Netflix CEO: HBO & Showtime Won't Play Ball

Hollywood Reporter cites Netflix CEO Reed Hastings at the All Things D conference, talking about HBO & Showtime:

Hastings also said he licensed House of Cards from Media Rights Capital in the show’s first window – a streaming deal commentators characterized as Netflix’s foray into original TV programming – because he needs the sort of premium TV content HBO and Showtime are famous for, but those two networks won’t play ball.

“If we can’t spend the money with HBO and Showtime, then we gotta do things like that. But our preference would be to spend that money with HBO and Showtime,” he told host Kara Swisher at the AllThingsD conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. on Wednesday.

Hastings said that The Wire was at the top of his wish list of shows to pick up, and that Firefly would be "...impractical to create new episodes, given the actors have aged and the sets no longer exist." 

Comments

[medievil]

Firefly wouldn't be doable anyways cause Nathan Fillian is in Castle now..plus with serenity and the death of one of the characters....the actors have aged thing is a bit ludicrous though..not been that long..lol

now if they wanna make a new show that would have a huge following...do something like Faith the vampire slayer, or Spike...

[Robert Emmerich]

Or the spin-off "Faith Loves Spike". It would have to be X-rated though. I'ld watch.

HBO has HBOgo, why would they lease to nf?

Aren't Weeds and Tudors Showtime?

[Jamie]

Yes they have Weeds and the Tudors, but those shows are not produced by Showtime, so the companies that produce them cut Netflix deals.

HBO doesn't allow that type of setup on its shows.

[Riverside Guy]

Reed is correct, HBO really started the "original programming" thing, mostly because the other services did movies. Then SHO started, lastly Starz in the past 2-3 years.

IMO the pay services will never license them because they want to keep them close to the vest as they try and get new subscribers. As in "Sign up for HBO now, the only place where you can stream every Sopranos episode ever made. And HBO is the ONLY place you can do this!"

[Jamie]

And now that HBO go is available, really the only people it shuts out are people that have cut the chord and cannot sign up for HBO for a month or two to watch the shows and then cancel again.

[Scott]

Maybe too late for Serenity, but how about Dollhouse?

[Noah]

Ugh, why would anyone want to bring back Dollhouse???

[Riggs]

Netflix needs to snag Torchwood out from under Showtime. :)

[Jamie]

Dollhouse had a definitive ending to the show at the end of season 2. There's no way to start it back up without a complete reboot for a show that nobody watched.

[Donald L Sykes]

I wonder if HBO realizes how many people are pirating their shows. If they would a cut deals with Netflix they could cut out some of the pirating and get paid at the same time. If not make a deal with Netflix at least let non-cable customers get HBO Go. I'm sure many people would rather be legal than pirate.

[FearNo1]

Netflix should bring back Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It had a wild cliffhanger at the end of season 2. It was a well made series but lacked the edge in violence and language since it was on network TV. I'd also like to see a 24 like series on Netflix. The quality of TV programing has really improved over the years with shows like Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead, Rome, True Blood, etc. I think its a smart move for Netflix to get their own programs since HBO, SHO, etc are getting stingy with their content.

[Jimbo Jones]

"I'm sure many people would rather be legal than pirate."

I agree, I used to pirate a lot of stuff and then I got Netflix and stopped. On the other side of that though, I used to buy a lot of DVDs and that also stopped when I got Netflix.

As for what they should bring back... Stargate Universe. The idea had such potential, but SyFy did a horrible job with it, and the ending was just horrible. Torchwood would also be great.

[RJM35126]

Ive never pirated anything.

[Daniel L]

They really do need to finish Stargate Universe. Or at least give us a novel to finish it. I want to know what happens.

[Scott]

Jamie, Dollhouse did have an ending... actually two endings... the second to last episode, which ended the "current" story, and the "years later story" which ended the series... but I think there could be an interesting story to tell in what happened between the two!

[El]

HBO recently said they weren't going to allow non-premium cable subscribers the ability to pay a subscription to their Go service. As online streaming takes off and starts finding a way to directly deal with these networks and movie companies, cable will eventually become obsolete.

HBO's obsession with sticking with cable will probably bite them later on.

And like someone else said, lots of people pirate their content. And honestly, when the powers that be do everything they can to withhold their content, I have no sympathy for lost revenue when people pirate the content. They have to get it some how.

[Al]

Regarding the Firefly comment.
I see what he means, but I would have been all over a CG version of the show.

Or a good CG Netflix original space opera type show.

[Fbone]

From the article it implies HBO offered their content and Netflix didn't have the cash.

Is The Wire as good as he says?

[Roy Watts]

An animated series based on Firefly would be nice.

[J-Witt]

The article doesn't really imply that at all, Fbone. It says that Netflix came to them with an offer and they straight-up refused, since they want to push their own streaming service. As far as I know, HBO has never offered to license out their content to anyone (barring syndicated stuff like Entourage which plays a censored version).

[Fbone]

"The check wasn't big enough." Indicates to me some kind of offer may have been possible.

If HBO straight-up refused, then why mention check amount at all? Just say as you said; they don't license out their content.

[Pennmu]

They should bring back My Name is Earl