Mireille Enos from “The Killing,” Season 2 (Carole Segal/AMC)
Reed Hastings is putting up the red velvet rope.
In a letter to Netflix shareholders, the CEO said he is focused on “exclusive” deals and will no longer pay up for programming that everyone else gets.
The streaming-video service will let its “broad” deal with Viacom for Nickelodeon, MTV and BET content lapse in May, although it is in talks to license specific shows.
“Our willingness to pay for non-exclusive, bulk content deals declines,” Hastings wrote in the letter released yesterday along with blowout quarterly results.
He added that its strategy of working with producers directly had helped secure shows such as Fox Television Studios’ “The Killing,” which airs on AMC.
Content deals with CBS and Discovery Communications are also coming up for renewal in July and September, according to UBS analyst John Janedis.
Netflix, which spent $600 million on content in the quarter, has been writing big checks to secure programming deals and compete with rivals such as Amazon, which offers 74 of Netflix’s top 200 shows.
But the balance of power appears to be shifting after Netflix debuted its own original series, “House of Cards,” to critical acclaim.
The strategy also appeared to pay off with new customers. Netflix added 2.03 million subscribers to its streaming service in the first quarter, bringing its US total to 29.4 million.
Investors liked Netflix’s subscriber growth so much that they sent the stock up almost 25 percent in late trading. Shares closed at $174.37 in regular trading.
Netflix also reported profit and revenue that beat expectations. Profit was $3 million, or 5 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, per-share earnings of 31 cents topped the consensus of 19 cents. Revenue rose 18 percent to $1.02 billion.
Netflix is also starting a new $11.99 a month plan for customers who want to have watch four streams simultaneously. Currently, subscribers are limited to two streams per household.