I recently started watching old TV shows on my PC using Netflix’s “Watch Instantly”. I noticed there are quite of few movies that are also available to watch instantly, although most of the movies I want to watch aren’t.
Is there any rhyme or reason to why some movies are available to watch instantly and some aren’t? I don’t see an obvious pattern…
All a matter of licensing, I think. Some streaming movies “expire”–that is stop being available for instant viewing at some point. Sometimes I’ll add a movie to my DVD queue and see a notice that it will be available for instant viewing starting January 1 or something like that. I don’t have any solid info about this, but I am guessing that with the introduction of the streaming-only subscription option, Netflix is going to expand their selection of instant-viewing movies.
This is pure speculation, but I wonder if there isn’t a capacity issue as well. It’s one thing to keep thousands of DVDs in a warehouse – it’s another to keep them up on readily accessible servers for instant streaming.
On the other hand, it’s possible I have no idea what I’m talking about.
I read an article about a month or so ago that showed that it cost Netflix something like $0.22 to stream a movie as opposed to $1.00 or so for buying, storing, and shipping a DVD. In other words, it is far, far cheaper for them to stream than to ship, so they are trying to move in that direction.
However, I can’t find the article.
I’d be really, really surprised if this was an issue, or if there was any question at all that warehousing physical DVDs was about a gazillion times more expensive than keeping the equivalent digital media at the ready.
And hey! This isn’t even a wild-assed guess! I actually spent many years working in digital storage! Boring as hell. Answering this question is the most fun I’ve ever gotten out of that job.
I agree. I don’t think it’s a storage or bandwidth issue. It must be a licensing or other kind of reason. Perhaps they need to keep the mailout service running for some reason. I would be willing to pay more if I could only stream the content I wanted to see. Oh well!
I’m almost certain that it’s licensing given that there’s been a couple stories about Netflix making deals with various studios for the right to stream their films. First was the deal with Starz (some movies begin with the Starz logo when you stream them) which gave them some limited access to newer releases and then deals with Paramount, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. No deals with studios such as Universal, Sony, 20th Century Fox, TriStar, etc which leaves a lot of stuff unavailable. Some of those studios may also be trying licensing agreements with other streaming providers or trying to start their own service so they’re not willing to jump in and give their catalogs over to Netflix. I know Netflix has already suffered some studio “wrath” with their decision to delay giving new releases to Netflix & Redbox for 28 days to help boost DVD sales; which streaming obviously goes directly against.
I’m not speaking with authority though, just what I’ve guessed from reading some articles.
From Wiki:
So I guess Netflix does have some licensing agreements with those studios, although not deep enough ones to open up more of their catalog (especially in newer releases).
As others have said, the issue is licensing. Netflix plans to expand their online library, but they are having trouble negotiating deals with the studios.
The issue is particularly complicated. The studios originally granted rights at a low cost, much lower than they charge others, because they looked at Netflix as an additional revenue stream – a sort of experiment. But the Netflix service exploded and it is having a very noticeable impact on the rest of the industry. For example, US cable subscriptions are down for the first time ever. The entire industry is in flux now and it is unclear how much Netflix should be charged for each online view.
The reason so many of Netflix online movies are associated with Starz is because Starz had negotiated online distribution in their contracts. Starz in turn, sold this right to Netflix to use. I heard that Netflix paid $50 million for their previous contract with Starz, but it is expected that they will have to pay $250 million to renew it.
I don’t think there is any technical issue with storing and streaming content, but I did hear recently that Netflix accounts for 20% of internet usage during peak hours. The fact was given on the radio and I am sure there are many qualifiers to it.
I feel this is rather on point. I get my information mostly from Hacking NetFlix and “The Netflix Blog”
Some of this spelled out in news stories over time. The agreements seem to be the reason that so many current IW programs and movies do not have CC or subtitles.
The information above about licensing is pretty much correct.
An additional factor is what is known as the “HBO window” - when a movie or TV show is in rotation on HBO, it can’t be shown on other services, due to the contracts that the studios have with HBO.
You’ll see this as items that were in your Instant Queue moving out of it to Saved Items, then later moving back into your Instant Queue.