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Seinfeld is coming to Netflix. On Monday, September 16, the Los Angeles Times reported that Netflix has struck a deal with Sony Pictures Television which gives the streaming platform the global streaming rights to Seinfeld.
The deal comes on the heels of Netflix losing out on streaming rights to The Office and Friends.
Netflix will have all 180 episodes of Seinfeld as part of a five-year deal that becomes official in 2021. Currently, Hulu holds the domestic streaming rights to Seinfeld. Hulu pays $150 million a deal for the Seinfeld rights with their deal expiring in 2021. Amazon controls streaming rights in most of the foreign territories, but those will now be picked up by Netflix.
“Seinfeld is a one-of-a-kind, iconic, culture-defining show,” Sony Pictures Television Chairman Mike Hopkins said in a statement to the LA Times. “Now, 30 years after its premiere, Seinfeld remains center stage. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Netflix to bring this beloved series to current fans and new audiences around the globe.”
All episodes will be available in 4k.
” Seinfeld is the television comedy that all television comedy is measured against,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “It is as fresh and funny as ever and will be available to the world in 4K for the first time.”
Exact numbers of the deal were not disclosed, but it is believed to more than half a billion dollars. NBCUniversal paid $500 million for The Office and WarnerMedia paid $425 million for Friends. The money shelled out for Seinfeld is believed to top both of those figures.
During its run from 1989 to 1998, Seinfeld aired on NBC and was the No. 1 show in prime time. The new deal with Netflix will pay out percentages of the revenue to Sony, WarnerMedia, CBS, and co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.
Jerry Seinfeld currently has his own series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, streaming on Netflix which was part of a $100 million deal that comes with two stand-up specials.
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