Netflix cancels plans to spin off disc mailing business as Qwikster

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  • Reply 21 of 43
    I'll bet that he discovered that 'Qwikster' (or close variant) was taken.



    Possibly making a virtue out of a necessity!
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  • Reply 22 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mjuchter View Post


    Because I was really upset over the name change/split... Riiiiight.



    I think we were protesting the price hike, Netflix. LOL



    I was certainly upset about the split, having to have two different accounts with two different queues. Made no sense at all unless their plan was to intentionally kill the DVD side.



    I just want to search for a movie - if it's available for streaming I'll queue it, if not I'll queue the disk. Besides upping their streaming content, they need to make major improvements to that app - horrible recommendations, and they desperately need to allow saving content if it becomes available on the streaming side, specifically from the mobile/tv app.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    "Customer Revolts" rarely amount to anything and are mostly just talk.



    Except in this case Netflix has lost a lot of customers and admitted they're having a much harder time getting more. Splitting was a horrible decision and reversing it IS a good one although reversing like this does make them look like fools. They should have had more of a clue and not announced a split in the first place.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


    If you can rent movies from Redbox for $1, why can't they offer that same price for streaming? But Vudu charges from $5 to $8 to rent just one movie. That is the price for an entire month on Netflix. I hope Netflix can add a pay per view feature for newer movies and use the Redbox model of $1 per title.



    Not gonna happen. Renting out discs and streaming are entirely different and have different rights from the studios. Anyone can buy a DVD and rent it out to other people without paying the studio anything else. The studio has no power in that situation. But with unlimited streaming or streamed rentals, the studio can ask for whatever terms they want. It would be fantastic if NF could just stream everything they offer on DVD but the legal situation makes that impossible.
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  • Reply 23 of 43
    Almost any TV show can be found on the internet if you do a search. There are several video sources that aggregate the latest season's shows and offer them for streaming. Type the title of the show, then Season number and episode number. Many will pop up.



    If you use Windoz you're more likely to get a virus from one of these sources. My Vista computer did a year ago. That is when I dual booted with Linux for the first time. It was a great decision. I rarely need to use Windoz these days.



    The quality of Netflix streaming is not very good on most videos. Some are better but none of them compare to a DVD. They need to fix that.
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  • Reply 24 of 43
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    It must be the movie studios that are screwing things up because their selection of DVDs is much better than their streaming selection. Not sure why that is.



    Maybe. Or maybe it's just that the economics are different. If you select a DVD, it's 3 days before you can get another one if you have the single disk plan (1 day to ship to you, one day to ship back, and one day before the next arrives. So it would be hard to watch more than 10 a month.



    OTOH, if you're doing streaming, it's not hard to to 10 a WEEK. Since you're paying a fixed monthly cost, and assuming that the new releases cost Netflix more than old ones, then it might be Netflix who is discouraging new releases by streaming.



    Just guessing, though.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gmcalpin View Post


    Jesus, Netflix needs a new CEO.



    I didn't like the decision to split the company in two, but if they had really thought this shit through before announcing the split and there was a good, compelling reason to split the two services, they should follow through on that, whether their customers like it or not.



    Instead, they look like idiots, and their customers don't know what the hell to expect next.



    (That said, I cancelled my DVD service when they announced the split and added it back once they announced the cancellation of the split, because I still think it's a fantastic service for the price? even if it's 60% higher than I was paying three months ago. So I'm an idiot, too.)



    I don't think that's necessarily the case (that the CEO is an idiot). Look at the New Coke "fiasco". Even after extensive market research and testing, it is possible for companies to make a mistake. One sign of a mature CEO is his willingness to admit a mistake and then fix it.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by foxhunter101 View Post


    Reed Hastings must be a f___ing idiot!!! Ok, so last November (2010), Netflix has a price hike. I bit the bullit and paid the price hike. Less than a year later (July 2011, I think) they announce a 60% price hike (and spliting the company...Netflix & Qwikster). Now Reed has come to his senses an recinded split. It's time Reed came to realize that losing over a million subscribers over a 60% price hike (when they just had a price hike less than a year ago), isn't such a good idea either!!!

    Isn't it better to have a lot of money coming in from a lot of subscribers at a reduced price than having less money coming in from a much reduced subscriber base at a higher price? I don't know their numbers but, jesus, they just hiked the price last November. The recent price increase is a 'bonehead' move Reed, recind that too and I (and millions more) will rejoin!!!!!



    It doesn't work that way. At some point, the costs are so high and the revenues so low that you can't afford to keep adding new customers.



    If the studios are charging Netflix more per customer than Netflix receives from the customer, then adding more customers will not fix the problem. The only solution is either getting the studios to take less money or else raise prices.
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  • Reply 25 of 43
    We lose Steve Jobs and we're left with incompetent buffoons like Reed Hastings; I weep.
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  • Reply 26 of 43
    All This back and forth. If netflix is a public company their shareholders should be screaming bloody murder. They're acting like they're grabbing for life lines.
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  • Reply 27 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


    .....damn movie studios weren't so greedy I am sure Netflix would have a lot larger and newer catalog. If you can rent movies from Redbox for $1, why can't they offer that same price for streaming? ....



    NetFlix buys all the DVDs outright. Copyright law says NetFlix can loan/rent those original disc out however and as many times as they want. The royalty fees are included in the purchase price of each DVD forever.



    Streaming in the other hand is a "whoa buddy" discussion w the studios -- must be negotiated. Then re-negotiated. Then....
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  • Reply 28 of 43
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,826member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SailorPaul View Post


    NetFlix buys all the DVDs outright. Copyright law says NetFlix can loan/rent those original disc out however and as many times as they want. The royalty fees are included in the purchase price of each DVD forever.



    Streaming in the other hand is a "whoa buddy" discussion w the studios -- must be negotiated. Then re-negotiated. Then....



    Yeah, I know that. I was just saying that I wish the studios would be more flexible. For example, how about a $1 or $2 pay per view model limited to watching within 24 hours on Netflix. It is a long shot and probably will not happen, but I am sure that is what the market is really waiting on. After all, once redbox rents that one DVD out around 20 or 30 times every new rental is pure profit for them and not the studios. But with streaming, the studios could get a cut every single time it is rented. Streaming will never take off as long as new movies follow the Vudu model with prices from $5 and even much higher for very new releases. I checked it out on my PS3 but the prices were just way too high.



    Until studios lower the streaming prices for newer releases they will ensure torrent and Redbox are main ways people watch movies.
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  • Reply 29 of 43
    shawnbshawnb Posts: 155member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pendergast View Post


    It is the studios. The rights holders don't want progress, because it messes with their status quo where they make a boat load of money. They're afraid of Netflix. They're afraid of change.



    It's the same reason they fight the cable companies who want to allow you to watch the service you pay for on your iPad.



    I agree. Will be interesting to see if video media co's will find a way to give paying customers what they want at a fair price, or if they take the music media path and wait until rampant piracy destroys their profits to the point where they have little other choice.
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  • Reply 30 of 43
    After the 60% increase I was going to cancel even if they hadn't split the DVD business because I'm tired of not being able to stream a lot of 8 & 10 yr. old movies. All you people that signed up again should have asked when is the streaming catalog going to be increased by 50% & are we going to get a discount if they lose "Starz" & "Disnney".
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  • Reply 31 of 43
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by markbyrn View Post


    We lose Steve Jobs and we're left with incompetent buffoons like Reed Hastings; I weep.



    Indeed. I mean "Quickster?" While it's only a name, etc. ? how could they name it that? Are they stuck in the late 90's or something.



    Just a bout anything would be better

    Netflix Classic

    PostFlix

    MailFlix

    etc. etc.

    "Quickster!?" When I heard it I though it was some kind of joke.



    Seeing recent moves of Google, Samsung, NetFlix, HP, Microsoft, etc. etc. it is all to apparent that the world is going to be woefully less interesting, fun, and inspiring without Steve around to keep raising the bar. I hope he's been grooming along lots of smart talented people at Apple.
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  • Reply 32 of 43
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    Maybe. Or maybe it's just that the economics are different. If you select a DVD, it's 3 days before you can get another one if you have the single disk plan (1 day to ship to you, one day to ship back, and one day before the next arrives. So it would be hard to watch more than 10 a month.



    With my schedule, it is difficult to find the time to watch even 5 movies a month. And with the streaming selection they offer, I can't even watch 1 a month because there is nothing I would waste my time on.
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  • Reply 33 of 43
    If its not broken don't fix it.



    Netflix is fine the way it is. If its not available for streaming, I'll just wait 1-3 days. No big deal.
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  • Reply 34 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by foxhunter101 View Post


    ...Isn't it better to have a lot of money coming in from a lot of subscribers at a reduced price than having less money coming in from a much reduced subscriber base at a higher price? I don't know their numbers but, jesus, they just hiked the price last November. The recent price increase is a 'bonehead' move Reed, recind that too and I (and millions more) will rejoin!!!!!



    Actually, no. I think they had 25 million subscribers before they announced the price hike, and after the hike, they were down to 24 million. Let's say that's 25 million at $10 each vs 24 million at $16 each. That would be $250 million a month vs $384 million a month, so this "bonehead' move made the company approximately $134 million more per month.



    This is a gross oversimplification, and I'm sure that the numbers don't exactly shake out like this with a multitude of tiered plans, etc, but the point is that losing a million subscribers is clearly worth it if you're able to charge the remaining 24 million substantially more.



    Saying all that, I'm one of the million subscribers who canceled when they announced the price hike; I was happy with the service at the price I was originally paying, but when they tried to jack it up by 60%, it no longer provided me with enough value for the money. I do think that the way Hastings handled the whole situation was a textbook example of bad marketing / customer relations, and he's screwed up on virtually every customer communication related to this situation, so if you want to call him a bonehead for that, I'd agree with you. But jacking the price of your service by 60% and losing less than 5% of your subscriber base isn't bad business.
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  • Reply 35 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by codog24 View Post


    Actually, no. I think they had 25 million subscribers before they announced the price hike, and after the hike, they were down to 24 million. Let's say that's 25 million at $10 each vs 24 million at $16 each. That would be $250 million a month vs $384 million a month, so this "bonehead' move made the company approximately $134 million more per month.



    But that's assuming ALL the customers who stay keep the DVD *and* streaming parts. Not only may they have lost a million customers, but many stayed but dumped either the streaming or the DVD side. With any of those customers they're making less money than before.



    And you're also assuming that the million they lost right away is the end of it. More likely there are lots of customers who used to be happy who are currently looking at NF's competition and are planning to switch once they decide what to do instead (or may keep an eye on the other options and switch once someone else improves enough) - these are people who otherwise might have stayed with NF indefinitely and never even looked at other options. I know I never even investigated them until the price hike and other related fiascos.
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  • Reply 36 of 43
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 802member
    People have accused me of being a neo-luddite when it comes to still using spinning discs, and even I don't see the value of Netflix' DVD-by-mail service anymore.



    It combines two obsolete delivery systems in one package. I love my Netfix account, the whole family watches it far more than cable, but it's never once occurred to me that I'd like the movies delivered on disc by mail.
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  • Reply 37 of 43
    The most damage was jacking up the price so much at one time. I thought that was excessive and immediately cancelled my service. As for splitting put he services I thought it was a terrible idea and I'm glad they decided to keep it together. The reason to split for the more orderly tracking of revenue by online and DVD services was ridiculous. If they can't already track that by how many people click play vs ship me the DVD then heaven help them.



    I think most people would agree the current leadership is concerning. Clearly they do not have the right guy in charge.
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  • Reply 38 of 43
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 802member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by radwansk View Post


    The most damage was jacking up the price so much at one time. I thought that was excessive and immediately cancelled my service.



    They raised the price? My rates have not changed. I'm paying $8/mo. How much was it before?
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  • Reply 39 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post


    Their business would probably be more profitable if they could get rid of the costumers completely!



    Fewer people wearing funny clothes would be an improvement.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post


    People have accused me of being a neo-luddite when it comes to still using spinning discs, and even I don't see the value of Netflix' DVD-by-mail service anymore.



    It combines two obsolete delivery systems in one package. I love my Netfix account, the whole family watches it far more than cable, but it's never once occurred to me that I'd like the movies delivered on disc by mail.



    Depends on what you watch and if you care about video quality. The streaming catalog for older films is very weak. If you're into classic movies even a little, you're not going to be satisfied with Netflix streaming. Also, the video quality the few times I tried to use streaming was simply horrible -- compressed to the point of being unwatchable, and to make matters worse, widescreen movies were cropped. Not worth paying anything for, IMO.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post


    They raised the price? My rates have not changed. I'm paying $8/mo. How much was it before?



    If you signed up for the DVD-only service to start you won't see the increase. It was the customers who had the $1 streaming add-on who saw their subscription price increase by 60%.
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  • Reply 40 of 43
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 802member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss View Post


    If you signed up for the DVD-only service to start you won't see the increase. It was the customers who had the $1 streaming add-on who saw their subscription price increase by 60%.



    I've always had the streaming service, price has not changed.
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