Pressing the accelerator on its bid to aggressively grow its international presence, Netflix announced Monday that it had acquired global streaming rights to three U.S. TV shows: "Jane the Virgin," "Zoo" and "Colony."
Season one of "Jane the Virgin," the telenovela where Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez plays a virgin who ends up accidentally pregnant, will launch on Netflix in the United States on Oct. 12, the same day that season two premieres on the CW network. It will be available in all countries, except Canada, via Netflix by 2016.
The first season of "Zoo," the CBS thriller about violent animal attacks, is already available in the United States and will expand to all countries via Netflix in the coming months.
Netflix bought streaming rights to the new show "Colony" without waiting to see if it would be a hit. The show, from Legendary Television and Universal Cable Productions, will debut on the NBCUniversal-owned USA Network on Jan. 14, 2016 and on Netflix one year later.
"We applaud Netflix for recognizing “Colony's” value even before it has begun to air on USA. NBCUniversal is pleased to partner with Netflix on “Colony” to make the show available to an even larger audience in the U.S. and Canada," said Frances Manfredi, president of NBC Universal’s TV & New Media Distribution unit for U.S. and Canada. (NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC News.)
"Colony" is set in the future and centers around a family trying to survive in Los Angeles after it is occupied by a force of outside intruders.
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"We knew from the moment we saw it that “Colony” is the kind of smart serialized drama that Netflix members around the world would love watching," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer.
These deals follow Netflix's announcement earlier this month that it had picked up exclusive global rights for ABC's "How to Get Away With Murder."
The purchase of streaming rights to popular U.S. shows indicates that Netflix intends to continue its two-prong strategy of producing original entertainment like “Orange is the New Black” and “House of Cards,” while also providing subscribers with access to popular movies and television produced by other creators.