Peter Kafka:

Satellite TV channel Starz says it won’t renew its distribution deal with Netflix when it expires next February.

If the company follows through on that statement, it will mean Netflix won’t be able to provide digital access to movies from Sony and Disney — a scenario Reed Hastings and company have been trying to avoid for years.

This is bad news for Netflix unless they manage to convince Starz to renew or they’re able to acquire deals directly with content creators. Going through a middle-man isn’t always the best idea and I think Netflix is big enough to start making deals directly with the likes of Sony and Disney.

But if Netflix isn’t able to put something in place between now and February, there will be a lot of upset Netflix subscribers. Including me.