Netflix has sweetened its streaming deal with Time Warner, the network and studio owner formerly reticent about selling its content to subscription services.
Just last week, Netflix announced it had inked a new deal with Time Warner to stream seasons of several series produced by Warner Bros.: "The West Wing," "Fringe," "Chuck," and more.
Monday brought the announcement of another contract. Netflix (NFLX) will add to its catalog complete previous seasons of shows from Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros., both of which are owned by CNNMoney parent company Time Warner (TWX).
Starting on March 30, U.S. Netflix customers will be able to stream Cartoon Network shows including "Adventure Time" and "Johnny Bravo." Adult Swim titles include "Robot Chicken" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." One Warner Bros. Animation show, "Green Lantern," will also become available.
The deal includes a streaming license for TNT's drama "Dallas," but that show won't be available until January 2014. The "Dallas" deal will be exclusive to Netflix. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Time Warner, like many cable content titans, was initially leery about licensing content to streaming services like Netflix. Instead, the company pushed hard on an initiative it announced with Comcast (CMCSA) in 2009: "TV Everywhere," an authentication system that lets users watch TV online by signing in with credentials proving they pay for a cable service.
While Time Warner remains a champion of TV Everywhere, it says it now thinks the service can live side-by-side with Netflix and other streaming subscriptions.
"The industry has evolved so that TV Everywhere and subscription video on-demand services can coexist with the appropriate windowing strategy," Deborah Bradley, Turner's senior vice president of program acquisitions, said in a written statement.
"Windowing" is the film and TV industry jargon for carefully timing -- and delaying -- the release of content through various viewing channels. The goal is to maximize revenue from the sales of hot, in-demand programming.
Meanwhile, Netflix has been working to infuse fresh content into a streaming catalog some users say is stale. Netflix signed a deal with Disney (DIS) in December, but new film releases from the studio won't be available for another three years.
As Netflix has lost some deals, its rivals are happy to pounce. Last year Amazon (AMZN) struck a deal to stream movies from Epix on its Prime Instant Video service. Epix, which previously had an exclusive content deal with Netflix, is a Viacom-owned company that owns the digital rights to many Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate (LGF) movies.
