Hot on the heels of Blockbuster’s announcement of a deal with Fox and Sony that would allow it to offer new titles for rent and streaming on the day of DVD release, comes news of what appears to be another bad deal for Netflix subscribers — They’ll now have to wait 28 days for new releases from Fox and Universal.

So, if you wanted to see… I dunno, Avatar… when it hits DVD on April 22, you’re going to have to buy it or go to Blockbuster. Or wait until at least May 20 if you’re a Netflix subscriber.

This is essentially the same deal Netflix made with Warner Bros. earlier this year — a move which has gotten them sued by at least one customer — and the spin is basically the same, that Netflix will get better pricing on Fox and Universal titles and have access to more of the studios’ libraries for their streaming service.

I’ve reached out to Netflix for comment on this and will update if/when I hear back.

Netflix inks movie rental deal with U.S. studios [Reuters]

Thanks to Klay for the tip!

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