By Marty Twelves
Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have signed separate deals with Walt Disney Co. to augment their current offerings.
For Netflix, which has been struggling through a tough year of price hikes and a proposal to split the company that was then retracted, the deal comes as an opportunity to expand its offerings and attract potential new customers. This comes on the heels of a bad third-quarter report in which about 800,000 subscribers were lost.
The deal puts Amazon’s Prime instant video service in greater competition with Netflix. Opened to all members of the Amazon Prime shipping program, the Internet retailer’s streaming service now offers nearly 13,000 movies and TV shows.
Netflix’s recent troubles proves to be a point of irony, considering it proved to be one of the chief contributors to the downfall of former video giant Blockbuster. Some have suggested that the company’s stumbles have opened a window for Blockbuster to recapture part of its shrinking market share.
