Only a day after boldly forcing its customers to choose between the streaming of the future and the physical DVDs of the past—or else linger in a somewhat-expensive limbo between the two—Netflix has just lost all fresh episodes of NBC shows from its Watch Instantly library, which certainly doesn’t need any more subtractions right now. Of course, like yesterday’s price hike, the deal is being spun as a positive, with Netflix proudly announcing that it had signed a multiyear renewal of its rights to NBC Universal content that also included many previously unavailable shows and movies, such as Parenthood and The Event, classic programming like Adam 12 and Leave It To Beaver, and movies that have long since finished their pay-cable runs like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. And of course, any addition to Netflix's streaming library is a good thing (even if it's The Event), considering that's all many people will have access to very soon.
However, as with its recent 90-day delay agreement with Starz, the downside of this new deal is that Netflix can now only stream NBC programming that is at least one season old. That means no more fresh episodes of Saturday Night Live the day after they air, for example—though you’ll still be able to find those at Hulu and on the NBC site, alongside new editions of shows like 30 Rock and The Office, and all without paying any sort of subscription. But then again, Netflix now has year-old seasons of Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane, so we suppose it’s a fair trade.