Although Netflix has added oodles and gobs over original programming in recent months, the subscription streaming service has also had to deal with a lot of criticism. This has mainly come from subscribers who prefer to use the service to binge-watch TV shows and movies that have originated elsewhere and who have lost a ton of non-original programming over the last couple of years. There is some good news for those subscribers, however. Netflix just recently added Ken Burns' catalog back to the subscription streaming service. That means you can catch The Civil War and more whenever you please.
On February 22, Netflix quietly re-added a few Ken Burns originals back to the streaming service, including Ken Burns: Prohibition, Ken Burns: The West, Ken Burns: The Civil War, Ken Burns: The War and Ken Burns: The Roosevelts -- An Intimate History. Last summer, PBS' contracts were up with Netflix, and the subscription streaming service ultimately declined to make a deal with a lot of the PBS programming that was available at the time. That stuff was shuffled off of Netflix, although Amazon Video picked up some of the slack. Now, it looks like the cries of people who were binge-watching a lot of Ken Burns' educational programs were heard by Netflix.
It wasn't the only PBS stuff that recently came back either, as the popular Secrets of series (Secrets of Highclere Castle, etc) and stuff like Tesla: Master of Lightning also made a comeback. It's great to have access to PBS programming streaming and we're happy it has made a comeback on the streaming service, especially in an era when Netflix is pulling more than it is adding from its library of non-originals.
Listen: It's no secret that Ken Burns projects are popular. If I had to guess, Netflix pulled the items a few months ago and heard more than its fair share of complaints before negotiating to bring the programs back. Regardless, we should note that the streaming service hasn't been open about why Ken Burns' stuff was returned to the service, so it's also possible that negotiations took a long time or that PBS was unhappy with the deals available elsewhere. Luckily, no matter what the deal ended up being, the end results are the same. The Civil War and more are back, baby.
Netflix's library of content is constantly in flux. Not only are there new originals showing up all the time, but there's a ton of new programming that gets dropped and added each month. To see the stuff that will be coming in March, take a look at our list of new Netflix releases or see what new shows are heading to the schedule with our Netflix premiere guide. There is certainly a lot of good stuff beyond Ken Burns projects coming up.
