Netflix loses some movies during Sony dispute with Starz
updated 02:40 pm EDT, Fri June 17, 2011
Netflix drops Sony movies in Starz contract fight
Netflix told viewers Friday that Sony movies being offered through StarzPlay had been pulled from its video service. The drop was the result of fallout during a contract fight between Sony and Starz. Content acquisition VP Pauline Fischer tried to reassure subscribers that it was "temporary."
The withdrawal isn't believed to involve hostility towards Netflix itself. Starz has, however, been colder to Netflix as of late and delayed releases by 90 days to try and protect its legacy TV content.
Netflix has deals with major providers directly but has often secured movies and TV shows through proxy deals with pay TV outlets like Epix. The approach has given it a larger number of movies quickly but has also meant it had the risk of losing major titles because of disputes it couldn't control.
