News
Netflix: We've Seen This Movie Before
By Swanni 

Washington, D.C. (May 16, 2012) -- Netflix has purchased the rights to stream The Hunger Games and The Avengers in early 2013, reports Home Media Magazine.

That's the good news for Netflix subscribers. The bad: the online video service will not be able to offer the two blockbusters via streaming until 90 days after their launch on disc and the EPIX movie channel.

For some time, Netflix has had difficulty acquiring the rights to stream new movies at the same time as their disc release. TVPredictions.com reported in March that Netflix at the time did not offer any of the top 12 movie releases via streaming.

Although Netflix has more than 20 million subscribers via streaming, the studios have been reluctant to allow the video service to offer their best films on streaming for at least three or four months after their disc release.

The principal reason is to bump up DVD and Blu-ray sales, but the studios may also want to keep Netflix from becoming even more successful. Hollywood executives remember the 1980s and 1990s when Blockbuster Video became an industry giant and started dictating lease terms to the studios rather than the other way around.

Netflix did score a victory earlier this year when it obtained first rights to stream the Oscar-winning The Artist. But the 90-day delay for The Hunger Games and The Avengers shows that Netflix still has a long way to go in persuading Hollywood to close their release windows.

Home Media Magazine writes EPIX will be the first programmer to air The Hunger Games and The Avengers on television and online.