Peter Kafka

Recent Posts by Peter Kafka

Netflix Links Up With DreamWorks Again for More Kids’ Shows

More kids’ stuff for Netflix, this time via another DreamWorks Animation deal.

The Web video service will have exclusive worldwide first-run rights to a new batch of original programming from the studio, though it isn’t spelling out exactly what that programming will be.

The idea: DreamWorks will mine its existing movie portfolio, along with upcoming movies, to create more than 300 hours of new shows. If I were betting, I’d expect to see a “Shrek” series, for starters.

The context: Kids’ shows are a big deal for Netflix, and it used to get a lot of them from Viacom’s Nickelodeon, but that deal expired last month. Now Amazon has exclusive rights to lots of Nick shows like “Dora the Explorer.”

Meanwhile, Netflix has been building up a library of replacement stuff, like a deal to bring Disney shows like “Jake and the Never Land Pirates” to the streaming service.

This is the third deal Netflix and DreamWorks have announced in recent years.

In 2011, the two companies announced a deal to bring DreamWorks movies to Netflix after they appeared in theaters, replacing a deal the studio had with Netflix rival HBO (that will formally kick in next year, when “The Croods” shows up on the digital service). And in February, Netflix announced that DreamWorks would bring a spinoff show from its upcoming “Turbo” feature to the service in December.

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