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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 28 June 2019
'The Office' to leave Netflix as streaming battles heat up

By MAE ANDERSON from another division, the
AP Technology Writer Universal studio.
NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix is Experts say the new ser-
losing its most popular TV vices, except perhaps Dis-
show, "The Office," in a sign ney's, are not likely to draw
of things to come as more the numbers that Netflix
TV and movie makers start has spent years building, as
their own streaming servic- consumers suffer streaming
es and take back their of- fatigue. Netflix has 139 mil-
ferings. lion paid subscribers world-
In a tweet Tuesday, Netflix wide.
said it was "sad" that NBC The shift will be pricey for
will no longer license "The customers, too. Those who
Office" to Netflix, but add- already pay $13 a month
ed that Netflix will still have for Netflix or $6 for Hulu for
it for the next year and a their most popular plans
half. NBCUniversal's stream- might be wary about shell-
ing service is due to start ing out for other monthly
in 2020. Starting in January services.
2021, the yet-unnamed Loup Ventures analyst
NBC service will be the ex- Gene Munster said he
clusive home in the U.S. believes there will be an
of all nine seasons of the In this Feb. 22, 2009, file photo shoppers watch the television show "The Office" as they compare increase of people ex-
sitcom, which follows the wide screens on display at Costco in Mountain View, Calif. perimenting, trying out a
hapless employees of the Associated Press service for a month or two
Dunder Mifflin paper com- and then canceling.
pany. have been happy for the reason, these companies movies typically license Eventually "people may
Although Netflix has been extra revenue they get for have to weigh whether it's their videos to third-par- simply have three or four
emphasizing original shows licensing shows to Netflix worth losing revenue from ty services for a certain offerings they pay $10 a
and movies, previously and similar services. But the likes of Netflix in the amount of time. Netflix's month for," he said. "We
televised shows such as those partners are mor- short run. licensing deal for "The Of- may get there over time,
"The Office" are still popular, phing into competitors as Disney, which is launching fice" is set to expire in 2020. but over the next one or
especially as people aban- content makers like NB- its own service by the end NBCUniversal bought the two years people are go-
don traditional pay TV pro- CUniversal , Disney and of the year, has told inves- rights back to use on its ing to be more finicky."
viders like cable and rely on WarnerMediacreate their tors that it expects a $150 own service beginning in Ultimately, the services that
streaming for such shows. own services to vie for Net- million operating loss for January 2021. win will be the services that
"The Office" was the most flix's viewers. Apple is also the fiscal year ending in NBCUniversal did not dis- invest the most in original
viewed show on Netflix in building its own streaming September because of the close financial terms, content — or buying back
2018, streamed for over 52 service with original shows forgone licensing revenue. though published reports their own, said Brian Wieser,
billion minutes, according from Oprah and Steven And WarnerMedia report- say NBCUniversal bid $100 global president of business
to Nielsen. That equates to Spielberg. edly got $100 million for million per year for five intelligence at GroupM.
nearly 15 hours for each of These content companies Netflix to license "Friends" years to keep the show "It is just a function how
Netflix's 58.5 million U.S. sub- are hoping to build viable for 2019 alone, money it in-house, more than what much investment everyone
scribers. "Friends" was No. 2 streaming businesses — will lose if it takes the show Netflix and others were of- is willing to make," he said.
and "Greys Anatomy" was though it's not clear how back for its service as ex- fering. It's an internal bid in "The buy in for being mean-
No. 3. much revenue they'll get pected. which the streaming busi- ingful is $5 billion, and that's
Producers of such shows from them at first. For that Owners of TV shows and ness will acquire the rights just the buy in." q

DirecTV owner backs free

streaming service Locast as hedge

they pay for blacked out threats by the station own- It's now in 13 cities, includ-
because channel owners ers to pull channels during ing New York, Los Angeles
and the cable or satel- disputes. Customers miss- and Chicago.
lite companies such as Di- ing channels like ABC, CBS, Cable companies have
recTV can't agree on fees. NBC and Fox could also pushed back against the
Such fights can drag on for use a digital antenna. Nei- rising fees demanded by
months and block viewers ther Locast nor an antenna owners of TV stations and
from the Oscars, the Super would help if the blacked- cable channels as viewer-
Bowl and other events. out channel is a cable net- ship shifts online. Those fees
In this Jan. 28, 2019, file photo the Locast website is displayed AT&T said Thursday that it work like Comedy Central get passed down to the
on a computer screen in New York. donated $500,000 to Lo- or ESPN. customer.
Associated Press cast, a non-profit organi- The donation is a pittance AT&T has found itself on
zation that streams broad- for AT&T, with $19.4 billion both sides of these fights,
By TALI ARBEL service as a hedge against cast channels for free. It's in profit last year. But it's sig- as it's both a TV provider
AP Technology Writer losing broadcast channels also offering access to Lo- nificant for Locast , which and a media company
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T, in disputes over fees. cast through DirecTV and depends on donations and as the owner of networks
the owner of DirecTV, is TV subscribers are increas- its U-verse cable service. spends about $100,000 to including HBO, TBS and
backing a free streaming ingly finding the channels This option could undercut launch each new market. CNN.q