Netflix's New Deal For 'Breaking Bad' Spin-Off 'Better Call Saul' Could Be A Game Changer

After spending a year releasing original series, breaking entire distribution models and playing a game of moneyball with cancelled shows, the folks over at the internet’s most talked about new-media platform are at it again. Following the success the platform saw with recently concluded AMC series Breaking Bad, Netflix has struck a deal with Sony Pictures Television to bring the upcoming prequel/spin-off series Better Call Saul’s first season to the subscription based service the day after the conclusion of its freshman season. While other platforms such as iTunes and Amazon have offered services that allowed for next day episodes during the run of television seasons (including Breaking Bad), the move threatens to make Netflix the main-platform for casual viewers.
If audiences will be able to watch the first-season of Better Call Saul immediately following the season one finale through their standard $8 a month fee with Netflix, will they bother spending $20-$30 for a season pass through iTunes and Amazon? It’ll be interesting to find out come 2014. But there’s another, far more interesting fact to the deal that needs to be addressed, that of Better Call Saul’s international airing rights.
The international market has become a major player in television, as we learned with the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special.  According to the new deal, Netflix will be the exclusive home of Better Call Saul in Europe and Latin America, and the series will be made available to the overseas territories shortly after it begins airing in the United States. As television becomes more and more worldwide (HBO, for example, has begun releasing episodes of fantasy series Game of Thrones at the same time across all US and international territories through HBO Go) networks, like movie studios, are beginning to realize media isn’t just about the U.S. anymore.
While this isn’t the first time Netflix has tried closing the gap between first run and home release (the service attempted to release episodes of ABC Family series Greek the day after they would air on the network), it could end up being the most important. Thanks to the success of Breaking Bad, Netflix knows just what kind of audience they can expect for the series, and with that knowledge, one can only assume this is a smart play for a service that’s continuing to disrupt everything about a business that just wants things to stay the same. Sphere: Related Content