Seinfeld will soon be available on the streaming service that pays the most for it
Another TV classic will soon be available at your fingertips. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony Pictures Television is nearing a deal to license all 180 episodes of Seinfeld to one of several rival streaming services, including Hulu, Amazon, and Yahoo. Netflix also expressed early interest, but eventually withdrew from the bidding. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Sony is reportedly seeking "well north of half a million dollars" per episode, putting $90 million at the very low end of the deal. The deal will be non-exclusive, so Seinfeld will continue to air in syndication.
It's a steep price, but in recent years, beloved shows like Seinfeld have become major targets for streaming services looking to get an edge over their rivals. Last year, FXX locked down the rights to the back catalogue of The Simpsons, launching an independent streaming app called Simpsons World, and in January, Netflix began exclusively streaming every episode of Friends.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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