US NEWS: Content providers get cold feet with Netflix

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Two of Netflix's biggest content providers in the US, Showtime and Starz, are altering their agreements as pay-TV companies feel the threat of streaming services

Netflix streaming service

Netflix, one of the leading US streaming media providers, has changed distribution agreements with two of its biggest content providers, as broadcasters get more protective over content.

Showtime and Starz, responsible for the likes of Dexter, Californication and Spartacus in the US, have both moved to protect their broadcast agreements, reports the FT.

Showtime, a Pay-TV service owned by CBS, said it would remove all of its first-run programming from Netflix.

Starz meanwhile is to implement a 90-day window between the first broadcast on TV and content appearing on Netflix.

Streaming services such as Netflix, and the likes of Acetrax, Apple, LoveFilm and soon-to-be Amazon service in the UK, are increasingly being seen as competition to traditional providers and a threat to pay-TV services.

A UK launch for Netflix has been rumoured for some time but for now the company is only available in the US and Canada.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).