Netflix to Stream ‘Hundreds’ of Disney-ABC Shows in New Licensing Deal

Netflix will stream “hundreds” of episodes from ABC, the Disney Channel and, “for the first time,” ABC Family over the Internet as part of a new, expanded licensing deal signed with the Disney-ABC Television Group, the companies said Wednesday. The deal, brokered by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, “will add significantly to the growing selection of movies and TV episodes that can be streamed from Netflix,” the companies said.

Once the episodes are made available to Netflix, expected to be “no earlier than 15 days after initial telecast,” they can be streamed instantly with Netflix memberships starting at $7.99 a month, the companies said.

"Most” of the episodes included in the deal are from “prior seasons" of those shows, which is “the main place we focus,” Netflix Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy told the Barclays conference in San Francisco. ABC TV shows that are part of the deal include prior season episodes of the current series Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and, for the first time on Netflix, Brothers & Sisters, as well as every episode of Lost and Ugly Betty, which recently ended their final seasons. Netflix will be the first provider to stream Ugly Betty. Also new to Netflix are each season of several ABC Studios shows, including Reaper and Scrubs.

Shows being made available as streams via Netflix from the Disney Channel include Phineas and Ferb and Good Luck Charlie for the first time, as well as expanded offerings of The Suite Life on Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place, and older episodes of Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, the companies said. ABC Family shows that Netflix will stream include Greek, Make It or Break It, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Melissa & Joey.

Also part of the deal are Disney Channel and ABC Family movies including High School Musical, High School Musical 2, Camp Rock and Beauty & the Briefcase, as well as the new releases Avalon High, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and Revenge of the Bridesmaids.

Streamed TV content “has proven to be immensely popular with our members,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. “Adding to our existing Disney-ABC lineup … and opening up ABC Family for the first time are important steps in creating a wide and diverse selection of content Netflix members of all ages can watch,” he said.

McCarthy decided to resign as CFO, effective Friday (CED Dec 8 p7), because the company has “had a tremendous run and the business is in enormously good shape, and at some point I'd like to have the opportunity to run my own business,” he told the Barclays conference. He and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings “have been talking about” the latter since 2004, McCarthy said. “It was a question of when, not if,” he would leave Netflix, he said. “It was important to me to leave the company in great shape and with a fully formed team.” He’s being replaced by David Wells, who’s being promoted from vice president of financial planning and analysis. McCarthy recently sold a significant amount of his shares in Netflix but remains a “big shareholder” in the company and doesn’t plan to work for a rival, he said.

Netflix will “try to renew” the significant deal that it has with Starz, McCarthy also told the conference, but “there’s no one piece of content that’s essential for us. It’s great content. We'd like to have it. But we can live without it if we have to."

Netflix has “had a great success in Canada” since recently launching a streaming-only service there, McCarthy said. He added: “We're continuing to watch and study what we're doing in Canada. We want to give it a few quarters and see how it develops, and if it continues to be really successful then we'll expand in the second half of next year.” He didn’t specify where it will expand to.