Premium cable network Starz pulled its movies from Netflix streaming as of Thursday at midnight.
For Netflix customers, this means no more Toy Story 3, no more Tron, no more Billy Madison and no more access to about 1,000 other movies that were previously in the "Starz Play" section of the Netflix site.
Starz announced in September 2011 that it would be ending a relationship with Netflix that began in late 2008. The companies' agreement expired Tuesday.
"This decision is a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content," Starz said last September.
As the New York Times points out, the loss of Starz movies doesn't necessarily mean Netflix is doomed. Movies from Starz account for just 2% of all viewing, Netflix told the Times, down from 8% a year ago.
While preparing for its film offerings to dwindle, Netflix has beefed up its television offerings. The company has made plans to add, for instance, original episodes of Arrested Development. The Disney-ABC Television Group extended and expanded its relationship with the platform in November 2011.
The company has also started making original television series, the first of which debuted last month.
Netflix is not only facing competition from sites that stream movie content — such as YouTube, Amazon and Dish Network — but also those that stream TV programming.
TV streaming site Hulu, which is jointly owned by NBC Universal, News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company, has also started to create original content. Its CEO, Jason Kilar, recently noted that the company will invest $500 million in content this year.
Will you be sticking with Netflix now that its Starz movies are gone? If not, which service will you use? Let us know in the comments.
BONUS: Netflix History
July 13, 2011
Netflix stock more than doubled over the previous year, then increased by 15% in May to reach its last all-time high in July of $300.
Sept. 1, 2011
Netflix cancelled its $9.99 combined streaming and DVD plan and separated the services into two separate $7.99 plans.
Photo courtesy of Flickr, matthew393
Sept. 19, 2011
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings introduced Qwikster, the company that would take over its DVD service.
Oct. 10, 2011
Recognizing that Qwikster would end up "making things more difficult" for its customers, Reed Hasting announced that Netflix will forego DVD rebranding.
Oct. 24, 2011
By Monday Oct. 24, over 805,000 Netflix customers had cancelled their subscriptions due to the company price hike.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Ross Catrow
Oct. 25, 2011
By premarket trading Tuesday morning, Netflix stock had fallen another 10% since the evening before.
July 13, 2011
Netflix stock more than doubled over the previous year, then increased by 15% in May to reach its last all-time high in July of $300.
Sept. 1, 2011
Netflix cancelled its $9.99 combined streaming and DVD plan and separated the services into two separate $7.99 plans.
Photo courtesy of Flickr, matthew393
Sept. 19, 2011
The stock dropped 50% from its July 13 all-time high.
Netflix Price Stock Chart by YCharts
Sept. 19, 2011
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings introduced Qwikster, the company that would take over its DVD service.
Oct. 10, 2011
Recognizing that Qwikster would end up "making things more difficult" for its customers, Reed Hasting announced that Netflix will forego DVD rebranding.
Oct. 24, 2011
By Monday Oct. 24, over 805,000 Netflix customers had cancelled their subscriptions due to the company price hike.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Ross Catrow
Oct. 24, 2011
Down to $85 share price from $300 this summer, Netflix's stock fell 27% following the announcement that it had lost 800,000 customers.
Netflix Stock Chart by YCharts
Oct. 25, 2011
By premarket trading Tuesday morning, Netflix stock had fallen another 10% since the evening before.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Ross Catrow
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