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Netflix Signs Exclusive Deal With Dreamworks
tekgoblin writes "Netflix has signed an exclusive deal with Dreamworks Animation which will allow them to stream content from the studio to Netflix. The deal will allow Netflix to stream content from Dreamworks, which previously supplied content to HBO. The contract was negotiated at approximately $30 million per Dreamworks film title."
$30 mil per movie title!
That just seems insanely expensive to me.
Netflix is pioneering the new TV landscape. This nerd, for one, wants to hear news about them.
So Dreamworks has produced a little over 100 titles, so that would be a 3 billion dollar deal to get a tiny sliver of the movies they're about to lose with the Stars deal back. That is not sustainable by any measure. For comparison, with the DVD rental business the Disks would have cost somewhere on the order of $2 million. Back when the Streaming was just a sideshow for the disk rental business this didn't matter, but now that the company is split in two it's clear just how badly Netflix is screwed. The studios don't like it, and they ultimately have control over the business thanks to the fact that internet streaming to one household is considered "broadcasting".
It doesn't even matter if this is the future of movie rentals. Studios have shown time and time again that they'll prefer to kill off any new and disruptive technologies instead of trying to profit off of them. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming by court rulings into the VHS and DVD era, and they're not going to go quietly into the streaming era either. Not that they'll have to anyway. They learned their lesson the first time and bought all of the congressmen and FCC executives they need to prevent them from ever having to face inevitable change anyway. Can you imagine legislation that would reclassify streaming in a sane manner from this congress or FCC? The thought is ludicrous.
I read the internet for the articles.
Lost half their customers? Where did you get that nonsense? They lost about 4% of the customers, which they made up for in revenue with higher prices.
According to the article, no streaming content from this deal until 2013. Maybe I'll reactivate my account sometime around then but in all likelihood, I'll have found a much better alternative by then.
But my kids will watch them over and over, ad nauseum.
I don't get it. Netflix drops Starz over 200-300mil/year but signs Dreamworks at 30 mil per movie? I'm sure Starz delivers more than 10 movies in a year. Do Netflix execs really think their audience will prefer cartoons over serious content?
It pioneered how networks, shows, actors, writers and workers don't get paid a single dime.
It might work in the short term for a small number of viewers, but unfortunately it's not a viable plan in the long term for all viewers.
Starz dropped Netflix. They wanted Netflix to charge an additional fee to get Starz content, so that their label would remain "exclusive." Netflix said no
That's all it is. Netflix is betting that they've locked up exclusive rights to some blockbuster (no pun intended) titles for the next few years. Do they think they'll make money on the specific Dreamworks titles they've licensed? Nope. But if it works out that those titles become "must-see" titles, it'll bring subscribers in. And then hopefully they'll have some strategy in place to retain those subscribers. It's no different than a department store advertising an item at a loss in order to get people into the store. Or a network buying a sports package (example: Fox taking the NFC football contract in the early-mid 90's) knowing that while they may not make money on the games, it'll be a positive benefit for the network overall (promoting their network during games, games as a lead-in to other programming, etc.)
Now under the Netflix contract they will still be able to sell those digital downloads while providing streaming content to Netflix. So the deal with Netflix is relatively “sugar coated” and will allow Dreamworks to keep profiting off their content.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
I am probably one of the minority that wasn't negatively affected by the split. I was annoyed at not having a 'streaming only' option, mostly because the family unit would order a DVD, then it would get lost in the car, under the couch, etc. I welcomed the time in which I didn't have to go looking for the red envelope under the guinea pig cage.... Not a Netflix shill, I'm just sayin'.....one less thing to keep up with physically....in my world.....where things mysteriously disappear....only to reappear a billion miles from where it was expected to. I think I either have an infestation of gnome rogues, or someone has been playing with teleportation devices.
Dreamworks exec: You're right! Quick! Have them stuff more hip cultural references into our cartoons that will be dated by next week! Call those pony people! See what they are doing, pervert it beyond all recognition, and stuff that in there, too!
and I turned out OK.
[citation needed]
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
That's what I mean. Why did Netflix say no?
Because once they open the door everyone else will want their service to have a "premium" too, their service will fragment and Netflix will be only a platform for selling various other subscriptions? I know it happens for special interest TV but I can very well understand Netflix saying that we can negotiate price, but you don't get to say how we collect money from our customers. In fact, that might be the whole principle of the decision.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
According to the article, no streaming content from this deal until 2013. Maybe I'll reactivate my account sometime around then but in all likelihood, I'll have found a much better alternative by then.
What makes you think that, at all? What ray of hope is there anywhere that something better will come along?
One possibility was pay per stream, which is essentially what iTunes rentals was. Dead.
Another model is Hulu. Oh awesome, I get to pay more than Netflix for an order of magnitude less content that includes commercials.
Or perhaps you prefer a total balkanization of content? Like the NFL streaming you can buy on the PS3 - for $100...
Like it or not, Netflix has the only streaming model that is really reasonably priced and commercial free with a pretty wide range of content. If Netflix falls you can look forward to paying $100 for the same amount of content, if you are lucky... By not buying into Netflix now, you are basically helping to seal the fate of the only solution that is close to good. When you come back in 2013 and find NOTHING viable apart from torrents, well don't come crying to Slashdot!
My thought is that the death of DVD's and physical rentals is greatly exaggerated as long as the streaming scene is so horrific and fragmented. I will continue to support Netflix because they are the only content neutral providers that I like the approach of.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Exactly. Exclusive deals are bad for consumers because they eliminate competition. Netflix surely could have negotiated a lower fee for a non-exclusive deal. Since the $30 million per film will ultimately be passed along as higher fees to the Netflix subscribers in some way, subscribers are paying extra for something (exclusivity) that does not benefit them at all -- it benefit's Netflix, the company, in a strategic way. A non-exclusive deal would have been just as beneficial to Netflix subscribers, and would have cost them less, and would have allowed people that don't use Netflix to access the content as well. This deal is worse than a non-exclusive deal for all consumers, whether they subscribe to Netflix or not. Exclusivity is only good for Netfix, the corporation, and it's shareholders (if they didn't overpay).
I watched The Pirate Movie at least 300 times, and I turned out. I dunno about the OK part, but I am the very model of a modern major general, with information animal vegetable and mineral.