UPDATE, 1:15 PM: Netflix shares closed up more than 14% today after the deal was announced, while Disney shares were flat. Analysts lauded the tie-up from Netflix’s perspective, with Vasily Karasyov at Susquehanna International Group saying the deal moves the online movie service one step closer to becoming HBO with its exclusive windows (the service inked a similar deal in September 2011 with DreamWorks Animation). Stifel Nicolaus noted that the deal did not include a DVD component, saying “the embrace of SVOD as a pay-TV replacement is somewhat of an acknowledgment that the need to protect the DVD window no longer makes as much sense as it once did.”
Related: Will Disney’s Deal With Netflix Spoil Liberty Media’s Spinoff Plan For Starz?
PREVIOUS, 10:55 AM: Today’s deal will make Netflix the first pay-TV window for live-action and animated feature films from Disney beginning with 2016′s theatrical releases. A separate catalog agreement also was made. The pact begins with Disney films released theatrically in 2016; direct-to-video titles will hit the service beginning next year. Disney titles haven’t been available on the online movie service since the February, when Netflix’s deal with Starz — which included rights to stream newer Disney and Sony movies — expired after negotiations broke down.
Beverly Hills, Ca. and Burbank, Ca. –December 4, 2012—Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq:NFLX) and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) today announced a new multi-year licensing agreement that will make Netflix the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run live-action and animated feature films from The Walt Disney Studios.
Beginning with its 2016 theatrically released feature films, new Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature titles will be made available for Netflix members to watch instantly in the pay TV window on multiple platforms, including television, tablets, computers and mobile phones. Also included in the agreement are high-profile Disney direct-to-video new releases, which will be made available on Netflix starting in 2013.
Separately, Disney and Netflix have reached agreement on a multi-year catalog deal that today brings to U.S. Netflix members such beloved Disney movies such as “Dumbo,” “Pocahontas” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
“Disney and Netflix have shared a long and mutually beneficial relationship and this deal will bring to our subscribers, in the first pay TV window, some of the highest-quality, most imaginative family films being made today,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix. “It’s a bold leap forward for Internet television and we are incredibly pleased and proud this iconic family brand is teaming with Netflix to make it happen.”
“With this cutting-edge agreement, we are thrilled to take our highly valued relationship with Netflix to the next level by adding Disney’s premier films to their programming line-up,” said Janice Marinelli, President, Disney-ABC Domestic Television. “Netflix continues to meet the demands of its subscribers in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, and we are delighted that they will have much earlier access to our top-quality and entertaining slate,” she continued.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.



I’m glad Disney finally returned to NetFlix. It was refreshing to notice their animated feature “Alice in Wonderland” appear in the New Releases section of my Instant Browser.
I don’t see “Alice” in my instant browser… or anything. Confused.
Interesting. Wonder if this means Star Wars I-VI will be added to Netflix once Disney takes ownership since they’ll be part of Disney catalog?
Fox still has the distribution rights to those films, and Disney isn’t planning on buying them at this point.
That’s not the issue. The issue is that eventually 20th Century Fox’s distribution rights will end on every film EXCEPT Episode IV which they have exclusive rights to in perpetuity. This obviously will present a problem for future home video releases.
True, except maybe in return for abdicating Episode IV, Disney will give Fox another 10 years to fuck up Daredevil. All’s fair in love and franchises after all.
This is awesome. Despite all of Netflix’s past management troubles, it is really the best streaming platform in terms of quality, service, and devices (especially those popular iOS devices). Also, knowing I can be in my bed at 3am and watch that terrifying Beast learn to love again gives me hope that I may learn to love again… for the very first time.
Pfffffftttttt! That’s the sound of Starz’ planned IPO and Albrecht’s overinflated head losing air in a hurry. This is a disaster for Starz because they have no original programming and no budget to make this up. Chris has done nothing but screw up in his time there. It’s a long way from HBO.
Starz DOES have original programming. You obviously haven’t subscribed to it for a few years.
Starz is garbage now.
While they do have some original programming they are severly lacking in that department. Spartacus is coming to an end, Boss is not being renewed and Magic City is an average show at best. They have nothing when compared to HBO or Showtime and losing Disney is a huge blow. Hopefully they have something planned becuase they are going to need it.
Without a doubt, this is a huge blow to Starz.
But one that could be seen coming a mile away.
Starz was not a good partner to Disney, both because they sued Disney to harm Disneys ability to sell/rent it’s own content (EST/VOD) during the Pay TV window and because Starz turned down a large deal with Netflix where revenue would have flowed directly to Starz.
Starz’s Disney deal has a long time before it expires(2016) and goes to netflix. until then, starz has the exculsive rights to Brave, wreck it ralph, Iron man 3, the avengeres 2, thor 2 ,captain america 2 and The Lone Ranger. and Starz could go after showtime’s deal with Dreamworks and The Weisteins Company which expire 2016. plus starz is increasing its orginal series. I would not count Starz out so fast.
Seems like a great deal for both. Kind of reminds me of the DirecTV and NFL Sunday ticket. Netflix is available to all across the country, just like DirecTV, but Disney is getting top dollar and making their product a little more rare, because Starz is more widely available to all demos.
Obviously Netflix is going to the horses mouth instead of Starz being the one to sell Disney’s content. I’m kind of a little surprised, I thought in the future they’d be two tiers of rights from the major studios, the PayTV rights for companies like Starz and Showtime, and then the streaming rights for companies like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.
So it’s now obvious that those rights are one in the same. In the coming years, these cable channels could have to fight to get carriage to on PS4, Roku and XBOX 720s and Netflix will fight to get on Comcast and Uverse as a DVR option.