It’s confirmed: Netflix strikes deal with Hasbro to keep My Little Pony, other shows
Relax, Netflix parents: My Little Pony isn’t going anywhere. Netflix has been able to renew its licensing deal with Hasbro after a few months of negotiations, which means that the service will get to keep the cult kids show, as well as titles like Pound Puppies, Littlest Pet Shop, Transformers Rescue Bots and Transformers Prime for a few more years.
A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment on deal terms when contacted for this story, but confirmed that Netflix will “continue to have the Hasbro shows available for our members in the US to watch.” A Hasbro spokesperson subsequently confirmed that the two companies have struck a deal as well.
News of Netflix getting ready to take down My Little Pony first hit the internet in January when Netflix’s website declared that the show was going to be removed by February 2. However, that date went by, and Twilight Sparkle, Spike and the gang remained on Netflix, with the company updating its site to a 3/16 removal date.
All of that signaled that both companies were still busy negotiating, and a Hasbro spokesperson had told me as much in January, stating that the company was “extremely hopeful” to renew its deal with Netflix. 3/16 went by as well, and Netflix updated its removal notice once again, this time to 3/19 — today’s date. Well, today, the removal notice disappeared completely, which strongly suggests that both companies have indeed struck a long-term deal
Netflix obviously renegotiates rights for content all the time when contracts are up. Sometimes, it renews these contracts, sometimes it doesn’t, and movies or TV shows disappearing from the site are regularly replaced with new fare.
But kids content is unlike anything else, especially for shows with a big fan base. Case in point: Countless parents and kids were outraged when Netflix decided not to renew its deal with Viacom in 2013. One of our posts over on Gigaom provoked hundreds of comments, with tales of ruined birthday parties, broken hearts and teary little eyes.
Netflix has since realized how important kids content is for the company, and increasingly been investing in original shows like All Hail King Julien and Turbo Fast. But in the end, there’s nothing really like My Little Pony. Am I right?
This post was updated at 10:58am PT with a statement from Netflix, and at 2:44pm PT with a confirmation from Hasbro.