Netflix & Starz Spat Could Cost You

By Interior Technologies

Posted on Sep 2, 2011

The complex world of Hollywood movie and television distribution deals can be confusing.  For example, did you know that Starz,whom most of us know as the company behind a handful of cable and satellite movie channels is actually a content distributor as well?  In fact, they are one of the major suppliers of movies and television shows to Netflix.

It wasn’t always that way.  In the beginning, Netflix had mostly an emaciated offering of B, C and D television shows and movies to stream.  Gaining the Starz catalog which includes content from huge movie and television studios like Disney and Sony, transformed the Neflix landscape and helped turn it into the streaming video super power that it has become.

Well now Starz and Netflix are having a tiff over how much money Netflix is willing to pay Starz to re-up their deal.  Reports say Netflix offered $300 million and Starz scoffed at it as ‘too cheap.’  Starz wants Netflix to create a tiered pricing structure for its streaming content instead of  the current $8 per month all you can stream deal it currently offers.  Netflix, still a little bruised from recently doubling the cost of being both a DVD and streaming subscriber is in no mood to go raising its prices or create additional consumer confusion and animosity about its service.  This is especially so given the fact that Netflix is finally starting to feel some real competition from Hulu+, Amazon, Vudu, iTunes and others which offer different models with more recent and more A-level movies and shows.

According to Starz, they will be pulling their content in late February of next year.  Until then, we can all just sit back and watch as these two digital lovers continue their spat and hope that us children of the on-demand video Internet age don’t get caught in the middle.

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