Netflix, Discovery Communications Reach Deal

Netflix and Discovery Communications have finalized a two-year content deal to bring the cable conglomerates programs to the streaming service, the companies announced Wednesday.
 
The non-exclusive deal covers only episodes and specials from prior seasons.

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The flagship channel as well as TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery and Science and Military channels are included in the deal encompassing such popular series as Man vs. Wild, Sister Wives and River Monsters.

It does not include content from OWN or The Hub, which are joint ventures with Oprah Winfrey and toy-maker Hasbro, respectively.

Financial terms were not disclosed. But the deal marks something of a departure for Discovery Communications, which heretofore has not widely offered full episodes of its series and specials online.

"With television shows playing an ever more important role for Netflix, Discovery is one our finest suppliers of top quality programming," Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement. "We look forward to bringing our members the wide range of the additional episodes and series covered in this deal.”

Discovery's previous agreement with Netflix included only partial seasons of Discovery Channel series. The new deal adds complete seasons on more networks as well as access to Discovery's 25-year programming library.

Added Rebecca Glashow, senior vp of digital distribution at Discovery: “Discovery Communications has always been platform agnostic and committed to satisfying curiosity on all consumer distribution platforms supported by a strong economic model. We are pleased to renew this agreement with Netflix, which provides us with programming flexibility and lets loyal and potential fans catch up and discover content."

The deal comes at a difficult moment for Netflix, which is being pressured by content providers to pay more for movies and TV shows. At the same time, it finds itself fending off rival services from Amazon, Apple and Google.

The company was also excoriated by subscribers for the way it handled a recent price hike that splits its streaming and DVD services. And saw its stock tumble 9 percent to a 52-week low on Tuesday closing at $130.03.