Starz Walks Out On Netflix

TPM reports:

A new pre-Labor Day drama has begun and it's not playing on your television screen.

It's the negotiating dance between content owners and distributors. One new episode started playing out Thursday when Starz Entertainment's CEO Chris Albrecht issued a statement saying that Starz has walked out of negotiations with Netflix.

"Starz Entertainment has ended contract renewal negotiations with Netflix. When the agreement expires on February 28, 2012, Starz will cease to distribute its content on the Netflix streaming platform," Albrecht said in a Thursday statement.

Starz, the premium movie cable channel, owns the online rights to movies from two of the biggest Hollywood studios: Disney and Sony.

Big news for Netflix consumers.