Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company is in the midst of trying to negotiate a new deal with the parent companies of the CW to bring the network’s shows to the service.
Netflix’s deal with Warner Bros. and CBS for CW’s programming ran through the 2014-15 season, and the TV net’s properties are now open for bidding.
“We’d like to make that deal work,” Sarandos said on Netflix’s earnings call Tuesday. “It’s great programming, we have a great relationship with Warner Bros. and CBS on that deal, and we’d like to continue it.”
In a presentation last week at the Television Critics Association press tour, CW president Mark Pedowitz pointed out the Netflix deal was up for renewal and said the network’s parent companies “are exploring a lot of options.” That might include a CW-branded subscription-streaming service, per a Bloomberg report.
Sarandos said the talks for CW programming are “not behind in any normal process.”
“It’s a time honored-tradition to negotiate in the press,” Sarandos added. “So you’re seeing some of that from them.”
The CW series currently on Netflix will remain on the streaming service through the run of those shows, Sarandos noted. “It’s not like we’re going to wake up one day without the programming,” he said.
Netflix has rights to CW shows including “Jane the Virgin” (pictured above), “Vampire Diaries,” “Arrow” and “The Flash.” Current-season shows like “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and the forthcoming “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” are not covered under the existing pact.
“It’s still a very competitive business, and I think what happens is, people sell their programming to the highest bidder,” Sarandos said. “That’s true today, and that was true five years ago.”
