Despite Netflix's very public troubles last fall involving its pricing schemes and the aborted attempt to split the company in two, the DVD rental and digital streaming service remains one of the biggest players in the online entertainment world.
In fact, Netflix announced Wednesday that it streamed more than two billion hours of TV and movies in the fourth quarter of 2011 to its subscribers.
Based on those numbers, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, said the company would be the 15th most watched TV network is it was actually a network.
"Netflix had more hours of viewing in October than FX, HGTV and History and had more than twice the viewer hours of CNN, Discovery, MSNBC and BET," Greenfield said.
With that success, however, the studios which provide Netflix the movies and television series it offers are increasingly seeing the company as a competitor rather than a partner. As such, the relationships are becoming more and more strained.
AllThingsD.com reported today that Warner Bros. is set to announce a new deal with Netflix, along with Redbox and Blockbuster, which doubles the window between when its DVDs go on sale and when they will be available for rental by the companies.
Previously the window was 28 days, but now it will be 56 days, almost two months, which is seen as part of a broader movement by all studios to boost their DVD sales.
According to the report, the deal, which will be announced at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev., is the second time Warner Bros. has brokered a deal with Netflix and Coinstar, the first being for the 28-day window. In return for that deal, the companies received discounts on DVD purchases and Netflix was given more streaming content. This time, there were no additional consideration given for the longer window, AllThingsD reported.
The move came on the heels of HBO's annoucement that it would no longer offer its DVDs and Blu-ray discs to Netflix at a discounted price.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, that change when into affect Jan. 1. Netflix can still purchase DVDs and Blu-ray discs of HBO's programing, but it will have to do so at retail prices.
While it's debatable how much of an actual financial hit this will be for Netflix, the symbolism of the move is plain. With Netflix venturing into producing its own original programming, it is venturing into the realm of HBO and other premium cable outlets. Indeed, it is actually following in their footsteps, seeing as they were once simply conduits for other studios' works and only later began developing their own series and films.
Whatever happens next--most likely one or more of the other studios jumping on the bandwagon for longer DVD windows--this story is far from over.
Based on those numbers, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, said the company would be the 15th most watched TV network is it was actually a network.
"Netflix had more hours of viewing in October than FX, HGTV and History and had more than twice the viewer hours of CNN, Discovery, MSNBC and BET," Greenfield said.
With that success, however, the studios which provide Netflix the movies and television series it offers are increasingly seeing the company as a competitor rather than a partner. As such, the relationships are becoming more and more strained.
AllThingsD.com reported today that Warner Bros. is set to announce a new deal with Netflix, along with Redbox and Blockbuster, which doubles the window between when its DVDs go on sale and when they will be available for rental by the companies.
Previously the window was 28 days, but now it will be 56 days, almost two months, which is seen as part of a broader movement by all studios to boost their DVD sales.
According to the report, the deal, which will be announced at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev., is the second time Warner Bros. has brokered a deal with Netflix and Coinstar, the first being for the 28-day window. In return for that deal, the companies received discounts on DVD purchases and Netflix was given more streaming content. This time, there were no additional consideration given for the longer window, AllThingsD reported.
The move came on the heels of HBO's annoucement that it would no longer offer its DVDs and Blu-ray discs to Netflix at a discounted price.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, that change when into affect Jan. 1. Netflix can still purchase DVDs and Blu-ray discs of HBO's programing, but it will have to do so at retail prices.
While it's debatable how much of an actual financial hit this will be for Netflix, the symbolism of the move is plain. With Netflix venturing into producing its own original programming, it is venturing into the realm of HBO and other premium cable outlets. Indeed, it is actually following in their footsteps, seeing as they were once simply conduits for other studios' works and only later began developing their own series and films.
Whatever happens next--most likely one or more of the other studios jumping on the bandwagon for longer DVD windows--this story is far from over.
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