HBO Shows Not Coming To Netflix Streaming Anytime Soon

One of the big draws of Netflix's Instant Watch service is the huge selection of TV shows available. Their TV catalogue already features full runs of shows such as 24 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer alongside various Law & Order spin-offs, awesome British classics like Fawlty Towers, and odd little gems like the Canadian theatre comedy Slings & Arrows. Even better, Showtime shows such as Californication, Dexter, and Weeds have long since made some or all of their runs available to Netflix subscribers. The big question for a while now is whether the competition at HBO would ever follow suit and allow streaming of their shows and films. The answer, at least for now, is a big, fat "no."

Bloomberg.com is reporting that Netflix has been eagerly trying to work a deal with HBO that would allow them to stream shows such as The Sopranos and True Blood, not to mention the various Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, and Universal movies to which HBO holds the cable and internet rights. But HBO isn't biting. As HBO Co-President Eric Kessler put it, "There is value in exclusivity."

Still, never say never. Netflix continues to aggressively expand its catalogue, including a recent billion-dollar deal with Epix that gave Netflix access to content from Paramount, Lions Gate, and MGM.