While Netflix has ramped up its original movie production dramatically over recent years in line with its scripted TV production, it remains vital for the service to supplement its movie library with titles from high-profile US studios and Indies. The most value these acquisitions can hold for the SVOD is in the Pay 1 window, as they help paint Netflix as the premier destination for high-profile movies and not simply a repository of library titles. Movie Tracker reveals how much Netflix’s activity in this pivotal window differs from market to market.
There is no one major deal that sees a single studio supplying Pay 1 deals to Netflix in all international markets, with most titles only ever making it to a maximum of three different markets of the 12 in this analysis. Clerks III from Lionsgate is the one exception to this, being acquired in the Pay 1 window by Netflix in six of these international markets.
In Canada, Netflix struggle to acquire Pay 1 window movies from major studios, with most studio movies either tied up in volume deals, such as Bell Media’s with Warner Bros. Discovery for its Crave service, or being vertically integrated, such as with Disney fuelling its content to Disney+. Netflix in this instance has instead aimed to make up the volume with a heavier engagement with indie suppliers such as Vertical Entertainment.
Sony has Pay 1 deals with Netflix the US, which it has held since 2021, as well as in India and South Africa. NBCUniversal engages with Netflix in a package for Pay 1 in Australia, where the window is shared with local Pay TV operator Foxtel, premiering Universal titles on both linear and its Binge SVOD service.
Some markets see Netflix struggling to acquire Pay 1 at all. In France, the country’s strict windowing rules for films following their Theatrical release complicate matters for Netflix (and all streamers). The only Pay 1 premiere on French Netflix since 2022 has been The Tiger Rising from The Avenue, available to Netflix as a result of the film never seeing a French premiere in local theatres.
Much like Bell in Canada, the markets where Sky is active as a Pay 1 buyer (UK, Germany, Italy) inevitably has an effect on Netflix’s ability to acquire movies in this period. The same is true for other markets with high profile Pay TV operators such as Poland, where the third party window for Pay 1 studio movies typically go to Pay TV operator Canal+, Studio streamer HBO Max or old-time rival Amazon Prime.
While the vertical integration of studio titles clearly effects the number of Pay 1 deals available to Netflix, the presence of Pay TV operators in many markets still remains strong, with these services taking the lion’s share of what remains. As US studios re-examine their vertical integration strategies so they can focus on building up profits, it is Pay TV services that may find themselves better suited to leap on opportunities as they emerge.
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