Even as cable operators pounded away at Netflix' (Nasdaq: NFLX) streaming video service, the over-the-top programming source counterpunched with a $150 million-plus deal with Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) ABC broadcast network, Disney Channel and ABC Family.
Netflix subscribers who pay the $7.99 monthly fee will now have access to reruns of shows that aired 15 days earlier on ABC Family and Disney and episodes from previous seasons of various ABC shows like Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty. Hulu, partially owned by Disney, will still be the only purveyor of latest season shows.
The deal calls for Netflix to pay Disney $50,000 to $100,000 per episode--which is a lot less than local TV stations and cable channels pay for reruns, but is, according to Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos, "helping studios and networks to monetize" content that's going to online viewing.
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