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."

This is why Netflix is doomed

[jandrese]

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.

Starz was only 200-300 mil/year...

[mj1856]

I don't get it. Netflix drops Starz over 200-300mil/year [tekgoblin.com] 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?