Netflix has tried really hard to destroy its DVD business over the last year, raising prices and making it hard to sign up. In its latest move, the company acquired DVD.com, meaning it now owns the eponymous domain for the technology that it wants to kill. Read more »
Netflix’s DVD service may have taken a backseat to streaming, but it’s still an incredibly profitable part of the business. In its fourth-quarter forecast, Netflix estimates DVDs will produce $177 million to $192 million in contribution profit, on revenues of $354 million to $368 million. Read more »
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has his work cut out for him, as he faces investors for the first time since announcing plans to spin out and re-brand the company’s DVD service — and then backtracking on those plans. Here’s what to look for as Netflix releases earnings. Read more »
Netflix backtracked on its plans to separate its DVD-by-mail business and re-brand it Qwikster. So far, Wall Street analysts have been largely supportive of the move, although Netflix stock is down modestly in mid-afternoon trading after opening higher this morning. Here’s some of the analysts’ feedback. Read more »
Netflix came under a lot of heat when it announced plans to separating its DVD service and re-brand it Qwikster. But after nearly unanimous disapproval, the company has decided to shelve those plans, and will keep DVD-by-mail a part of the Netflix brand and website. Read more »
Netflix has angered many of its users by raising its prices and splitting up its DVD-by-mail and streaming businesses. But co-founder Marc Randolph thinks the separation and re-branding of the DVD business as Qwikster is “one of the smartest, most disciplined and bravest moves [he's] ever seen.” Read more »
Since Netflix announced plans to rebrand its DVD-by-mail business, the Web has been abuzz with questions about Qwikster. It’s attracted a good deal of ridicule, but there are also more serious questions being raised about the business model and user experience consumers can expect. Read more »
Netflix announced that its DVD-by-mail operations would soon be rebranded “Qwikster,” and that the service would be separated from the streaming service that it’s been pushing for the last several years. But doing so raises questions about the future viability of a standalone DVD-by-mail operation. Read more »
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings issued an apology to members Sunday night, while also providing some insight into how and why the company badly mishandled communications in light of a pricing change announced earlier this summer. He also announced the rebranding of Netflix’s DVD-by-mail business as “Qwikster.” Read more »
Netflix will lose subscribers for the first time in four years. But take a closer look at where subscribers are missing, and there are a few interesting takeaways from its revised forecast. Most notably, combined streaming-and-DVD subscriptions remain strong, while DVD-only numbers were weaker than expected. Read more »
Netflix shares have fallen 15 percent after the company issued new guidance on domestic subscriber numbers. The company originally expected 25 million users by the end of the quarter but lowered that number by 1 million after a price hike that went into effect this month. Read more »
Netflix faced Wall Street analysts Monday to explain why its new subscription plans were a good idea. While many on Wall Street were surprised by the effect it will have on customer additions in the short-term, most agreed that the change won’t affect the long-term story. Read more »
There’s been a lot of speculation that Netflix was seeking to kill the DVD-by-mail offering with its recent price hike. But to the contrary, Reed Hastings says that the decision was made in an effort to prolong the DVD business, which wasn’t getting enough attention. Read more »
Netflix expects growth in international markets to ramp up in the second half. But growth in the U.S. will largely be flat in the third quarter as it works through the impact of its pricing change. The company expects just 3 million consumers to go DVD-only. Read more »
Blockbuster is trying to take advantage of outrage over Netflix’s recent price increase with a new campaign aimed at courting its users. But once their 30-day trial is over, new Blockbuster subscribers will be paying $2 more a month than if they had stayed with Netflix. Read more »
Netflix subscribers are threatening to cancel en masse after the company changed its subscription plans to separate DVD-by-mail from streaming, which raises rates by up to 60 percent. But putting aside unscientific Internet polls, how many users can we really expect to quit the service? Read more »
Netflix updated its pricing, removing the ability to combine DVD-by-mail and streaming plans and raising the price of a combined plan by 60 percent. But why’d it do so? Because it wants to move subscribers to streaming-only plan, and give more transparency to its financials. Read more »
Netflix announced changes to its service plans today, as part of a move that effectively unbundles its unlimited streaming plan from its DVD-by-mail business. The price of a DVD-by-mail plus unlimited streaming plan will now be $15.98, up from the $9.99 it charged previously. Read more »
While streaming is all the rage these days, Netflix hasn’t given up on DVDs entirely: The company has quietly launched a new page where users can sign up for an unlimited DVD-by-mail package that matches the $7.99 price of its unlimited streaming offering. Read more »
Dish Network unveiled its first cross-promotional deal with the Blockbuster assets it just picked up in a bankruptcy auction. Under the promotion, Dish will provide three months of free access to Blockbuster’s DVD-by-mail service to any new subscribers of its satellite TV service. Read more »
