NEW YORK — Rivals Netflix Inc. and Inc. unveiled separate deals with Walt Disney Co. to license ABC and Disney Channel shows on Monday.
The deals are the latest efforts by online media providers to build their libraries and attract subscribers. For content owners, streaming video represents an additional market for selling their media and a way to extend the life of movies and TV shows that offer little value through syndication.
Amazon’s subscription-based unlimited streaming service has closed on Netflix of late, adding more than 11,000 titles since February. Netflix, meanwhile, faces mounting pressure to show it can profitably grow its subscriber base as well as its content library. Last week, it warned it will lose money for at least some of 2012 as it expands into the U.K. and Ireland.
Under the latest deals, Amazon is adding a handful of series to its offering, while Netflix is renewing shows it has offered under a prior agreement and picking up new titles such as ABC’s “Alias.”
