It's still, in retrospect, a bit stunning at how huge the backlash against Netflix's price increase was. Granted, it was theoretically a 60% price increase if you used both streaming and disc delivery, which is large, but Netflix's own prices have been rising (the recent one-cent increase in the postal rates will likely cost them an extra $5 million a year or so, for instance), and their service is still by and large a ridiculous deal for the amount of content you theoretically have access to. As such, the widespread internet bellyaching appears to have dissipated, or maybe a lot of the people who cancelled decided they couldn't live without Netflix after all, as the company reported that it gained 600,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter after losing 800,000 after the price hike was instigated.
We expect DVD subscribers to decline every quarter forever.-Reed Hastings
The company still made less money in its most previous fourth quarter than it did in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to the loss of subscribers, and it's warning investors that it's planning on losing money for most of 2012 as it plans to expand overseas (it recently opened shop in the UK, and how's that going you guys?). More tellingly is the quote from Reed Hastings over there, indicating that the company is pretty happy with the way that subscribers are opting to shift away from DVD subscriptions and focus on the streaming service that is far, far more profitable for Netflix to run. The company lost 2.8 million DVD subscribers in the fourth quarter, and estimates that it'll lost another 1.5 million by March.
Hastings couldn't be happier, of course, since DVD customers don't make him as much money as streaming customers do. As such, the company cancelled any notion of ever getting into the video-game rental business as well; when your long-term goal is to stop shipping discs entirely, it makes no sense to start adding more services to that side of the business.
Still, we rely pretty heavily on the DVD Netflix service here at Screened to get movies for our video features and the like, so hopefully they'll keep offering it for the next few years. I imagine that they will, but as it shrinks they'll simply invest less money into it, by buying fewer discs and likely closing some of their distribution centers. Still, if they ever do shut their doors, one can only imagine the DVD firesale that they'll go through to get rid of their inventory. It'll be the perfect time to complete that set of the Air Buddies films I've been working on!
I still don't understand the backlash against Netflix. $16 for unlimited streaming and mailed DVDs from a huge library.
Compared to $1 per rental at DVD rental kiosks.
Netflix member for 6+ years now and I canceled streaming when they made the change. If they EVER get out of mailing DVDs, I am done with them. I used the streaming moderately, but it really sucks in regards to quality, quantity, and price. I have broad tastes that Redbox doesn't always fill, so Netflixing mailing is the best.
I <3 netflix forever. It makes my movie-a-day appetites possible. Though given the option, I'd much rather take DVDs over streaming. I like having agency in what I can choose, not just picking from what's available.
I've been using the free months trial here in Ireland since they launched a few weeks ago. I like it, the quality is great - it kicks up to HD after several seconds and stays there on my connection. There isn't any competing streaming service here so it's only really up against piracy, it should do quite well I think. Some people have been complaining about the limited content, but it's €6.99 a month with no contract so you can drop it if the catalog doesn't grow to your satisfaction. I'll be sticking with it for the time being.
I worry about how netflix can increase the content levels over here in the UK, they're competing with Sky and Lovefilm (owned by Amazon) so they will have to have deep pockets to get new movies at any point close to release. It's even worse for American TV show rights as they are snapped up fast.
Netflix has been pretty good in the UK. HD quality streaming within seconds (a big step up from Love Film) and it's fairly cheap for what you get. I've mostly been using it for TV shows since there's a nice, varied collection, and the movie's are lacking at the moment. There's some good stuff on there but not enough quite yet. I imagine, and hope, the collection will continue to grow and improve as the opening months roll by, but so far it's been a promising start.
Nothing beats the audio and video quality of a blu ray and streaming will take many years until it can match it. I think it's pretty sad that so many people settle for "good enough" versions of tv shows and movies only for the connivence of watching them at any time, but that's probably the videophile in me coming out. I definitely don't understand why people still watch DVDs though. It's 2012, guise. Most people seem happy ditching the discs and going only streaming, but I and many others sure don't and I hope Netflix doesn't just shove us out of their way. :\
There's so many homes in the US that don't have high speed internet, plus what's on streaming varies so unpredictable that I don't want to go streaming only until I'm guaranteed some kind of consistency in quality and content. I'd pay two or three times the current amount for that.
Netflix in the UK has been pretty great.... i have horrible internet and can watch stuff on it so for me its amazing.... plus you can access the american Netflix if your savvy enough
@FinalDasa said:
Well you also gotta figure that it takes about 2 days to get a new disc (the norm when I had it), so you can generally only get so many a month. If you watch it the day you get it and send it back that same day then you'd be getting the best deal. Now I'm sure many DVD subscribers were like me and forgot they had a new one to watch and had some DVDs for weeks. So it really isn't worth the money for that at all. Nearly $200 a year really is a bit much for streaming you rarely use and DVDs you forget about.
After a while over half of my Queue was all instant and I got rid of the DVD service even before the price increase. If there is something not on streaming I can usually get it from my local library. They have a pretty vast selection, though I'm sure not everyone has access to good library systems like I have here in my city. I still think Netflix should have had a discount if you had both DVD and streaming. But either way I'm fine with my $8 a month for my random streaming needs.
I'm all for streaming but Netflix needs to up their shit on whats available via streaming before they even think of dropping discs.
If Netflix streaming had most of what I use their DVD service for, I would have dropped DVDs for streaming. I too hate the DVDs, the hoping the mailman does cram them into the mailbox, the desire to watch a dvd immediately or wind up holding onto it until ready without the benefit of another (if the plan is very limited), and the need to return something. Even with my crappy DSL line, I've enjoyed a quality viewing over the net with the flix. But I don't want them half a$$ing it with a jittery false start as Flixterquickestircrapp. Build the catalog, let the numbers shift, and either sink or swim with cutting the cord . . . though the post office will sorely miss it. DVD and Blurays are running a battle against media slowdown
Netflix needs to vastly expand its offerings on Instant before killing DVD by mail. I have like 150 things in my DVD queue, but only 35 in my instant. I'm sure Redbox doesn't carry The Killer or The King of Comedy, but I can get those in the mail in a couple days. For those that watch a ton of movies not released in the past year, you simply can't beat the selection of DVD by mail. Much more valuable to me than lots of the crap on instant.
@George_McBain said:
Yes, totally agree
I like netflix...
I just stream from Netflix and so wouldn't really have an issue with them dropping the DVD service, but I would expect them to drastically increase the amount of movies I could stream as I do get annoyed when I want to show a movie I watched to somebody and realize that it has disappeared.
i have a question how is the canadian netflix going right now? one of the main reasons i unsubscribed was because canadian netflix was garbage and had hardly any of the movies i wanted to see. does it get the same ones as US now ?
I'd be pretty pissed about the lack of content but faulty towers and toons is enough to keep me on despite my free month soon running out.
@FinalDasa said:
This was always my opinion on it. I opted in for the free trial a month or so before they instituted that and wasn't bothered by it. I understand that it sucks for that much of a price increase for something that you're accustomed to getting, but in the long run, it is simply not that much money. It's still an incredibly good deal for an expansive service.