NBC Universal and Netflix have renewed and expanded their non-exclusive streaming deal to include shows as old as Leave it to Beaver and as current as 30 Rock. Also part of the deal are plans for deploying future seasons of programs from NBCU's cable networks; new seasons of shows such as The Office, Law and Order, The Event, and 30 Rock will appear on a season-long delay, becoming available after they've finished their television runs. Unfortunately, new episodes of SNL will now fall under this same plan -- previously, they were available the day after they aired. NBCU films are also involved in the deal, such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Michael Pachter told The Hollywood Reporter that the deal is likely several times the size of previous agreements between the media giants, guessing that Netflix is looking at approximately $300 million annually to renew a deal of this kind. They were paying on the order of $25 million a year for their previous agreement.
Obviously, this will give Netflix users access to a lot more NBCU content, but it is unlikely to stem the tide of frustration from Netflix subscribers over the recent 60% hike in cost for their popular unlimited streaming and DVD plan, which was previously only 10 dollars per month. Unfortunately, we cannot expect full coverage of shows on NBC; if, for example, you were thinking of Community upon hearing about this deal, you're probably still out of luck. Community is owned by Sony and its lack of mention in the news surrounding the deal indicates it will probably still not be available to watch instantly. It has been speculated for some time that Netflix would be increasing its rates to keep up with rising streaming costs, and hopefully we can expect more deals with this level of comprehensiveness to come along with the new pricier rates.
