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Netflix becoming Qwikster

#1

Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

So, after the separation if pricing for dvds and streaming, netflix is officially splitting their product into two separate entities, netflix for streaming, qwikster for dvds by mail. This also means two separate websites, which will no longer be integrated.

For me, this is more upsetting than the price change. I use both, I LIKE having them integrated.


#2

Baerdog

Baerdog

I'm not excited for this.


#3

figmentPez

figmentPez

They're also adding game rentals as an optional add-on for the DVD service.


#4

Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

goddammit netflix


#5

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Netflix: The New Blockbuster. We'll change our policies because fuck you.


#6

Hylian

Hylian

I switched to streaming only when they raised their prices but I still think it is a stupid idea to split the two sections.


#7

strawman

strawman

Dear netflix:

This letter serves to inform you that you recently became eligible for the Dreary Infirm Corporation Klub, as you are recently making decisions with obvious profit motive, little customer benefit, and which will ultimately make it more difficult for you to maneuver in this evolving market. You now depend largely on your market share to prevent others from seriously competing with you, one of the key factors for inclusion into this selective klub.

We hope that you will take this opportunity to join many others in self-congratulations on achieving victory in your market space, then resting comfortably on your laurels as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, and many, many others have before you.

Your free membership includes 10-15% instant dissatisfaction from your userbase, an increase in fees you'll be paying to lobbyists to protect your market without actually competing, and underhanded attempts to exclude others from your market through exclusive agreements with your suppliers.

Welcome!


#8

Dei

Dei

Sigh @ this. It's so dumb. I like only needing to go to one place. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING NETFLIX?!


#9

strawman

strawman

----------

A bit more seriously, though - They are very likely doing this largely because they found it difficult to make agreements with their suppliers (studios) for the two portions of their business separately.

For instance, studios allow netflix to press their own DVDs and Blu-rays at a steep discount based on profit sharing. In other words they give the studio a few pennies from each "rental" rather than $20 per copy - this means they can press a few thousand copies of popular movies, but only pay for the actual usage of those disks, rather than a fixed cost per disk - it also means less loss when a disk is scratched, lost, or stolen. Further it reduces theft because the discs no longer have the special features - one of the reasons the studios allow such a discount, by segmenting the rental market away from the purchase market.

To the point, though, they previously were happy to include "streaming" in the same contracts they made for their disc pressing. In fact they were probably able to set the contract up in their favor since streaming would have similar cost/usage ratio.

Well, the studios now have the upper hand in terms of streaming (more streaming distributors, such as cable companies, telco, etc) and they want to charge more.

It's not longer in netflix best interest to combine the contracts, but of course the studios will make their demands anyway. By separating the companies, netflix is specifically making certain the contracts don't affect each other (which is also a big deal since the physical plants of DVD sending and network operations are differently expensed anyway, and should be accounted differently).

So there are a number of corporate, legal, and financial reasons to split the two apart.

But it's a very "corporate" move that has no benefit for the consumers.


#10

GasBandit

GasBandit

The Oatmeal explains it all.


#11

Gared

Gared

I love the fact that their CEO "apologized" for making a "mistake" when he announced the price changes back in July. His explanation of the mistake, as he saw it, was that he didn't announce it well. I don't think he understands that the explanation of the mistake, as most of his customers saw it, was that they announced great new pricing that increased our costs, some of us by up to 60%. That's not a problem of announcing something poorly, that's a problem of not understanding math.


#12

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

I may actually give Qwikster a shot, if they can beat Gamefly in ether price, service, or number of copies. I've REALLY wanted to be able to rent stuff from a single source.

As for Netflix... you can really blame the publishers. They saw how much Netlifx was making from streaming and wanted more from the pie, which they got. Netflix really didn't have much of a choice about raising prices if they wanted to keep expanding the service.


#13

Gryfter

Gryfter

Well, as Barbie says, "Math is hard."


#14

redthirtyone

redthirtyone

AshburnerX said:
I may actually give Qwikster a shot, if they can beat Gamefly in ether price, service, or number of copies. I've REALLY wanted to be able to rent stuff from a single source.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'll probably look into it as well. Gamefly has become somewhat complacent. They don't use the same algorithms that Netflix does regarding wait lists for high demand releases. Basically, if it doesn't say "Available Now", you're not getting it. Not even sure why they have wait times listed. In 3+ years I have NEVER gotten a release within 3 months of release date. I don't burn through my lists either. I think my shortest turnaround on a game has been at least a month. One of the few perks with GF was a $5 credit every three months where I could usually pick up a decent recent game used for about $15-20, but the last 4-5 months they haven't even had ANY used games available. Hell that used to even be in their commercials - "If you like it, click keep it & we'll ship the case to you".

We'll see how Quikster does. The way they're going they may very well price themselves out of this market as well.


#15

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Maybe they'll have a games-only option. I hate the game-queue-song-and-dance-to-stack-the-algorithm thing you have to do for Gamefly to get anything that's come out within the last 6 month reliably that's even remotely popular (been seriously waiting 4 month for Mass Effect 2; they might actually push me to just buy it for $20 at Target).


#16

Gryfter

Gryfter

Anyone else think this is gonna end in a New Coke kinda way. Like after a few months Netflix will admit Qwikster is an unpopular change and the DVD service will become Netflix Classic.


#17

Frank

Frankie Williamson

GasBandit said:
The Oatmeal explains it all.
Click to expand...
Without clicking the link.

My guess is a copy paste strip that is 2000 frames long straight down and only mildly amusing.

OOOP. I was wrong. It's not even mildly amusing.


#18

doomdragon6

doomdragon6

It's one o' them newfangled Political Cartoons.


#19

Espy

Espy

Meh. We are all digital and paying 7 or 8 bucks from streaming from netflix is not only worth the cost but honestly a pretty damn good deal.


#20

Gared

Gared

Am I bad, bad person for enjoying the fact that when Netflix first announced their new price plans, their stock was at or above $300.00 a share, and now it's at $132 and falling fast (and has fallen $20+ since the CEO's "apology")? I mean, sure, the economy doesn't need any more negatives than it already has, but this just looks like a classic case of people voicing their opinion with their money.


#21



makare

I hate the name Qwikster


#22

Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

makare said:
I hate the name Qwikster
Click to expand...
It grows on you after awhile.

Like mold.


#23

Steve

Steve

I would imagine Netflix will sell Qwikstar first chance they get and go with streaming only. And with the convenience of Redbox and Blockbuster kiosks with movie rentals for $1 it only makes sense. From what I read when Netflix tried to negotiate fees for streaming content the studios were looking at the number of members instead of the volume of streaming. By breaking off the DVD portion they can get a true number of members. For Netflix to survive they have to get better (and more current) content for streaming. By breaking off DVD's their hope is they can offer more current streaming content. Honestly, if they could get current movies a month or two after they hit DVD I would pay twice the amount for streaming content.


#24

fade

fade

Frankie Williamson said:
Without clicking the link.

My guess is a copy paste strip that is 2000 frames long straight down and only mildly amusing.

OOOP. I was wrong. It's not even mildly amusing.
Click to expand...
:eek:


#25

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Steve said:
I would imagine Netflix will sell Qwikstar first chance they get and go with streaming only. And with the convenience of Redbox and Blockbuster kiosks with movie rentals for $1 it only makes sense. From what I read when Netflix tried to negotiate fees for streaming content the studios were looking at the number of members instead of the volume of streaming. By breaking off the DVD portion they can get a true number of members. For Netflix to survive they have to get better (and more current) content for streaming. By breaking off DVD's their hope is they can offer more current streaming content. Honestly, if they could get current movies a month or two after they hit DVD I would pay twice the amount for streaming content.
Click to expand...
I'm more concerned about older movies myself. Netflix has been convenient in that I can see older movies, the stuff you don't find in Redbox, without having to buy them. And TV shows too, on streaming. It's a lot of difficult stuff to juggle. I wish it could've just stayed the way it was.


#26

Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Quotemander Prime said:
I'm more concerned about older movies myself. Netflix has been convenient in that I can see older movies, the stuff you don't find in Redbox, without having to buy them. And TV shows too, on streaming. It's a lot of difficult stuff to juggle. I wish it could've just stayed the way it was.
Click to expand...
Me too.

"Hey, I've never seen the Reanimator. Is it available for streaming?"
-no, but it's on DVD-
"Alright, to the top of the queue! That was so easy and convenient.


#27

strawman

strawman

Quotemander Prime said:
I'm more concerned about older movies myself. Netflix has been convenient in that I can see older movies, the stuff you don't find in Redbox, without having to buy them. And TV shows too, on streaming. It's a lot of difficult stuff to juggle. I wish it could've just stayed the way it was.
Click to expand...
Same here. There are movies that redbox will simply never carry.


#28

Baerdog

Baerdog

Ravenpoe said:
Me too.

"Hey, I've never seen the Reanimator. Is it available for streaming?"
-no, but it's on DVD-
"Alright, to the top of the queue! That was so easy and convenient.
Click to expand...
Incidentally, The Re-Animator is fucking awesome.


#29

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Does anyone use, or even consider, vudu or Cinema Now?


#30

Baerdog

Baerdog

No.


#31

Espy

Espy

Baerdog said:
No.
Click to expand...


#32



Philosopher B.

Espy said:
No.
Click to expand...


#33

Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

That is the first I've ever heard of those things


#34



Chibibar

DarkAudit said:
Does anyone use, or even consider, vudu or Cinema Now?
Click to expand...
Who? I never heard of them.


#35

ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

Is there actually any other company that offers both streaming and dvd-by-mail besides Netflix/Quickster?

Blockbuster is by mail only and pay-per-rent on-demand, Hulu, vudu, and Cinema Now is streaming only with not a huge catalog.


#36

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Vudu is now owned by Walmart. CinemaNow by Best Buy. Both services are starting to appear preloaded on more and more devices, or available as downloadable apps.

They were included with the new TV I bought, so I thought I'd ask before I gave them a try.


#37

redthirtyone

redthirtyone

So try as I might, I have not been able to find out if Netflix has an appointed PR director. The website has a list of the top brass of the company, but no one's bio includes anything PR related. Of course none of this comes as a shock. This whole series has been about as ass-backwards as you could possibly make it from a PR perspective.

We're raising prices across the board. Sorry, but it's gotta happen.
Wow! That's like a 50% increase! A little much isn't it?
Suck it up, buttercup! We're talking two lattes a months here. Get over it.
Hey! I can't seem to stream Netflix on my Xbox/PS3/anything.
Yeahhhhh, sorry about that. Our bad. Working now though. Price increase is still coming.
Hey what happened to the Sony catalog?
Working on it.
And now the Starz catalog is going away too?
No it isn't.
Yes it is!
Alright... we'll call it a draw.

(2 months later)

Hey guys. I just wanted to tell you all I really handled that pretty poorly back there. I shoulda been more gentle & compassionate when I announced the price change. I'm really sorry about that. And now under the premise of full disclosure we'd like to announce that we've lost 1.5 million customers in the first billing cycle under the new price structure. Wow! Ouch! Message received. So in response we'd like to announce Quikster!! See, sounds nothing like Netflix. But they'll still have those cool red envelopes we know you guys love. Oh, and BTW, do NOT, under ANY circumstances look for @Qwikster on twitter. Nothing to see there. Move along.


#38

Gryfter

Gryfter

Curious if anyone has tried out a Roku box to allow your TV to connect to steaming content on the internet. I currently use my Xbox 360 to watch Netflix on my TV but I am considering the Roku as it would allow me to drop my Xbox Live sub (since all I use if for is watching Netflix). Thoughts?


#39

MindDetective

MindDetective

I use a Roku. I think it is essential if you are serious about ditching cable and going entirely over to Web media. If you are going to stick with cable, don't worry too much about it, especially if you have an XBox because it will mostly supplement your viewing preferences.


#40

Espy

Espy

I use the PS3 to stream netflix and media from my computer. It's allowed us to not only ditch cable but we don't even get over the air channels.

And we don't miss it at all.


#41



makare

I miss having tv a lot more than I thought I would.


#42

MindDetective

MindDetective

Roku is nice in that you can have a channel for Amazon movies on demand, Crackle, Epix, Hulu Plus, and even things like TED talks, YouTube, old movie archives, etc. I don't use all of those things but it really is a more well-rounded media device than my XBox.


#43

GasBandit

GasBandit

makare said:
I miss having tv a lot more than I thought I would.
Click to expand...
I just got a new TV. All I ever watch on it are things I downloaded from bittorrent.


#44



makare

I have been trying not to dl stuff as much since my Intellectual Property prof was talking about the recent crack down on movie/tv downloading. I know the odds of me getting in trouble are low but it still worries me.

"I'm sorry on account of your illegal downloading you will not be admitted to the Bar. Good day. "But I...." " WE SAID GOOD DAY!"


#45

fade

fade

Like I said in another thread, I'm not quite ready to give up cable, because it would feel like I was in a walled garden with no spontaneity. That and paying for the Roku, Netflix, Huluplus, and anything "on demand" (not to mention higher cable modem bill since I won't be bundling) seems like it would raise the price right back up there to cable levels.


#46

MindDetective

MindDetective

Roku is a flat cost. You buy the equipment and then put on all the free channels you want. If you have netflix or Hulu already, you can put those on. I pay 40 bucks a month for my cable internet and 8 bucks a month for Netflix. We could subscribe to Amazon Prime if they got their act together and put decent content up for Prime users. Hulu Plus seems to suck content-wise, at least for my interests. Even if we signed up for Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and Netflix all at once, it would still be cheaper per month than getting a digital cable package. Since we don't have most of those, we are saving a decent chunk of change each month and I don't feel like I am wasting too much time browsing the cable channels. It is the extra time I have that really sells it for me.


#47

Fun Size

Fun Size

The only reason I don't drop cable is that my internets comes from there. That, and I like to be able to watch the news during election season.


#48

GasBandit

GasBandit

makare said:
I have been trying not to dl stuff as much since my Intellectual Property prof was talking about the recent crack down on movie/tv downloading. I know the odds of me getting in trouble are low but it still worries me.

"I'm sorry on account of your illegal downloading you will not be admitted to the Bar. Good day. "But I...." " WE SAID GOOD DAY!"
Click to expand...
Well, it's true that I have a few more layers of obfuscation on me than your average end user, and I only use private trackers... so it's not exactly point-click-got it as it would need to be to be utilized by someone who doesn't think that sort of thing is fun.


#49

MindDetective

MindDetective

I have internet through my cable company but no cable service. Because I subscribed to a sufficiently fast service, they also give me the streaming Epix service.


#50

GasBandit

GasBandit

I just saw the contract for my work's new ISP (that we are getting to run concurrently with our existing T1)... 8 meg up 8 meg down. I'm... I'm almost giddy. 8. Meg. Up. Booyah. And nobody's monitoring that shit except ME, cause I'm the IT guy.


#51

CrimsonSoul

CrimsonSoul

Tell me more about roku. How does it work how do you add channels etc?


#52

MindDetective

MindDetective

There isn't much to tell. You buy the device, connect it to your TV, and then turn it on (really...it is that straightforward). It has some channels (like Netflix) already on the home page, which is like a film strip of boxes that you can browse through. With Netflix, you just need to connect it to your account the same as you would on your XBox. You'll need your laptop handy to complete the process. Roku has a library of other channels too, which you can browse through with your remote or do a search for. Then you select the channel you want and it adds it to the home page. Finally, there are some channels that are in development still but you can get a code and add them in. I did that for the TED channel and the YouTube channel a while back, for example.

Roku is good for media browsing. It has some games, like Angry Birds now, but it really handles video or music (Pandora on the Roku is great!) It is NOT good at browsing the internet, although I think there is a Facebook channel now. Think of it as a way of collecting a lot of the video sources you might use on your computer and displaying them on your TV with the handiness of using a remote. It simulates a cable box but using internet video content (mostly).


#53

Gryfter

Gryfter

Thanks for the info MD. I have heard good things about it but most agree that it's not as necessary if you are sticking with cable or Satellite. I am still considering it only because I might want to drop the Xbox live membership and want to have an outlet for streaming still. I have a friend who got a new TV that essentially has Roku built in and he has noted that they have been watching less and less of regular TV, so I am also using them as a litmus test.


#54

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

That new TV I bought for mom has AllShare included, so after I install the application on the PC, I can stream all the videos stored therein to the TV.

So now I need a new box of some sort to do the same for *my* TV, which doesn't do Allshare or other DLNA stuff. The latest Samsung blu-ray players do AllShare, but are there less expensive alternatives?


#55

Covar

Covar

I use an ATV2 for my Netflix and MLB.tv viewing. There's also some shows on iTunes that are as cheap if not cheaper than the DVDs so I have season passes for stuff. I also use it for the AirPlay compatibility with my iPad, makes sharing youtube videos awesome.

I could never ditch cable. Not as long as the NHL blacks out home market on their center ice package.


#56

evilmike

evilmike

It looks like Netflix has finally been able to generate some good news: they've signed a deal with Dreamworks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/b...ures-streaming-deal-with-dreamworks.html?_r=2


#57

Gared

Gared

This is excellent news (it actually is, despite my rampant sarcasm). Maybe I'll resubscribe to Netflix when they start streaming Dreamworks films in 2013 (this is pure sarcarsm; because no, adding one studio's catalog to your offerings 1.25 years from now will not win me back).


#58

evilmike

evilmike

And... Qwikster is finished.


#59

Espy

Espy

And the greatest issue facing us first-worlders was finally dealt with.


#60

Allen who is Quiet

Allen who is Quiet

Espy, the facebook layout is still different.


#61



Chibibar

ncts_dodge_man said:
Is there actually any other company that offers both streaming and dvd-by-mail besides Netflix/Quickster?

Blockbuster is by mail only and pay-per-rent on-demand, Hulu, vudu, and Cinema Now is streaming only with not a huge catalog.
Click to expand...
It never happen!! ;)

Netflix will do DVD and Streaming again.
http://news.yahoo.com/dvds-stay-netflix-website-qwikster-name-dropped-120514851.html

I guess the company REALIZE they just botch a great thing they had. Rising prices and trying to split the company to save some bucks (license fee with the studios) So when customer leaves in droves (millions) Netflix realize they made a major boo-boo.

Now if they lower their prices and rejoin the services, I'm sure they can recover.


#62

Baerdog

Baerdog

I don't think they will rejoin the services. Being able to negotiate DVD and streaming deals separately is too good of a thing for them. I'm just glad that I won't have to use two different websites now.


#63

Steve

Steve

I wonder if future business classes will go over the Netflix debacle as what not to do if you want to stay in business. A lot of friends have dropped Netflix due to the price hike and split and will never go back (the same group swore off Blockbuster when Netflix first showed up on the scene). I'm keeping Netflix streaming option but I wonder if it's too late for Netflix to recover.


#64

Baerdog

Baerdog

It might be used as a case study kinda like the New Coke/Coca-Cola Classic event.


#65

Gared

Gared

It may very well be a case of too little, too late for them, but only time will tell. I did notice that even after their announcement, their stock took another hefty dive (almost 5% today, and they're down almost 2/3rds overall since their initial announcement in July that they were raising their prices). Personally, I'm torn. I do miss some of the programming that they have available that other options don't, but at the same time I really don't want to support a company that can misjudge their customers so badly, or that completely disregards their customer base's wishes. But then it gets even more complicated, because the economy is in bad enough shape, and I'd hate to see however many people Netflix has on staff getting laid off because the CEO is a dumbass, or because the studios want an even bigger cut of the profits now that they realize that Netflix streaming is a profitable business model.


#66



Chibibar

Gared said:
It may very well be a case of too little, too late for them, but only time will tell. I did notice that even after their announcement, their stock took another hefty dive (almost 5% today, and they're down almost 2/3rds overall since their initial announcement in July that they were raising their prices). Personally, I'm torn. I do miss some of the programming that they have available that other options don't, but at the same time I really don't want to support a company that can misjudge their customers so badly, or that completely disregards their customer base's wishes. But then it gets even more complicated, because the economy is in bad enough shape, and I'd hate to see however many people Netflix has on staff getting laid off because the CEO is a dumbass, or because the studios want an even bigger cut of the profits now that they realize that Netflix streaming is a profitable business model.
Click to expand...
The CEO is a dumbass. I am not sure where he got his schooling from but he botch Netflix big time. I don't think they will recover unless they make some major changes. I figure the company was splitting the services to "save money" from licenses and royalties, but anyone with half a brain would know that is a bad idea. Now they are desperately trying to make up BUT still keep the prices? yeesh.


#67

Gared

Gared

See, I'm really torn. Hulu+ just ain't doin' for me these days. I like that they have some selection of some of the old shows - the Donna Reed show was good, I kind of like the McHale's Navy series (though there's only so much of that I can stand), I still like Green Acres and Miami Vice, though sadly Mr. Ed didn't stand up to the test of time; but they don't have enough selection, and their movie selection especially suffers. Really, half of your comedy selection is from pre-1970 and your newer than 40 year old selection is built on such blockbusters as Watermelon Heist and Phat Beach, plus all of the straight to video National Lampoon's movies? Um, no thanks.

So, last night I headed back to the Netflix site - something I swore I would never do - to see if, maybe, I qualified for a free trial (they're available to all new and "some" returning customers, according to their ToS). No dice. A lot of my complaints about Netflix were about the quality of their streaming service, I had everything from audio level mismatch problems, to movies that were missing their sound track altogether, to mislabeled movies (for at least 2 months the classic Rat Pack version of The Italian Job was really the new one), to piss poor streaming performance where it would play for 20 minutes and then buffer for 5 or 10 minutes, every 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I didn't have any trouble with any other continuous connection programs (MMOs, etc.), and had gone from being able to flawlessly run both WoW and Netflix, usually while running 10 to 15 Chrome tabs at the same time to barely being able to run just Netflix.

You'd figure a company that's taken such a beating in public relations, that's lost 1.5M customers at last count, whose stock price has fallen almost 66% in 3 months (and is still falling) would want to maybe, I don't know, throw former customers who are considering coming back a bone and letting us check (for free) to see if the problems that made us leave have been fixed. No dice. And, since unlike Hulu (who refunds you for your unused subscription time as soon as you cancel) or Amazon Prime (who lets you continue using the remainder of your monthly billing cycle after you cancel), Netflix doesn't let you keep using the service and doesn't give you a refund, I'm hard pressed to pay $8 to a bunch of chuckleheads who seem to have trouble differentiating between their asses and their elbows, to see if they've managed to fix any of their tech issues or have just pissed their money down the drain for the past 3 months.


#68

strawman

strawman

Give them a call - 1-866-716-0414 and see if they'll give you a free month anyway.

Alternately, use a different credit card and email address and get a free month that way.

We've never had the problems you describe, but that doesn't mean you won't have them again, so it's worth trying it out first.


#69

Gared

Gared

Not a bad idea - and I can always sign us up under my fiancee's name and CC info - too bad I didn't think of that last night at shortly before midnight, or I could have had my answer already. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.


#70

strawman

strawman

I was disappointed that they didn't have ghostbusters on instant watch (of course the sequel is there), but glad that tron: legacy was available.


#71



Chibibar

Gared said:
See, I'm really torn. Hulu+ just ain't doin' for me these days. I like that they have some selection of some of the old shows - the Donna Reed show was good, I kind of like the McHale's Navy series (though there's only so much of that I can stand), I still like Green Acres and Miami Vice, though sadly Mr. Ed didn't stand up to the test of time; but they don't have enough selection, and their movie selection especially suffers. Really, half of your comedy selection is from pre-1970 and your newer than 40 year old selection is built on such blockbusters as Watermelon Heist and Phat Beach, plus all of the straight to video National Lampoon's movies? Um, no thanks.

So, last night I headed back to the Netflix site - something I swore I would never do - to see if, maybe, I qualified for a free trial (they're available to all new and "some" returning customers, according to their ToS). No dice. A lot of my complaints about Netflix were about the quality of their streaming service, I had everything from audio level mismatch problems, to movies that were missing their sound track altogether, to mislabeled movies (for at least 2 months the classic Rat Pack version of The Italian Job was really the new one), to piss poor streaming performance where it would play for 20 minutes and then buffer for 5 or 10 minutes, every 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I didn't have any trouble with any other continuous connection programs (MMOs, etc.), and had gone from being able to flawlessly run both WoW and Netflix, usually while running 10 to 15 Chrome tabs at the same time to barely being able to run just Netflix.

You'd figure a company that's taken such a beating in public relations, that's lost 1.5M customers at last count, whose stock price has fallen almost 66% in 3 months (and is still falling) would want to maybe, I don't know, throw former customers who are considering coming back a bone and letting us check (for free) to see if the problems that made us leave have been fixed. No dice. And, since unlike Hulu (who refunds you for your unused subscription time as soon as you cancel) or Amazon Prime (who lets you continue using the remainder of your monthly billing cycle after you cancel), Netflix doesn't let you keep using the service and doesn't give you a refund, I'm hard pressed to pay $8 to a bunch of chuckleheads who seem to have trouble differentiating between their asses and their elbows, to see if they've managed to fix any of their tech issues or have just pissed their money down the drain for the past 3 months.
Click to expand...
That is what I was thinking. Netflix should totally give like a month free (or 2 weeks free) for canceled account who resign up.


#72

Espy

Espy

Give me netflix over Hulu Plus anyday. I don't need to watch the same damn Ford ad twice every 5 minutes.


#73

GasBandit

GasBandit

Adblock plus for firefox has even removed about 99% of in-video advertising as well, I've found... even from sticky wickets like youtube, failblog, southparkstudios and such. Haven't tried it on hulu because... well, because I just torrent whatever show I want to watch :p

Interestingly enough, adblock plus for CHROME does not catch the failblog video ads.


#74

strawman

strawman

Espy said:
Give me netflix over Hulu Plus anyday. I don't need to watch the same damn Ford ad twice every 5 minutes.
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That's the main reason I refuse to pay for hulu. I'm not going to pay someone to advertise to me - I'm paying specifically to avoid advertising!


#75

Espy

Espy

EXACTLY.


#76

strawman

strawman

If Hulu gave me a compelling reason to completely ditch my TV - no commercials, and the shows become available at the same time (or before) their normal network slot, then I'd probably sign up in a heartbeat. The quality isn't as good as broadcast HD, but getting rid of commercials and not having to wait for a day or a week to see a show everyone else already watched would be worth it, not to mention the side benefit of being able to watch it anywhere, pause it, etc.


#77

Espy

Espy

I'm okay with limited commercials if it helps keep the cost down. Give me a minute in the middle of commercials or at the beginning. Just not 12 damn commercials, half of which are for the same thing, every single show.


#78

Gared

Gared

Espy said:
I'm okay with limited commercials if it helps keep the cost down. Give me a minute in the middle of commercials or at the beginning. Just not 12 damn commercials, half of which are for the same thing, every single show.
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I refuse to ever buy those damn Newton's Fruit Thins for this exact reason.

Edit: The bastards won... I couldn't pass up a chance to watch The Wonder Years.


#79

Steve

Steve

This is probably old news but it's new to me. Youtube is now offering several movies available for free streaming:
http://www.youtube.com/movies?fl=f&pt=fm downside are commercials.


#80

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Of course, because they're free, the vast majority of choices are terrible.


#81

figmentPez

figmentPez

There are a few good choices in there:
Ghostbusters 2
and uh... Oh just go look on Hulu, the free offerings are much better there.

Ooooh, Final Fantasy Advent Children... I know it's not good, but...

Wow, some of these are worse than terrible. "The Kung-Fu Mummy"? It's got a 1.4 rating on IMDB. That's pure Obscurus Lupa Presents fuel right there.


#82

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Hey, look, reminders of the usefulness of Netflix streaming and Amazon Prime!


#83

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Like I said: vast majority. Ghostbusters 2 and Advent Children were probably two of those exceptions. And while I might have a soft spot for GB2, it's not exactly on par with the first.


#84

Espy

Espy

You know, why the freaking hell doesn't Amazon Prime stream to my PS3??? Stupid Amazon. Get yo shit together.


#85

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Espy said:
You know, why the freaking hell doesn't Amazon Prime stream to my PS3??? Stupid Amazon. Get yo shit together.
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Agreed on that. Would be much more useful that way. Or if Flash worked on PS3 too.


#86

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

I'm guessing some clause in the byzantine content contracts between the various partners. MS and Sony had separate digital content deals with a lot of the studios already, and I'm guessing that they don't play so nice with Amazon's deals with the same people.

We do need to remember that Netflix essentially pulled a fast one in their original deals; they didn't mislead anyone, but they apparently really played down the potential of streaming versus DVD rentals.


#87

Dave

Dave

I think they may be regretting these decisions....



#88



Chibibar

http://www.techieapps.com/netflixs-nightmare-continues-looses-800000-subscribers-in-third-quarter/

They lost 810,000 subscribers in 3rd quarters. Oi vey. I know we are NOT getting the old price back, but at least lower it to get customer back.

They are still wanting to stick with the new prices (16$ and change for DVD and streaming) why would people want to pay for that when competition are cheaper?


#89

strawman

strawman

Netflix had about 20 million US subscribers as of the end of 2010. They raised prices across 20 million users, and lost less than 1 million of them. I'd say they came out ahead.


#90

Allen who is Quiet

Allen who is Quiet

stienman, get your logic out of here. I just want to act like I know more about business than a highly successful company that employs dudes who know way more about business than I do.


#91

strawman

strawman



#92

Allen who is Quiet

Allen who is Quiet

That's better. Now then.


It's my extremely professional opinion that, in light of this recent news, netflix is, and pardon my use of sophisticated business terms here, completely fucked.


#93

Shakey

Shakey

It's not just subscribers and earnings that are dropping. CNET
Although Netflix's share price had been declining prior to that news, its shares are plummeting now. As of this writing, Netflix is trading at just $77.16, down more than 35 percent compared to yesterday's closing price of $118.84. In the last three months alone, Netflix shares are down nearly 73 percent.
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They're not completely fucked, but this isn't good for them.


#94

strawman

strawman



#95

Gared

Gared

I still think they'd have lost fewer subscribers if their PR department (assuming they even have a PR department) had done some better spin control on the initial price change announcement. I know I would have been much less pissed off if, back in July, they'd come out and said "You know guys, we understand that you have several choices for streaming video providers, and we appreciate your loyalty to us. The studios are starting to jack up prices on us, pressuring us for a higher cut of the profits, and we've been doing a lot of work to increase our service areas. That being said, we're going to have to raise prices." But instead, they came out and said "Dear valued customer, we have a new price plan guaranteed to save you money. Now you only have to pay $7.99 a month to have access to half of the plan you currently pay $9.99 a month for. Oh, but if you want the other half, you'll have to pay an additional $8.99 a month. Enjoy your new low-cost membership."

Of course, their disastrous plan to split off the DVD service and the half-assed apology by the CEO really didn't help them any.


#96



Chibibar

Gared said:
I still think they'd have lost fewer subscribers if their PR department (assuming they even have a PR department) had done some better spin control on the initial price change announcement. I know I would have been much less pissed off if, back in July, they'd come out and said "You know guys, we understand that you have several choices for streaming video providers, and we appreciate your loyalty to us. The studios are starting to jack up prices on us, pressuring us for a higher cut of the profits, and we've been doing a lot of work to increase our service areas. That being said, we're going to have to raise prices." But instead, they came out and said "Dear valued customer, we have a new price plan guaranteed to save you money. Now you only have to pay $7.99 a month to have access to half of the plan you currently pay $9.99 a month for. Oh, but if you want the other half, you'll have to pay an additional $8.99 a month. Enjoy your new low-cost membership."

Of course, their disastrous plan to split off the DVD service and the half-assed apology by the CEO really didn't help them any.
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The CEO was pretty much on something cause that was the biggest pile of F*up I have seen.

Yea. I wouldn't be as pissed on the service if they hike it due to cost. heck most people would have gone with that.


#97

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Gared said:
I still think they'd have lost fewer subscribers if their PR department (assuming they even have a PR department) had done some better spin control on the initial price change announcement. I know I would have been much less pissed off if, back in July, they'd come out and said "You know guys, we understand that you have several choices for streaming video providers, and we appreciate your loyalty to us. The studios are starting to jack up prices on us, pressuring us for a higher cut of the profits, and we've been doing a lot of work to increase our service areas. That being said, we're going to have to raise prices." But instead, they came out and said "Dear valued customer, we have a new price plan guaranteed to save you money. Now you only have to pay $7.99 a month to have access to half of the plan you currently pay $9.99 a month for. Oh, but if you want the other half, you'll have to pay an additional $8.99 a month. Enjoy your new low-cost membership."

Of course, their disastrous plan to split off the DVD service and the half-assed apology by the CEO really didn't help them any.
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If they had passed the blame to the content providers, said providers would have wanted higher rates when the contract was up. It was a lose-lose proposition.


#98

Gared

Gared

Except that, from what I read around the net, said providers really do want higher rates when contract renewal time comes around, and that really is a big part of why they wanted to raise their rates - so, all they really did was stave off their membership finding out why they were raising rates. I could understand it if they just wanted to raise their rates so their execs could buy bigger private jets, or more bling for their mistresses, but hiding the fact that your providers are pressuring you for more money is kind of stupid.


#99

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

stienman said:
Netflix had about 20 million US subscribers as of the end of 2010. They raised prices across 20 million users, and lost less than 1 million of them. I'd say they came out ahead.
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But how many of those remaining dropped half their service rather than pay up for streaming and mail-in individually? I have a feeling that's where a lot of the money is slipping away. We dropped the mail-in service when the price change happened and it was the same for numerous people in this thread and another forum I go to.


#100

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

stienman said:
Netflix had about 20 million US subscribers as of the end of 2010. They raised prices across 20 million users, and lost less than 1 million of them. I'd say they came out ahead.
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Losing 1/20th of your customer base (in net numbers, mind) is never a great thing. That, and they're expecting to lose at least another net million customers by the end of the next quarter. Yeah, the price hike saved their profit margins, but unless the flow stops, they could be in serious trouble.


#101

Gared

Gared

Quotemander Prime said:
But how many of those remaining dropped half their service rather than pay up for streaming and mail-in individually? I have a feeling that's where a lot of the money is slipping away. We dropped the mail-in service when the price change happened and it was the same for numerous people in this thread and another forum I go to.
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I don't know, they were talking about losing 810k unique subscribers - so I don't know if they're counting people who just dropped the DVD by mail portion, or people who completely canceled their accounts and left Netflix.


#102

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Gared said:
I don't know, they were talking about losing 810k unique subscribers - so I don't know if they're counting people who just dropped the DVD by mail portion, or people who completely canceled their accounts and left Netflix.
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In the call, they talk about "unique" as just someone who has an active Netflix subscription of some kind or another. Also, don't forget that the way they're describing is in net, according to their press release. So they likely lost more than 800k subscribers of one level or another, it was just offset by newly acquired customers.


#103



Chibibar

Yea. I wonder what does "unique customer" means? if it means that a person with DVD and/or streaming = 1 unique, then they are in trouble. but if a person with both = 2 unique it is not AS bad, but still bad since they are still losing people/subs. (we drop our DVD but kept the streaming)


#104

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Chibibar said:
Yea. I wonder what does "unique customer" means? if it means that a person with DVD and/or streaming = 1 unique, then they are in trouble. but if a person with both = 2 unique it is not AS bad, but still bad since they are still losing people/subs. (we drop our DVD but kept the streaming)
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They're pretty clear about it, guys. "Unique subscriber" means and/or. Losing a unique subscriber means that person shuts down all of their Netflix accounts and is no longer a current customer.

Going forward, since they're keeping the budget buckets separate, they're going to focus on individual subscription numbers by delivery system. Which sounds a little shady to me, even though the overlying logic makes sense.


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