Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming service finally has some A-list titles to go with all that musty catalog stuff and indie fare.
The newish content comes via licensing deals with Starz Entertainment, CBS and Disney.
New titles available under the Starz (Liberty Media) deal include “No Country for Old Men,” “Superbad,” “The Orphanage” and “Spider-Man 3” — all well through their distribution cycles, but not bad for “free” — as in, no additional charge.
Watch Instantly streams movies and TV shows to Netflix customers with a regular DVD-rental subscription. Non-subscribers also can sign up for a Starz-only stream at $7.99.
Watch on a Windows PC or spring for a $100 Netflix box from Roku that brings the content to your TV via an Internet connection. Xbox 360 users with a Live Gold account will be able to access the stream via the game system’s redesigned multimedia interface. (Microsoft just dropped Xbox prices — do the math.)
Netflix said the long overdue Mac video streaming is coming “by the end of the year.”
Watch Instantly users apparently will get upcoming films at the same time as pay-cable viewers.
The Starz Play package does not include high-definition video. Starz’s chief flack told TV Week that there wasn’t sufficient consumer interest in online HD to make it worth worrying about.
The Starz deal already has delivered about 1,000 films to Watch Instantly, with another 1,500 in the wings.
Late last month, Disney and Netflix hooked up for TV fare such as “Hannah Montana.” Starz has a deal with Disney, so the Mouse House’s feature films will come to Netflix streams via that route.
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