Netflix forges streaming deal with Miramax

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CHICAGO — Netflix Inc., focused on building its
online streaming library of more than 20,000 titles, said Monday that it
signed a deal with Miramax Films that will give its users access to
movies such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Good Will Hunting” and “The English
Patient,” beginning in June.

Financial terms of the multiyear deal were not
disclosed. This is the first time that Miramax titles have become
available to any digital subscription service.

Over the past year, Netflix has set up content deals
with Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp., the premium movie channel Epix and 20th
Century Fox. Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns MarketWatch,
the publisher of this report.

Online streaming has become the fastest-growing
source of new customers for Netflix, which now has almost 24 million
subscribers.

While the video rental provider has a DVD and Blu-ray
library of well over 120,000 titles, it has been working to improve its
catalog of streamed content to keep up with ever-rising expectations
among investors.

Analysts worry that the video-on-demand content
offered by cable companies like Time Warner Cable Inc. and Comcast
Corp., along with the streaming products from Amazon.com, Hulu Plus and
other new entrants, will slow down Netflix’s growth. Already, the stock,
priced at more than 70 times its earnings, was punished last month when
Netflix issued a second-quarter outlook that fell short of many
forecasts.

Some also fear that the company’s deals with the
studios will become too expensive, but Netflix founder Reed Hastings has
stressed that the company will not spend at a rate that will prevent it
from having an operating profit margin of at least 14 percent.

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