Netflix Signs Deal To Stream First Run Films From Relativity Media

Netflix Inc., the mail-order movie rental service, will get exclusive online streaming rights to first-run films produced by Relativity Media LLC under a deal that bypasses pay-TV services such as HBO and Showtime. Netflix has been expanding its online services by providing access on more than 60 million Internet-connected televisions, Blu-ray players and game consoles.
The accord expands the inventory of recently issued films that Netflix can provide online after their release on DVD or Blu-ray in the U.S., the companies said today in a statement. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Among the first movies to be offered online will be “The Fighter” with Christian Bale, scheduled to be distributed in theaters by Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, and “Skyline,” which is being released by Universal Pictures and Relativity’s Rogue Pictures, according to the statement.
“The Relativity deal establishes a new business model but is not likely to change the landscape as there are long-term output deals in place between the major studios and pay TV networks,” Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, wrote today in a note. Netflix “does not have the capital to pursue these expensive contracts.”
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