Netflix’s and CW Network’s deal which allowed the streaming firm to rerun the latter’s shows has expired. Now the network is looking for other available options, including aligning itself with another streaming service, said the network’s top executive on Sunday.
Win-win deal for Netflix and CW
Speaking at the semi-annual Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., CW President Mark Pedowitz said the company has reached a point where it is exploring a lot of options with its parent companies. The CW is a joint venture between Time Warner and CBS.
The deal, which was signed in 2011, was valid for four years, under which Netflix bought the rights to stream repeats of the CW’s current and the future series. The deal was worth around $1 billion, says The Wall Street Journal. Such a deal was significant for the network’s bottom line and proved profitable for the parent companies, says The WSJ.
To Netflix, the deal brought several shows that are popular among younger viewers such as The Vampire Diaries, Arrow and The Flash. The 2011 deal does not cover CW shows that are this season, which include the critically acclaimed Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the much-anticipated upcoming DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Netflix will, however, still get new episodes of the older shows.
Pedowitz did not specify the names of the companies that CBS and Time Warner might consider for a new deal, but he expects to find a solution to the issue in the coming six to nine months.
What marred the deal?
Netflix’s strategy of obtaining global and domestic rights for TV shows is complicating the talks with the CW, says The WSJ, citing people close to the negotiations. The fear of Netflix getting too much leverage in future negotiations has led to the reluctance of many studios for providing such rights.
“Warner Bros. is particularly wary of a one-size-fits-all global deal with Netflix,” the WSJ says.
Speaking at CES in Las Vegas last week, Netflix’s content head Ted Sarandos reiterated the streaming firm’s global aspirations and at the same time acknowledged the reluctance from Hollywood studios. Sarandos said the current studio model of selling shows individually is a “discriminatory patchwork” and that it “confounds common sense and human happiness.”
