Netflix announced today that it has partnered with Starz Entertainment to make Starz Play movies available to Netflix subscribers. This move will add 2,500 additional films, TV episodes and concert videos to the Instant Viewing platform on Netflix. Subscribers using the $8.99 and up monthly service will have unlimited access to all of these new titles at no extra charge.
A few of the more popular titles that are now available thanks to this announcement include Apocalypto, Spiderman 3, Ratatouille, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Superbad and No Country for Old Men.
"The coupling of Starz Play with our growing library of streaming content is an important step forward for both companies and for consumer choice," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "Our deal reflects the creative ways we are working with content partners to expand the profile and the number of choices our subscribers can watch instantly over the Internet, in addition to the 100,000 titles we offer on DVD through the mail."
This agreement with Starz is hot on the heels of additional deals that Netflix has made with ABC, Disney and CBS. These agreements added hundreds of TV shows to the Instant Viewing service.
The biggest complaint that Netflix customers have voiced about the Watch Now service was the lack of selection. At the launch of the service, the majority of films available through instant viewing were all very old or obscure titles. Now it seems that Netflix is responding to their customers wishes.
The company is certainly on the right track by adding more and more valuable content to their Instant Viewing service. With all of this good stuff popping up as instant video on demand, the Netflix Roku box is looking like a very attractive purchase. Heck, many people would probably be willing to ditch cable TV completely if Netflix can solidify agreements with all of the major TV networks.
