Netflix Losing Starz Play: Over 1,000 Starz Movies, TV Shows To Be Cut

How many times can you watch Toy Story 3 in the next two days? Hopefully many, since it will be your last chance to watch it and about 1,000 other movies and TV shows on Netflix.

On Tuesday, Starz's contract with Netflix expires and its content will be pulled from the DVD lending and streaming site. According to Gizmodo, however, streaming will be available until February 29.

The move was announced in September, but the companies had to wait to implement the changes until Starz's contract expired on February 28. In a press release published in September, Starz explained the move to cut ties with Netflix as follows:

This decision is a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content. With our current studio rights and growing original programming presence, the network is in an excellent position to evaluate new opportunities and expand its overall business.

According to an Engadget post from September, Starz decided to remove its movies and television shows from Netflix after talks broke down over the programming provider's insistence that Netflix implement a tiered pricing system requiring customers to pay more for some Starz content.

Starz originally signed a five-year, $30-million-a-year contract with Netflix in 2008, reports VentureBeat. According to TV Week, the deal added 2,500 titles to the Netflix roster, including such beloved films as "Scarface," "Scream," "Beetlejuice" and "Big."

Last summer's breakdown of the Netflix, Starz contract wasn't the first sign of trouble between the partners.

In March of last year, the Associated Press reported that Netflix users would have to wait 90 days to watch new episodes of Starz original shows "Spartacus" and "Camelot." Originally these shows were available for streaming on Netflix as soon as they aired.

Last June, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told All Things D that renewing Starz's contract for $200 million a year "wouldn't be shocking." This was more than six times as much as Netflix had paid in 2008, indicating that the Starz contract one that Netflix was interested in keeping. However, just a few months later Hastings seemed to have changed his tune, telling Business Insider that although he was sorry to see Starz go, he wasn't worried about the effect the loss of this content would have on Netflix's business since Starz only accounted for 8 percent of U.S. Netflix users' viewing time.

There are currently about 1,000 titles in the Starz Play section, and Netflix's current streaming catalog includes around 20,000 movies and TV shows, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Check out our slideshow below of the movies we will be saddest to see Netflix lose, or see more highlights from Starz's catalog on Gizmodo here. For a full rundown of what Starz titles Netflix will be losing, take a look at Netflix's site here. Tell us in the comments below: What titles will you miss the most? Think you'll keep or cancel your Netflix subscription?

Comments

[Glitteroutaw]

10:10 AM on 02/22/2013

Wont hurt my netflix, i just wont be watching starz again, they are the last of the Dinosaurs that think we havta pay extra to watch movies, no we sure dont starz, only thing your achieving is losing customers. netflix is fine without you

[MRBURNS661]

12:57 PM on 07/13/2012

And one can see now why they chose to let the Starz contract expire. Can you imagine them proposing a tiered pricing structure and then implementing the DVD debacle?

[MRBURNS661]

12:55 PM on 07/13/2012

Losing The English Patient is sad? Surely you jest!

[renaissance247]

12:11 AM on 03/23/2012

THAT's your list of what you're sad to see go? I'm not interested in a single one of your choices except Twister... it's a great movie, I just rarely watch it anymore because I've seen it so many times.

[Keith Sargent]

06:36 PM on 03/18/2012

This is exactly the problem in the world, everyone can never have enough money...they want more and more and more and don't realize they need to give a more. By increasing prices at some point it Plateau's and then people say enough and cut out or you price out those who can no longer afford to pay. Then these companies complain about loosing profits...So I suggest to boycott Starz and keep with Netflix until they realize they need to go back...I mean they make millions or more off of all the suckers they can so don't be one and fight back..

[William Coldiron]

09:25 PM on 03/01/2012

I went through the entire Starz catalog on Netflix before it was pulled. I saw very little to write home about. I have no idea why Starz thinks they deserve premium pricing. I expect they will be looking for a new home before it is over, they are only getting more competition.

[cangemiart]

02:16 PM on 03/01/2012

I'm losing my patience with Netflix. They are raking in billions and I have to get put on a waiting list to get the next Dark Shadows DVD, a show that was on 40 years ago! If they don't get their act together, I'm pulling my account.

[Steven Star]

12:09 PM on 03/01/2012

NO BIG LOSS. I HAVE SEEN SO MANY OF THESE OLD MOVIES ON TV. BORING , OLD MATERIAL. STARZ SHOULD BE THANKFUL THAT THEY HAVE A CUSTOMER FOR MOST OF THEIR "JUNK". A HANDFUL OF O.K. MOVIES DOESN'T WARRANT THAT KIND OF MONEY. NETFLIX IS A GREAT , WELL RUN COMPANY WITH A FUTURE, STARZ IS OLD, OLD, OLD!

[Yolanda LadyLibra Nelson]

02:22 AM on 03/01/2012

I feel that Starz is not that great of a tv channel anyway, the only show I watched on Starz was Sparticus which I can see on OnDemand. Othere than that I don't even look at that channel

[Tronic]

09:00 PM on 02/29/2012

Starz movie selection Stinkx!!!

Take a look at some of Starz "exclusive and highly valuable content" that they consider part of their "premium brand"....miserable failures like "Gooby",,, "Irish Jam"..."Little Bigfoot"...the list just goes on and on...

Starz movie selection has more DOGS than the Iditarod!!

Seriously, folks, you've got to have rocks in your head to pay extra for flops like these!

Buuuuuuuuuh-BYE Starz...and don't let the door hit you in the on the way out!

[Tom Pedrick]

04:26 PM on 02/29/2012

This Stinks!

[Ohmin]

11:56 AM on 02/29/2012

Hey theres always Mixvid . net and their free! :)

[mylittleopinion]

11:10 AM on 02/29/2012

Sorry everyone. Dissing Netflix is only your opinion and I think it's sour grapes. We have the streaming and DVD's plan. We've had it for a while and love it. What did we do before Netflix? We live in a rural area. TV antennas are useless. We tried cable. The wiring and technology that supplied service in our area sucked big time. We then tried Direct TV. It was okay but prices kept going up, much faster than anything we've experienced from Netflix. Oh, and after we left them, we've gotten ton's of mail trying to get us back. Then we thought we'd try that other national dish. It was no better and expensive. Now we're stuck with two worthless dishes. We went back to cable when they changed ownership claiming service and pricing was much approved. It wasn't and again costs spiraled. With Netflix, I have no commercials or spiraling costs on sat and cable. We don't have to put up with rerun after rerun after rerun and now all the crappy reality shows. Ugh! No, I'll stay loyal to Netflix. It's far, far cheaper and there's plenty to watch sans commercials. Right now I'm watching Supernatural (122 episodes) on my wide screen TV. Does cable or Sat offer that? Doesn't get any better than that. I don't have to drive to the video store to find the recent release I want is out. Are there recent issues with Netflix? A few but QYB everyone.

[RagaMuffin]

08:26 AM on 02/29/2012

The American business model is an illusion. Competition in the market place no longer exist. Greed is the norm of the day. Why should I let you profit from products that I already maximized profits from and felt that you were just an easy payday until you started making more profits on the same products. Now since you made your business model a success I think I can take your business model and make even more profits.
What NetFlix has done is create the business model that will lead to the end of cable television as we know it. How many people have premium stations like Starz, HBO and ShowTime feel they are wasting their money because the stations show the same programs at nauseum. I enjoy being my own television programmer. It a new perspective without the bombardment of advertising.

[njdavenj]

03:28 AM on 02/29/2012

No need to cancel any subscription to "Netflix" Thankfully was smart enough to see this debacle coming.

[techieblgrl]

11:48 AM on 02/29/2012

Me too!! I was excited when I realized I could get movies streaming right to my TV until I found out exactly which movies were available. That’s why I was quick to sign up when I heard that DISH, my employer, was coming out with Blockbuster @Home. It’s cheap and has movies people actually want to watch. I honestly have no idea how people are going to be able to stay with Netflix when they will have even less movies available. In all honestly, I felt ripped off (even though it is a nice price) when I realized how lame the streaming movie selection through Netflix was. Netflix would probably be more financially stable if they increased their customer base and loyalty by improving their streaming library instead of getting original shows.

[Jeremy Ailes]

04:24 PM on 02/29/2012

What makes you think Netflix isn't financially stable?