DVD rental giant Netflix ended the week by agreeing to new movie distribution deals with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Studios.
Both Netflix and Redbox have been caught up in conflicts with movie studios, as Hollywood claims they are losing out on DVD sales revenue due to low-cost rentals. I wrote about the possibility between Fox and Redbox a couple of days ago, so a similar deal between the movie studio and the rental kiosk service could be announced soon.
Fox wanting to hash out these distribution deals isn't too surprising, as Avatar is scheduled for release on April 22. Fox will now have four-weeks to sell as many copies as they can on DVD and Blu-ray before the title reaches Netflix. The movie rental company has been working to switch from DVD rental to streaming services, with its streaming catalog still growing.
"As the home entertainment market continues to evolve, we're exploring new and creative approaches to distribution with our key studio partners," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, noted in a press statement. "Our intent is to forge agreements that make sense for the companies involved and that, on the whole, improve the consumer experience and the movie ecosystem."
In the deal with Universal, Netflix will receive an increased stock of movies after the 28-day window is surpassed. Netflix also reached a similar deal with Warner Bros earlier in the year.
Both movie studios will help expand the Netflix's streaming content catalog that includes both movies and TV episodes. Interestingly, Blockbuster has agreements with both Fox and Universal so new releases are immediately available for rental in-store and online.
