Netflix to stream 'Mad Men' (VAR, LAT, WSJ)

By Nancy Tartaglione

"Acting more and more like a well-heeled cable network every day," according to Variety, Netflix is making yet another foray into television by paying nearly $1 million per episode for streaming rights to all seven seasons of "Mad Men."

The deal with Lionsgate TV covers the four already aired seasons as well as the upcoming final three, for a total of 91 episodes. The shows will be available beginning July 27.

The Los Angeles Times put the price tag at between $750,000 and $900,000 per episode.

Lionsgate is already in business with Netflix via Epix, but the "Mad Men" pact is a stand-alone deal and does not encompass other Lionsgate shows, Variety noted.

This is the first time that Netflix has bought syndication rights to a currently airing program for its online streaming service, The LAT points out, further saying:

Though the agreement is a sign of Netflix's growing influence in the television industry, it also underscores the tough hurdles Lionsgate might have faced trying to sell the show to a traditional network. Serialized dramas such as "Mad Men" do not perform well in reruns, negatively impacting their value.

Variety adds:

..."Mad Men" and other cable dramas often face a syndie conundrum. Some shows become so synonymous with their original networks that they can be a tough sell to the basic cablers that are typically aggressive contenders for rerun rights to broadcast network fare -- think USA Network, TNT, FX and A&E.; Last summer, Netflix bought up rerun rights to FX's long-running "Nip/Tuck" from Warner Bros. TV, which had struggled to find a traditional cable buyer for the edgy drama.

Although the show delivers a modest overall audience in primetime, for the Netflix demo base, "Mad Men" reruns are a home run, Variety notes.

Last week, following an arduous negotiation, AMC and Lionsgate made new deal with series creator Matthew Weiner that keeps him at the helm for three more years, until the series end.

Season 5 debuts on AMC in March 2012.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal adds that Netflix is also in discussions about a new content deal with NBCUniversal which would include TV episodes from earlier seasons of NBCU's cable and broadcast shows and be non-exclusive, people familiar with the matter told the paper. One Journal source said a deal would dramatically expand the amount of NBCU content offered through the service.