Netflix loses rights to Disney movies as partner pulls plug
NETFLIX suffered a big blow yesterday when a partner moved to pull thousands of Disney and Sony movies from its service.
Cable television specialist Starz Entertainment will pull its movies and shows from Netflix’s popular video streaming service when the existing contract ends next February after renewal talks broke down yesterday.
Starz said in a statement that the decision was “a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content”.
The two firms have been locked in negotiations for months over the terms of the distribution agreement.
Netflix said earlier in the year that a new deal with Starz could end up costing the firm up to $300m a year to run – around ten times the price of the current arrangement.
Netflix’s shares fell almost 11 per cent to $208 in after-hours trade, from a close on the Nasdaq of $233.27.
According to StarzPlay section on netflix.com, the service carries about 1,000 movies, original series and other programming from Walt Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Pixar, among others.
Sony films disappeared from Netflix’s online catalogue in June, with the firm blaming a “temporary contract issue”.