topics

NBCU Pacts With Netflix On Next-Day TV Show Downloads

NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) has added Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) to its roster of online syndication outlets. Netflix joins Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) Unbox and the network’s own NBC Direct site for TV show downloads, and the streaming option viewers are offered on the NBC/News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) JV Hulu and NBC.com. Episodes of NBC’s Heroes will be available to Netflix subcribers one day after being broadcast. Previously run episodes of 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and The Office, can also be accessed from Netflix’s site or through the company’s primary DVD rental service.

For Netflix, the deal reflects its desire to increase its TV content especially as looks to grow its download service. TV shows currently comprise about 20 percent of Netflix’s DVD rentals.The company hopes to match that percentage for its online VOD subscriptions. In the case of NBC, the goal is to expand its online presence as widely as possible and reach new viewers wherever they might be, especially in light of the sunsetting of its download sales deal with iTunes over what the network considered was a lack of variable pricing and packaging options.

Update: The (mis-dated) release positions this as a deal to make Netflix the third prong of the Heroes syndication strategy, with Netflix as the exclusive SVOD outlet. Online access to Heroes and the other shows—already underway—is part of the Netflix subscription package. It’s streaming only; no downloads.

Related Stories
Nov 29, 2007 10:38 AM ET

Posted In: Media & Publishing, TV, Technologies / Formats, Broadband, Companies, NBC Universal, nbc direct, netflix, unbox

Leave a Comment

Comments (2)

Nov 29, 2007 7:49 PM

Misdated is right, Netflix has had these from the beginning. It also has Dexter, from Showtime.

I believe that Heroes is also showing up on veotv, and I think Joost, too.

Well, pretty much everyone but iTunes.

Shelley

Nov 29, 2007 10:23 PM

Yeah they have been doing this for a while already.  Check this: http://www.techconsumer.com/2007/11/10/netflix-my-name-is-hiro-nakamura-i-come-from-the-future/

Paul

Leave a Comment

Commenting is now closed for this article.

The Economics of Content | paidContent Newsletter

Know something we don’t?

Send Us a News Tip

All tips are anonymous and untraced.

Sponsors

Contributors