Netflix gets exclusive promotion of Californication
Showtime show available to retailer's subscribers before TV premiere
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 7/12/2007
JULY 12 | Netflix subscribers will get a sneak peak of new Showtime series Californication three weeks before the show debuts on TV as part of an exclusive deal between the two companies.
Netflix subscribers will be able to rent a DVD with the pilot episode or watch it online through the retailer’s online movie service Watch Now beginning July 24. The show debuts on Showtime Aug. l3.
The comedy series Californication stars David Duchovny as a novelist who's trying to raise his 13-year-old daughter while dealing with his own self-destructive behaviour.
This is Netflix’s first partnership with Showtime and the first time the retailer has made a TV show available on its Watch Now service before it aired on TV, a spokeswoman said.
Last year, Netflix pacted with NBC to offer subscribers a preview of the pilot episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Kidnapped on DVD six weeks before they debuted on TV.
