Audio Video News

Netflix has signed an unusual agreement that will let it stream titles from three major studios three months after cable and satellite providers get them.

What's unusual is that the deal is not with the studios themselves--Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM--but with a pay-TV service called Epix, an obscure and struggling competitor of HBO and Showtime. Netflix has essentially purchased Epix's release window with the three studios. The deal reportedly is worth nearly $1 billion over five years starting next month.

Whether Netflix will snag other studios remains to be seen. Time Warner-owned HBO has existing agreements with Warner, Fox, and Universal. The Netflix/Epix deal may have been driven partly by Viacom, owner of Paramount and part owner of Epix.

Here's the come-hither quote from Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos: He wants to take his company's $600 million in annual rent-by-mail postal costs and "pay it to the studios and networks" for streaming rights.

See The New York Times. The story originally broke in the Los Angeles Times.