Netflix users might have even more reason to complain at the company’s recent price hike, as the video streaming service forked out a mammoth $1b to claim exclusive online streaming rights of shows belonging to The CW Network for the next eight years, a deal which will come as a great relief to a network that is allegedly running a loss every month.

The CW Network channel, which is co-owned by CBS and Warner Bros. (50% each) and often described as the ‘fifth major broadcast network‘ in the USA, features popular entertainment shows aimed at a ‘young adult’ demographic.

These shows include The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, America’s Next Top Model, and 90210, so Netflix will be hoping to cash in by featuring these shows as a streaming option, as well as trying to lure in the increasing number of younger viewers watching shows on the Internet or via a mobile device.

It is not coming cheap for the troubled streaming giant, though, with rumours suggesting that they are paying $600,000 per episode for Gossip Girlin addition to their rights deal, though this may be part of an agreement which sees the individual shows sold to Netflix on the basis of its popularity and age, or it might be that the ‘per episode’ fees constitute some of the $1b.

The arrangement allows Netflix to add to their already-large collection of TV content with exclusive streaming rights to all archived and new episodes of current CW content, including any new series made before 2015. Restrictions do apply despite the large sum of money, though, and they include being unable to air former shows from the network (such as Gilmore Girls), and not streaming ‘new episodes’ until that show has finished its current season.

CBS Corporation’s CEO Leslie Moonves was pleased with the deal, stating: “It also further illustrates how new distribution systems are providing premium content suppliers with additive revenue streams while still preserving traditional monetization windows.”

Moonves’ counterpart at Time Warner (Jeffrey L. Bewkes) insisted that while they really needed the money, the arrangement was made on their own terms, with Bewkes himself drawing up guidelines on making external online streaming deals. These rules included not separating the rights to their shows, which Time Warner believe would have lessened the value of the shows at later dates. Bewkes said yesterday: “Our rules included bypassing the quick and easy money. We established a strategy to responsibly work with Netflix.”

Netflix are understandably jumping straight into action with their new rights, with CW content said to be online by Saturady. The slogan of The CW Network is ‘TV to talk about’, but they will certainly be talking for a long time about their new-found billion dollars…

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