LOS ANGELES–Netflix probably won’t get a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame anytime soon, but the Web’s top video-rental service has recently become a blockbuster hit with film-industry chieftains.
Just nine months ago, sources in the film industry told CNET that Netflix’s long string of Wall Street-wowing earnings reports hadn’t gone unnoticed at the studios. With all that money rolling in, many studio decision makers weren’t happy with their cut–especially when it came to the company’s blossoming streaming-movie service.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has apparently solved the problem, at least for now–by writing checks. In the quarter that ended June 30, 2009, Netflix spent $9 million on acquiring films and television shows for its streaming service. Last week, Netflix reported that for the same period this year, it spent $66 million–more than seven times as much.
That wasn’t a fluke. For the first six months of 2010, Netflix has paid the studios $116 million for streaming content, compared with $31 million for the same period last year. Some analysts expect those payments to keep going up as the company continues to fill out its film library.
Full story: Netflix delights studios with big checks | Media Maverick – CNET News