Netflix to Offer Hit TV Series

LOS GATOS, September 23:
The online movie rental service Netflix closed deals with CBS and Disney
Channel to stream an array of current episodes from a number of popular TV
series.

The two agreements add to
a growing library of 12,000 choices that Netflix members can watch instantly on
their PCs and TVs as part of their existing subscription plans and without
impacting the number of DVDs they receive.

The CBS deal brings the CSI franchise to Netflix. Starting in October,
episodes from the ninth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will be available and beginning this week, current season episodes of
the hit spin-offs CSI: Miami
and CSI: NY, as well as two
other CBS series, NCIS and Numb3rs, join the roster.

The agreement for Disney
Channel content centers on three of the channel's original series: Hannah
Montana, Wizards of Waverly
Place, and its newest original
series, The Suite Life on Deck,
a spin-off of The Suite Life
of Zack & Cody.

“We are thrilled to enter
into these relationships with CBS and Disney Channel and build upon their
innovative distribution strategies,” said Robert Kyncl, the VP of content
acquisition for Netflix. “We have a shared interest in granting fans expanded
access to and strengthening the networks' key shows.”

The agreements with CBS
and Disney Channel also add catalogue shows to the library of choices that can
be watched instantly at Netflix.
Some 500 episodes from Disney Channel's kid-driven, family-inclusive
programming library will come online to Netflix beginning in 2009.

Some 350 CBS episodes
covered in the deal include prior seasons of the three CSI series and Numb3rs, the first two seasons of the popular Jericho series as well as episodes from TV classics such
as Star Trek, MacGyver and Family Ties. The catalogue episodes will come online this
fall.

—By Anna Carugati