The Disney and the Netflix announced that starting in 2016, Netflix will carry Disney’s first-run, live-action and animated feature films in the U.S. when they are available for sale and rental. This is the first time that a major studio bypasses traditional cable TV carriers to stream films on the Web. Disney currently maintains an agreement with Liberty Media’s cable channel Starz Entertainment to carry its film content which will expire at the end of 2015. The deal with Netflix is a multi-year contract and includes films made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment, and Disneynature.
In the past, Netflix acquired content from six different Hollywood studios through intermediaries. Since 2011, Netflix was struggling to obtain content from movie studios and this agreement is a huge step for the company at a time it is battling with activist investors such as Carl Icahn. The agreement also provides Netflix immediate access to older content including “Dumbo”, “Pocahontas”, and “Alice in Wonderland”. Netflix still battle with competitors including HBO, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. Viewers can now expect to see streaming movies from Disney for a bargain price of $8 a month on Netflix.