t have been able to come to a deal on that either.
- lathiat 4y ago
  I assume this is partly why it used to be that new movies went to rental first for a couple months before public sale. Because they’d charge the rental places a much higher cost per unit and they couldn’t just get them from the store.
- FreakLegion 4y ago
  Years ago there were a few companies[1] that tried a clever workaround for streaming broadcast TV. The scheme ultimately didn't hold up in the US, but I've always wondered what keeps Netflix from doing something similar with their physical discs. Controlled digital lending[2] isn't exactly settled terrain, but given their resources and increasingly precarious position you'd think Netflix would press the issue. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aereo#Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aereo#Service and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilmOn#Legal_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilmOn#Legal_issues 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_digital_lending https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_digital_lending

iJohnDoe 4y ago

We are long holdouts on Netflix’s DVD service. We kept the subscription since it first came out in the 90s. It was the only way to get the latest releases easily, and some movies were only available on DVD and not streamed anywhere. Then Netflix had to make a deal with with the studios to delay new releases on DVDs for 30 days on their rental service. So, when we were desperate to watch any new release on a Friday night, we would just go to Redbox and rent it. That made it pointless to keep the Netflix DVD service and we canceled the subscription. Then I think Redbox was also forced to delay new releases. I’m fuzzy on timing, but I think the Redbox restriction came much later. So, no new releases on Redbox DVD either. Now, we just rent or purchase any movie we want to watch on Prime. We’ll do a quick search if the movie is available on the other platforms and then just pay for it on Prime. $19.99 is our limit for a brand new movie. I’ll even instinctively start to just pay for a movie before I remember to check the other streaming services. I still get the Redbox emails about new releases hitting the boxes and I always think, “We watched that a month ago.” I worry if Redbox will survive.

tomjen3 4y ago
That is interesting. I was totally fine with watching even very old content on Netflix (I watched Buffy 3 times or so before they removed it), I wonder how many people, like you, mostly go for the latest release?