Netflix Partners with Relativity Media

Relativity Media LLC recently signed a deal with Netflix that requires the film distribution company to license 12-15 films per year to the video streaming service, The Huffington Post reports. The deal, which goes into effect next year, gives Netflix the rights to films that would have normally gone to premium cable networks like HBO and Showtime.

Some of the first films to be nabbed by the movie-rental/online-streaming service include Season of the Witch and The Fighter, both of which will see theatrical debuts at the end of this year.

Like the company’s decision to allow Wii console streaming and forego releasing rentals until they’ve been out for 28 days, Netflix’s exclusive deal with Relativity is intended to encourage customers to utilize the online-streaming service rather than renting movies via snail mail.

Netflix has struck similar deals with Sony and Disney via cable network Starz Entertainment LLC, which has sublicensed several of its films to the subscription-based streaming service.

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