Netflix, Amazon Ink Streaming Deals with Disney-ABC Television

More television shows from the Disney Channel, ABC Studios and ABC Family are coming to both Netflix's and Amazon's online streaming services, the companies announced.

Netflix extended its existing two-year licensing agreement with Walt Disney Co.'s Disney-ABC Television Group, which will bring shows like Alias, Switched at Birth and Kick Buttowski to its Watch Instantly service in the U.S. Subscribers will still be able to watch past seasons of Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Ugly Betty and other series from ABC. Customers will also have access to Disney Channel content, including shows like Hannah Montana and Phineas and Ferb, and past and current episodes of ABC Family series like The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It.

Amazon Prime subscribers will have access to everything Netflix has, but will also win library content from Marvel like Spider-Man and X-Men Evolution. Prime members will be able to subscribe these shows on over 300 different devices, including Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, set to debut on Nov. 21.

We're working hard to add even more selection for Kindle Fire customers and Prime members leading up to the holidays, and expect to have nearly 13,000 titles available in Prime instant video by early next year, said Brad Beale, Seattle-based Amazon's director of video content acquisition.

While wrangling Disney and ABC shows is certainly a coup for Amazon, resigning these partners for Netflix feels more like a sigh of relief. The company has been reeling over the last several months, reporting a staggering loss of 800,000 subscribers in its third quarter as a result of a poorly-managed price hike, and the proposed-then-canceled rebranding of its DVD service into Qwikster.

More important, Netflix, based in Los Gators, Calif. will now have some leverage between now and March, when its blockbuster-sized agreement to stream Liberty Media's Starz content, including Disney films like Toy Story 3 and Tangled, is up for renegotiation.

Netflix recently inked a deal with Dreamworks Animation to bring its films and TV specials to its Watch Instantly streaming service. The agreement is reportedly worth $30 million per picture over an unspecified number of years.

In the third quarter, Netflix's revenue was $822 million. Amazon reported revenue of $10.9 billion in the third quarter

Netflix shares fell $1.09 to $83.05 while Amazon shares fell $2.32 to $215 in late morning trading.