Video rental service Netflix has announced a exclusive multi-year deal with Epix that will enable Netflix subscribers to stream new movies and library titles from Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM via the Internet. The deal is expected to significantly augment Netflix’s library of content available for Internet streaming: content included in the deal would include things like the Iron Man and Saw franchises.
New movies will be available for streaming to Netflix subscribers 90 days after they appear on premium pay TV and on-demand services. The terms make Netflix the exclusive Internet-only distributor for the films. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in an earnings call this week a Lionsgate executive described the deal as making Epix “immediately profitable.”
“The Epix deal is an example of the innovative ways in which we’re partnering with major content providers to broaden the scope and freshness of choices available to our members to watch instantly over the Internet,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, in a statement.
Epix is owned by Viacom, Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM, and manages subscription pay TV rights for both new releases and catalog titles from its partners. Epix is available to more than 30 million U.S. pay television subscribers via services like Verizon ViOS, Dish Network, and Cox Communications.
The 90-day gap between availability via on-demand and pay-TV services and Netflix streaming is designed to offer a window of exclusivity for pay-TV services.
