In the past year, the Netflix "Watch Instantly" feature has totally changed our lives, and by "changed" we mean sucked them into a swirling vortex from which there is no return. The ease of watching whole seasons of TV shows uninterrupted in such a concentrated dose breeds an addiction that now owns our soul. It starts when your home sick for the day, and don't feel like doing anything but laying there, getting caught up on Lost, and then suddenly you find yourself weeks later, perfectly healthy, still hunched over the computer screen at five in the morning.
Tragically, it seems that the "watch instantly" feature might be in trouble, and we could be headed for some dark days of detox...
According to the paper's Martin Peers, Hollywood movie studios — many of whom are considering streaming services of their own, none of which will be as good — will probably soon seek to renegotiate their content-supply deals on more favorable terms. (New York Magazine)
The thing is though, we still can't really seeing the studios pulling their content off Netflix altogether even if they did start streaming it from their own websites. For one thing, presumably it wouldn't be free, and how likely is it that people are going to pay to subscribe to streaming services of multiple studios when their used to getting it all in one place at Netflix? We'll just speak for ourselves: "Not likely." A better solution would be to follow the example of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who made a deal to stream the first nine seasons of South Park on Netflix as well as from their own website. Everybody wins! And by "wins" we mean "get sucked deeper into the vortex."
Previously:
First Nine Seasons of South Park to Stream on Netflix (Before Taking Over the World)
Tivo and Netflix Make Yesterday's Future, Tomorrow's Past
United States of Tara on Netflix