Showtime pulling most shows from Netflix streaming service
Will Brinson
The alternate title for this post could be the same thing that went through my head when I found out about the news: “OH MY GOD EVERYONE GO AND WATCH DEXTER ON NETFLIX NOW!!!!!1″
But that seemed a touch overdramatic and, plus, you have until this summer to plow your way through all the shows that Netflix offers from America’s favorite soft-porn-turned-sneaky-good-original-content premium cable network.
Interestingly, the deal, according to Showtime CEO Matt Blank, doesn’t actually have anything to do with Netflix taking the dive into original programming (as they’ll be doing with Kevin Spacey in “House of Cards” at some point in the near future).
“With all the options out there, we want to be sure people know they have to subscribe to see Dexter or The Borgias,” Blank said.
Rather, it’s an attempt by Showtime to keep people from avoiding subscriptions to the channel because they pay $8 a month for Netflix instead. Currently, you can watch anything Showtime’s got via Netflix. And, thanks to Cinemax’s substantially better “Busty Babes [Insert Zany Adventure Here]” series, there’s really no need to actually pay your television service provider an extra 10-spot a month to watch Showtime.
Until now, anyway — if you want to watch new eps of “Dexter”, you probably won’t be doing so via streaming Netflix.
Presumably (although it’s not mentioned in the Deadline article), once new seasons of “Dexter” become available on DVD, they’ll still be accessible through that old-fashioned, snail-mail delivery service that got Netflix into the streaming game to begin with.
The one piece of good news in this whole thing is that Showtime series which are no longer in production will remain available for streaming on Netflix. That doesn’t do much good for fans of shows that, you know, were awesome enough not to get cancelled, but it’s something.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have about three seasons of Dexter to plow through in the next month or so.
Showtime to Pull Current Series From Netflix – [Deadline]
follow guyism:
Other Stories You Might LIke
There’s a ‘Twisted Metal’ movie on the way, of course
VIDEO: Yet another awesome example of prime time television using games as a plot device
12 of the most memorable TV deaths of all-time
comment on this story
blog comments powered by Disqus