Netflix flexed its muscles today by announcing it has poached Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee web series from Sony’s Crackle, starting with the next season.
The show, which features Seinfeld conversing one-on-one with fellow funny people such as Larry David, Tina Fey and Howard Stern, has been a Crackle favorite since its debut in 2012.
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Comedians in Cars has arguably put Crackle’s free streaming service on the map while also generating three Emmy nominations.
But Netflix has amassed a stockpile of cash thanks to nearly 60 million paid subscriptions in the United States alone and it was in a strong position to lure away the critically-acclaimed show when its contract ran out at Crackle.
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The current season (the ninth) of Comedians in Cars will finish on Crackle, but new episodes will begin on Netflix later this year. Past episodes of the series will also be added at that time.
Netflix said Seinfeld will also do two stand-up specials for its streaming service.
— Phillip Swann
