Why Streaming Services pay so much for old TV Shows

CrayCray

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You may have been channel surfing once before and found reruns of Friends or Seinfeld on television. While these shows are incredibly funny, they are also pretty old by now. Seinfeld stopped a very long time ago, but still, after all this time the show is still worth a hefty sum to broadcast. Back in 2015, video on demand service Hulu paid approximately $700,000 per episode for all 180 episodes of Seinfeld.

On the other side, streaming service giant Netflix paid $500,000 per episode of the show Friends earlier that year. So what's the deal with paying that much for a show so many people have already seen?

One of the biggest factors is competition. Between Netflix and Hulu, there are a number of other services competing for shows on their platform. Each service tries to have as much exclusive content on their platform as possible to draw in the customer. A good way services are doing this is by either making their own shows like Netflix does with Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, or Stranger Things, but also by providing shows their customers remember dearly and have a lot of nostalgia for.

How often have you been channel surfing and came across sitcoms you used to watch many years ago, only to stick around even though you know you had already seen that very same episode so many times? What about cartoons bringing back memories from when you were a kid, or you and your family gathered around the television to watch what Will Smith was up to this week in Fresh Prince of Bel Air? Maybe you were eager to know what was happening in the town of Twin Peaks.

Streaming services are willing to pay more because you have good memories and nostalgia about these shows, drawing you in with the knowledge that you would want to watch all those old episodes again. Many of these shows are also available on DVD and in some cases Blu-ray.

Of course, you could always bust out those old VHS tapes you have laying around!
 

Floris

I'm just me :) Hi.
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I had enough vhs lying around but the other year I actually finally got rid of the last couple I think. I did the same to my dvd collection.
 

Nix

Just a little crazy!!
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LOL

If I think I might want to watch it again I tend to go with my DVDs... I'm old like that. Don't own VHS anymore as I transferred everything over.
 

Floris

I'm just me :) Hi.
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LOL

If I think I might want to watch it again I tend to go with my DVDs... I'm old like that. Don't own VHS anymore as I transferred everything over.
Yeah, VHS is just not realistic. They don't stand the test of time either. While it's great as a collectors edition - don't be surprised if it just is broken when you try it out again. If you can even find a vhs player that connects to your current tv ports :p
 

Joan

Don't Blink
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I do still own a VHS player, however I don't think I've ever tried connecting it to the current tv.
 
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