Netflix on Tuesday took another step to transform itself from a company that rents movies and TV shows via the Internet, then sends them out by mail to a company that eliminates the mail service and streams them directly to customers. It signed a deal with CBS that will give subscribers online access to thousands of classic TV shows -- at no cost other than the $7.99 they pay monthly for Netflix's streaming service. Netflix has already signed a similar deal with the Walt Disney Co. to stream Disney movies and ABC-TV television shows -- but that deal includes both classic and some current programs. (Under the CBS pact, viewers will be able to watch episodes of the original Hawaii Five-0 TV series but not the new one.) Terms of the CBS deal were not disclosed, but some analysts put it at north of $200 million, or about what Netflix is paying Disney.

23/02/2011