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Netflix Scores Big Win With Worldwide Streaming Rights To ‘Seinfeld’

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If the entertainment industry has learned anything, it’s to never underestimate the enduring power of the beloved sitcoms that generations have grown up watching and rewatching.

Knowing this, Netflix has spent a lot of money and effort to stream the best of the best. But it’s on the verge of losing two of its most-watched shows, The Office and Friends, leaving industry insiders to speculate the ramifications of the void that’s sure to be left. Fear not, Netflix loyalists, the streamer has landed the worldwide rights to the mega-hit sitcom Seinfeld, which by the way, is celebrating its 30th birthday this year.

Seinfeld will depart Hulu in 2021 when that deal is up and make the big move to Netflix as part of a five-year, worldwide deal with distributor Sony Pictures Television, which controls the sitcom’s distribution.

The Seinfeld deal, which was first reported by the L.A. Times, will bring the show’s global streaming rights under one roof for the first time. According to a source with knowledge, Hulu paid a little over $130 million total for its six-year deal for the show’s domestic streaming rights (not $150 million per year as has been reported) and Amazon has held on to the rights in most foreign territories. In this new deal, Netflix will have full control.

Monetary details of the deal have not been disclosed, but because the rights are for worldwide distribution, the L.A. Times reports Netflix had to have paid more than the $500 million NBCUniversal paid for The Office and the $425 million WarnerMedia paid for Friends. These two deals were both for five years and covered just domestic streaming rights.

The Seinfeld grab is sure to help boost the streamer’s subscriber numbers, which have been feared to be in jeopardy, as well as the company’s bottom line. In 2018, the top two most-streamed shows on Netflix in the U.S. were Friends and The Office, both of which are being pulled for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max in 2020 and NBCUniversal’s service in 2021, respectively. 

To put the impending loss of these two NBC hits in perspective, subscribers watched more than 52 billion minutes of The Office and over 32 billion minutes of Friends last year. It has been reported that the loss of The Office alone could cost Netflix as much as $935 million in annual subscriptions, which equals a drop of over $180 million in revenue every month.

Seinfeld, the show famously about nothing, had us laughing throughout its nine-season 180-episode run from 1989 to 1998. And, we continue to laugh to this day as we rewatch the episodes.

We followed the adventures, and misadventures, of Jerry Seinfeld and his three closest friends, the bumbling George Costanza (Jason Alexander), his former fling Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and the quirky neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) as they navigated the hilarities of their everyday lives in New York City.

A plethora of life questions that we all contemplate were asked and answered on Seinfeld. For instance, when George asked, “Why do they make the condom packets so hard to open?” Jerry had a reply. “Probably to give the woman a chance to change her mind.”

Seinfeld also taught us the differences between good and bad naked. The lesson learned? Coughing or opening a can of say pickles while naked are turn-offs. “When you cough there are thousands of unseen muscles that suddenly spring into action,” Jerry explained to George. Makes sense! And, new terms such as “yada yada” were coined and explained. We learned all about low-talkers, the Soup Nazi and man hands and our lives were better for it.

This deal is a definite win for Netflix as it continues to build up its library of original content. Though the streamer remains the most popular subscription OTT service in the U.S. with 158.8 million viewers spanning 190-plus countries this year, its dominance has been in question as competitors Hulu and Amazon Prime Video each continue to put out high-quality shows, such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Fleabag, hence gaining subscribers in droves. In addition, Netflix is facing some very steep competition with the anticipation of new streaming services from powerhouses such as Disney+ and Apple TV.

Despite the hurdles, Netflix continues to grow. According to eMarketer, the streaming giant is projected to grow to 177.5 million by 2023. In part, this is due to the company’s strategic thinking and scoring deals like this.

Though we aren’t privy to the exact specifics of the Seinfeld deal, it’s clear that Netflix is willing to pay big money to align itself with Seinfeld. He has an overall deal with Netflix that's valued at roughly $100 million.

Seinfeld currently ranks at No. 83 on this year’s Forbes list with $41 million in earnings. He still earns millions from Seinfeld’s syndication thanks to the deal with Hulu. Though he could comfortably retire at this point, he continues to work on his Netflix series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, as well as his stand-up comedy specials, performing 60-plus times within the last year.

Though Netflix won this round in the battle of the sitcoms, it’s clear that eventually media conglomerates will pull their top titles and when this happens, the streamer will be well armed with a full library of originals.

Netflix is always prepared, which is why in 2018, the company spent $12 billion building its library of original films and series, an 88% uptick from 2017. And, spend on original content this year is expected to reach $15 billion.

Now that Netflix will be streaming Jerry and the gang, younger generations can continue to get in on the laughs and of course, older generations can rewatch and laugh all over again. Yada yada yada!

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