Netflix, Cable Partnership Reportedly in Works
The online streaming service could be added to at least one cable operator by the end of this year.
| Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at 12:42 PM
Photo by Elizabeth Fuentes/Getty Images for Netflix.
Netflix just might be teaming up with the cable industry to bring the popular movie streaming service to America’s cable television.
Reuters reports Wednesday that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been meeting with some of the top cable companies in recent weeks about a partnership that, in the news outlet's words, "could lead to Netflix becoming available as another on-demand option for cable subscribers through their set-top boxes." Another Reuters source suggested that cable operators might offer Netflix as an option tacked on to subscribers' regular cable bills.
Hastings has said that the Netflix-and-cable strategy was a way for cable operators to compete with HBO. While most of the details are still under wraps for the time being, at least one cable operator could start offering Netflix by the end of this year if a deal goes through, according to the report.
The partnership would come as a big turnaround for the online-traditional TV rivalry. When Netflix first came out with its $7.99 per month unlimited streaming online package, cable executives worried that their $100 billion-a-year business would be phased out since cable packages are traditionally much more expensive.
Until the partnership comes to fruition, Netflix at least seems to be benefiting from the the buzz surrounding it: The company's shares rose nearly 5 percent in premarket trading Wednesday morning.
