Netflix Beefs Up Kids’ Offerings In Licensing Deal With PBS
This is the latest volley in the arms race by streaming services to dominate children’s programming — one of the biggest attractions for subscribers. Netflix says this morning that it has an “expanded multiyear licensing agreement” with PBS Distribution for the U.S. and Canada. Beginning in 2014 it will include exclusive digital carriage for PBS Kids’ Super Why! Other kids shows in the deal include Wild Kratts, Caillou and Arthur. It also covers Ken Burns documentaries such as Prohibition and The Central Park Five, past seasons of Nova and Secrets Of The Dead and all seasons of UK murder mystery The Bletchley Circle. “While PBS stations will always be the first place to see our programming, this agreement with Netflix exposes our shows to new audiences and further expands PBS’s presence across all media platforms,” says PBS Digital GM Jason Seiken. The announcement follows a similar deal involving kids shows that PBS cut last week with Amazon. Netflix has said that it wants to focus on exclusive programming. It did not renew a nonexclusive deal with Viacom but recently made an ambitious agreement with DreamWorks Animation for original kids shows.
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