Netflix Lands Global Streaming Deal for 'The Walking Dead'

Netflix has signed a multi-year global licensing deal worth $500 million with AMC Global Media to stream The Walking Dead Universe, extending its long relationship with the zombie franchise into new international markets while giving up its decade of exclusive US access along the way.

What the deal actually covers

The agreement spans 371 episodes across the original Walking Dead series and six spin-offs: Fear the Walking Dead, World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, Dead City, Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live. Starting in 2027, the franchise will become available on Netflix in the UK, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, markets where it has not previously had the same streaming presence it has enjoyed domestically.

The trade-off behind the price tag

The headline change buried in the deal's structure is that Netflix's access is now co-exclusive with AMC+, ending the decade-long exclusive hold Netflix has had on the franchise in the US since 2011. Giving up exclusivity on a franchise it has held solo for ten years is a notable concession, and it puts the $500 million price tag in context: Netflix is paying a substantial sum not for sole ownership but for expanded international reach on a shared basis.

How this compares to past mega-deals

For scale, $500 million places this among the priciest recent television licensing agreements. HBO Max paid $425 million back in 2020 to secure streaming rights to Friends, a deal widely cited at the time as evidence that even long-finished, endlessly rerun sitcoms could command enormous licensing fees in the streaming era. The Walking Dead deal, coming in above that figure five years later, suggests library content with a large existing episode count and loyal fanbase continues to command a premium even as the streaming landscape has matured and consolidated.

Why Netflix wants proven franchises right now

The strategic logic behind the deal ties directly to a subscriber retention problem Netflix has been grappling with: internal data reportedly shows many subscribers don't stick around long enough to reach the second season of newer, unproven original shows. A franchise with 371 existing episodes across seven interconnected shows offers something a brand-new series simply can't, an enormous, ready-made content library that can keep a subscriber engaged for months without Netflix needing to produce a single new episode itself.

The business signal behind the timing

The deal was announced alongside AMC Networks' quarterly earnings report, timing AMC used to raise its forward guidance, a clear sign the licensing fee itself represents a meaningful, positive line item for AMC's financials rather than an incidental side deal. For a legacy media company like AMC still navigating the broader shift away from traditional cable revenue, a $500 million licensing payday from a streaming giant is exactly the kind of deal that can meaningfully move its own financial outlook.

Both companies come out of this arrangement with something they needed, Netflix gets a proven, binge-friendly library to shore up retention in new international markets, and AMC gets a substantial payday and a stronger earnings story, even if it means Netflix no longer gets to call The Walking Dead its own exclusive property in the one market where that exclusivity mattered most.