Mumbai: Online movie rental service Netflix, Inc. has inked agreements with the CBS Television Network and Disney-ABC Television Group that will allow current season episodes of a number of TV shows to be streamed at Netflix.
The two deals add to a library of 12,000 choices that Netflix members can watch instantly on their PCs and TVs as part of their existing subscription plans and without impacting the number of DVDs they receive.
Starting in October, when it returns for a ninth year, current season episodes of the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation can be instantly streamed at Netflix. Beginning this week, current season episodes of the CSI: Miami and CSI: NY join the roster. The CBS agreement includes two additional current hit shows, NCIS, which dramatizes the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, and the FBI drama Numb3rs, from producers Ridley and Tony Scott.
The agreement for Disney Channel content centers on three of the Channel’s original series — Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place and Disney Channel’s newest original series, The Suite Life on Deck a spin-off of the hit,The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. The series premieres Friday, 27 Sep. Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life on Deck can be streamed instantly at Netflix beginning this week, 24 hours after each episode’s initial broadcast. Hannah Montana will be available online at Netflix beginning this November.
"We are thrilled to enter into these relationships with CBS and Disney Channel and build upon their innovative distribution strategies. We have a shared interest in granting fans expanded access to and strengthening the networks’ key shows," said Netflix vice president content acquisition Robert Kynclr.
The agreements with CBS and Disney Channel also add catalog shows to the library of choices that can be watched instantly at Netflix. Some 500 episodes from Disney Channel’s kid-driven, family-inclusive programming library, including previously aired episodes of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana as well as episodes of the popular animated series The Replacements, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, The Emperor’s New School and many others, will come online to Netflix beginning in 2009.
As Netflix continues to expand the online content it offers its members, the company is also partnering with leaders in consumer electronics to bring to market a growing number of network devices that can instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to subscribers’ TVs. The Netflix Player by Roku was introduced in May to strong reviews and Netflix has previously announced plans to instantly stream movies and TV episodes via Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console and LG Electronic’s LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player starting this fall.
