Although the public outcry of “Save our Bluths” that arose from the news that “Arrested Development” would be leaving its longtime streaming home at Netflix in mid-March was quite loud, it wasn’t the determining factor that led to the show’s restoration to that service.

New details of the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the brief absence of the show from the world’s largest streamer, courtesy of Vulture, are now available. As noted by The Streamable when “Arrested Development” reappeared on the world’s largest streamer, ultimate distribution rights to the series reside with 20th Century Television, despite the fact that Netflix produced the show’s fourth and fifth seasons.

Netflix even went so far as to put an expiration date on the show’s splash page informing fans that it would be leaving the service on March 15. But that date came and went, and the show did not leave. Vulture reports this is due to a new distribution deal struck between Netflix and Disney, the parent company of 20th Century Studios — as of 2019 — which gives Disney the right to sell linear broadcast rights to all seasons of the show, including Seasons 4 and 5.

Arrested Development

November 2, 2003

The story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.

In return, Netflix got exclusive streaming rights to all seasons of “Arrested Development.” That means that Seasons 1-3 of the series will be leaving Disney-owned Hulu at some point this year. There was speculation after the announcement of the show leaving Netflix that its final two seasons would be sent to Hulu to have them all in one place, but the new deal between Disney and Netflix will preclude that possibility.

If Netflix got all the digital streaming rights to “Arrested Development” in the agreement, that would mean that it controls whether or not the show can be licensed to third-party services for use in free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels. “Arrested Development” lends itself well to such platforms, and having the rights to all seasons of the show gives Netflix better leverage when negotiating future licensing fees.

It will be intriguing to see what Disney does with the linear broadcast rights to the show. It could choose to put the series on one of its own cable networks, like FX or Freeform, but it could also decide to license the rights out to a third party. Ultimately Disney will almost certainly follow whichever path brings in more money, so now it’s up to other broadcasters to make the House of Mouse an offer it can’t refuse.

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