Netflix CEO Reed Hastings at NewTeeVee Live
Under the new agreement, everyone wins:
Netflix gets more content that will cost it less money to deliver. At NewTeeVee live in November, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told Om that it costs about $0.05 per title for the company to stream a single film online. On the other hand, Netflix spends about $600 million a year in postage fees delivering DVDs and Blu-ray discs by mail. In addition, the 28-day window, while limiting the amount of new content that is available during the first four weeks of a DVD’s life, has the added bonus of reducing the number of new release discs that will need to be obtained, stored, or shipped. According to the press release, new releases from all suppliers account for about 30 percent of Netflix shipments.
Warner Bros. could increase sales in the four week window. The film studio says that 75 percent of sell-through for its DVDs and Blu-ray discs occurs in the first four weeks that those discs are available. Since new releases will no longer be competing with Netflix rentals during that period, Warner is betting that it will be able to get more consumers to pony up and own the physical disc, rather than just renting it on Netflix.
The deal is just one more example of how Netflix is de-emphasizing DVD-by-mail in lieu of its streaming video service. Last month, the company made the tab for its “Watch Instantly” streaming service the first thing users see when they log on to Netflix.com.
Due to a proliferation of ways users can “Watch Instantly” on the TV — from connected TVs to Blu-Ray players to gaming consoles — the company is seeing quick take-up of that service. According to a recent study, 62 percent of Netflix subscribers have tried out the streaming service, and more than half — 54 percent — stream Netflix titles at least once a month.
The problem with this 4 week window is that it’s only an inconvenience during the first month of it’s existence. After that, people will simply be 4 weeks behind in their viewing schedule for all WB releases and will simply rent them later. The film industry is fighting a losing battle here and Netflix knows it. So sure, it’s a big win for Netflix but it’s neither good nor bad for WB.
[...] It’s good news/bad news with some new changes that they are making with Netflix. If you’re like me, and you like snagging those new releases right away, that’s not going to happen anymore. [...]
The question is – when WB realizes that Netflix subscribers are not the cause of declining DVD sales – rental does not cannibalize retail significantly – will they cop to it? Will they be back to netflix saying: “never mind, we were wrong, just looking for a scapegoat to explain 2009′s P&L”?
This whole DVD windows thing for Netflix & Redbox is folly. Turning back the clock to a VHS model circa 1984 is more proof that the entertainment industry is stumped, too conservative to figure out a solution.
[...] “Netflix Stabs Us In The Heart So Hollywood Can Drink Our Blood.” Our own Ryan Lawler on the other hand thought that “everyone wins” under the new agreement. So what is it? The truth is somewhere in [...]
[...] has made many comments over how it plans to focus more heavily on its streaming service as the company spends over $600 million a year in postage as opposed to a streaming film costing them only $.05 in bandwidth costs. Netflix CEO Reid [...]
[...] recently had some success negotiating with Warner Bros. recently to add more titles to its streaming service, while giving up a 28-day window for DVD-by-mail rentals of new releases. But while a Netflix [...]
[...] Netflix first announced that it would delay rentals of Warner Bros. new release titles by four weeks to help the studio increase DVD sales, we argued that the subscription rental firm [...]
[...] DVD rental services in order to protect sales of its new releases. Earlier this year, the studio struck a similar windowing deal with Netflix that will lengthen the wait for Netflix subscribers to get new DVD releases by 28 [...]
Any one else receive WB discs of Late for new rentals that say “Rental” and have a grey cover?
[...] and Warner Bros. have attempted to stem losses in DVD sales by striking deals with Redbox and Netflix to delay the availability of new releases rentals for 28 days. By doing so, they hope that [...]
[...] go on sale in retail stores like Best Buy and Wal-mart. That comes in stark contrast to deals that Netflix and Redbox have struck with Warner Bros. and other Hollywood studios, which seek to delay the [...]
[...] subscription rental service and through Redbox’s $1-a-day rental kiosks. Netflix struck a deal with Warner Bros. in January in which it agreed to hold off shipping new releases for 28 days after they’re [...]
[...] announcement with Fox and Universal follow a similar deal that Netflix struck with Warner Bros. in January, in which it agreed to a four-week window in exchange for more streaming [...]
[...] the last several months, Netflix has been striking deals with Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., Fox, Universal and now HBO, in which it agrees to a 28-day window before it can rent DVD releases [...]
[...] like Redbox could cannibalize their DVD sales. Netflix has been trying to calm those fears by agreeing to 28-day windows for newly released DVDs, and Redbox just yesterday agreed to a similar deal with Universal and 20th [...]
[...] has been making deals with Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios that have helped it add more movies and TV shows to the [...]
[...] has been making deals with Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios that have helped it add more movies and TV shows to the [...]
[...] has been making deals with Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios that have helped it add more movies and TV shows to the [...]
[...] has been making deals with Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios that have helped it add more movies and TV shows to the [...]
[...] has been making deals with Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios that have helped it add more movies and TV shows to the [...]
[...] an advantage over the competition, in particular Redbox and Netflix, both of which have agreed to their own deals with Fox, Universal and Warner [...]
[...] (DVD) to a brand new kind of business model — delivering atomized content to many devices via the network. It is doing so by focusing and having a strategy that helps it walk down the razor’s edge [...]
[...] its streaming catalog. It has spent the last several months striking deals with movie studios that push back the availability of new releases through its DVD-by-mail business by 28 days, while at the same time adding new content to its [...]
[...] its streaming catalog. It has spent the last several months striking deals with movie studios that push back the availability of new releases through its DVD-by-mail business by 28 days, while at the same time adding new content to its [...]
Why doesn’t Amazon have this restriction? This just makes me want to cancel Netflix and start streaming from Amazon!
The only problem I have with streaming is the lack of HD quality. If netflix is trying to get everybody to stream then what the hell is a blu ray player for?.
[...] course, 28 days is the magic number for deals that Netflix has agreed to with other studios such as Warner Bros, Fox and Universal in exchange for reduced disc costs and more streaming [...]