Netflix/Warner Bros. have reached a deal that is a good news / bad news situation for Netflix subscribers.
First, the good news.
The AP reports that a new deal between Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Netflix will grant the Internet movie rental company more access to the studio’s film catalog for online video streaming. Translation: you’ll be able to stream a greater number of Warners films than ever before.
Now the ‘bad’ news.
The new deal means Netflix customers will have to wait an additional 28 days to rent new Warner Bros. DVD and Blu-ray releases — that’s almost a month after new Warners movies hit store shelves. This new ‘sales only’ window will give Warner Bros. some additional time to coax customers into buying new DVD and Blu-ray titles. Those who simply can’t wait to see a movie will have to buy it or wait almost a month to receive it in the mail from Netflix.
This new deal is only ‘bad’ news to customers who do not watch any Netflix movies via streaming video. On the flipside, this news is incredibly good news to any Netflix users who routinely stream movies.
The future of home entertainment is streaming video – and Netflix knows that any disc format (even the relatively new Blu-ray format) will have to eventually give way to true HD streaming video.
