Streaming rights cause viewer confusion
Marie Conception was three seasons into the TV series “Gossip Girl” when Netflix yanked the entire show from its lineup.
Left hanging in the middle of the teen drama’s juicy plot twists, the Burnaby, B.C. resident says she questioned why she signed up for Netflix in the first place.
“You commit to purchasing Netflix or CraveTV because they have certain shows,” she says. “It’s a little upsetting when they pull stuff out for whatever reason.”
The frustration is all too familiar for many TV viewers. You’re invested in “Mad Men” or “The West Wing” when the shows suddenly disappear from streaming services overnight.
The reason TV shows or films are removed from streaming platforms can vary, though it almost always comes down to content licensing “windows,” the set periods of time a company gets the rights for a program.
Those contracts between a streaming company and a TV or film distributor are nothing new — they exist for traditional broadcasters, too. But in an era where many people stream much of their entertainment, what’s available is suddenly a bigger part of the conversation.
How long a streaming licence lasts will vary depending on the show or movie. Many contracts are signed for around a year, especially for films, which guarantees services like Netflix have a steady rotation of content from some of Hollywood’s big studios.
TV series can have an even longer licence that stretches for several years and covers a number of seasons. Sometimes, those rights switch to another service; other times they expire and disappear into the digital ether.
The confusion over where to watch their favourite TV shows isn’t likely to subside for Canadians any time soon. Next year, CBS Corp. plans to enter the market with CBS All Access, potentially holding onto certain licences for TV shows it has a stake in, including “The Big Bang Theory.”
When Disney rolls out its streaming platform in the coming years, there’s a good chance it’ll eventually keep its most valuable new content for itself, rather than license it to Netflix Canada.
All of these decisions are part of ongoing talks that don’t affect viewers until they notice something has gone missing from their streaming library.
Mike Cosentino, senior vicepresident of content at CraveTV, often hears the message loud and clear when he makes the call on what to stock on Bell Media’s platform.
But it isn’t always up to CraveTV, Netflix or Amazon Prime Video which entertainment they can license.
For instance, viewers have urged Netflix Canada to stock up on past seasons of “Game of Thrones,” but the blockbuster TV show is owned by HBO, its biggest competitor.