Why Classic Shows Are Vanishing From Netflix

As fees soar, networks favor new content

Last October there was a brief (albeit furious) hue and cry over the departure of CBS’ long-running Angela Lansbury mystery series, Murder, She Wrote, from Netflix. It caused, as Jezebel’s Rebecca Rose put it, “a disturbance in the Force.” Normal service was restored a few months later, but the show’s brief departure—and its unexpected resurgence in popularity—point up a new trend in Web video: Content is getting more expensive, and sometimes the stuff IP owners want you to see isn’t the stuff you want to watch.

“Based on its deals, content is constantly going in and out of streaming services,” explained Dan Rayburn, principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

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