With top pay-cable channels HBO and Showtime and upstart Epix largely refusing to let Netflix stream movies during the long periods that they control the rights, the DVD subscription service is going around them, starting with independent film financing and production company Relativity Media.
The two companies have signed a five-year-plus agreement through which Relativity’s movies will be distributed via Netflix’s Internet streaming service instead of traditional runs on pay-cable channels, which start four-to-seven months after a DVD release.
It’s the first time Netflix, which is aggressively trying to increase the amount of content on its Internet service in order to attract and retain subscribers, has signed such a deal with a Hollywood movie maker. Earlier this year it negotiated with Walt Disney Pictures to land similar rights, according to people close to the situation, but lost out to pay channel Starz.
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