Netflix cuts deal for Supernatural and other CW shows

By Mike Flacy October 13, 2011

supernatural

Earlier today, Netflix, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Television Group announced a four year partnership that brings more than 700 hours of previous-season episodes of CW programming to streaming subscribers of Netflix. The majority of the CW dramas currently airing on the network makes up the programming included within the deal. Starting on Saturday October 15, Netflix subscribers will be able to watch previous seasons of Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Nikita and One Tree Hill. All six previous seasons of Supernatural will be available during January 2012 as well as previous seasons of the 90210 remake.

Programming that’s currently debuting this season likely won’t be available until the following season in 2012. This includes the Sarah Michelle Geller vehicle Ringer, Hart of Dixie and The Secret Circle. In addition, programming that’s broadcast during the 2014-2015 season will be made available to Netflix subscribers during fall 2015 even if the current deal doesn’t get renewed in four years. With the new CW deal in place, Netflix will likely spend between $150,000 to $700,000 for each new episodes of the various series, but the rate for previous seasons will be significantly lower. The entire deal will likely reach $1 billion assuming the partnership continues over the next eight to ten years.

This month is likely an attempt to provide more content for younger, teenage viewers. Since that demographic is more likely to watch television content through streaming capabilities, this partnership makes sense for Netflix’s content distribution channels used by younger consumers such as gaming consoles. This partnership also works out for CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Television Group as the CW venture is now profitable after the deal. Previously, the network wasn’t making enough money through advertising to support the lineup of shows. News of the deal caused a small positive spike today in the recently plummeting Netflix stock.

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Best Buy has a 50-inch QLED 4K TV for $400, and it’s not a bad buy

TCL 5-Series 4K QLED Google TV sits on an entertainment center in a living room.

If you’re looking to expand, upgrade, or build your home theater entirely from scratch, there’s a price drop on a QLED TV at Best Buy right now. The 50-inch model of the TCL 5-Series 4K Smart TV is discounted $30 from down to $400. Its regular price of $430 is pretty impressive for a QLED TV, and this discount makes it even more so. Best Buy is including free shipping with your purchase, and the TV also comes with three free months of AppleTV+ and one month of free FuboTV.

Why you should buy the TCL 50-inch 4K QLED Smart TV
When it comest to ensuring you get a TV with superior picture quality, QLED and OLED picture technologies are pretty much the cream of the crop. OLED TVs use self-lit pixels to create impressive image contrast, but this 50-inch 4K TV by TCL utilizes QLED technology, which provides impressive picture quality using nanoparticles called quantum dots. These supercharge its brightness and color, and make the TCL 50-inch 4K Smart TV a great option for your home theater if you’re looking to create an immersive and lifelike viewing experience. It also supports Dolby Vision HDR, which adds another layer of depth to the experience.

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Are TCL and Hisense the next LG and Samsung?

A village built into a seaside mountainside shown on a Hisense U6K.

If you had told me 20 years ago — or, heck, even 15 — that Samsung and LG were going to be the top TV brands in the U.S., I’d have laughed in your face. But I feel like I’ve learned to see the writing on the wall since then. And now I’m wondering: Are TCL and Hisense the next Samsung and LG?

If we take a look at TCL and Hisense's 2023 TV lineups, their recently inked partnerships with huge national sports organizations, and their progress over the last five years in terms of both technological advancement and sales, I think there's a strong argument in favor of TCL and Hisense becoming the top two TV brands in the U.S.
TCL in 2023
We’ll start with TCL’s 2023 TV lineup. You already know about the QM8 Mini-LED, right? If not, you have got to check out that TV. But what else does TCL have in store? Well, there’s the Q7, which, while not a mini-LED TV, does have a full-array local dimming backlight system, quantum dots, high brightness with 1,000 nits peak, and a slate of other desirable features. Plus, the 65-inch model, for price reference, is $1,000. Now, in case you don’t recall, last year’s 6-Series, the R655, was a mini-LED TV, and the 65-inch version of that TV sold for $1,000.

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Google ends support for the original Chromecast

Google's first-gen Chromecast dongle.

Ten years is not a bad run in the world of smart devices. That's how long it's been since Google released the very first Chromecast, a tiny $35 HDMI dongle that let you wirelessly stream audio and video to your TV, with your phone serving as the remote. We liked it so much when it debuted, we named it the best product of 2013.

Unfortunately, all good things must pass, and 9to5Google recently noticed that Google quietly ended support for the original Chromecast on April 27, 2023, which means it will no longer get any feature or security updates.