As any Internet streaming company will tell you, the future of entertainment is Internet streaming. Thus, seemingly each dawn brings announcement of some exciting new arrangement between a media conglomerate and a net-based corporation that will determine the way you consume old episodes of The X-Files for at least a couple of years. Today, of course, is no exception. First up is Amazon’s new deal with 20th Century Fox, which will allow Amazon Prime members to watch various titles from the Fox library, including episodes of the aforementioned X-Files plus Arrested Development and 24, as well as movies such as Dr. Doolitle and Mrs. Doubtfire, which Fox thought would be some of the most enticing examples from their vast movie catalog. “Let’s make sure they know that, at the click of a button, they can watch Robin Williams accidentally set his fake boobs on fire and then learn the importance of family,” Fox said.
And while Netflix has taken some considerable hits lately in its streaming library, causing it to split its website in half like a panicked lizard ditching its tail, today brings the slightly more positive news of an exclusive content deal with DreamWorks Animation, who chose to end its arrangement with HBO to embark on a new Netflix partnership that begins in 2013. The New York Times notes that this is the first time a major studio has chosen web streaming over pay cable, and DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg similarly sees it as “game-changing,” saying that it’s indicative of the way the industry is increasingly heading to a place where Internet streaming is indistinguishable from television.
Asked to address Netflix’s recent, controversial decision to essentially divide itself in two, and broadcast the fact that it pretty much hates physical media by calling that part of its company Qwikster, Katzenberg praised Netflix’s long-term foresight, but acknowledged, “Could it have been handled better? Absolutely. But there are always bumps when you’re looking around a corner.” So while business models may be undergoing dramatic upheaval, you can take some comfort knowing that business-speak remains as full of clichés and mixed metaphors as ever.