News Byte
Peter Kafka in Media on March 30 at 11:52 am PT
Netflix has bought the DVD.com domain name, but the company says it doesn’t plan on cleaving its DVD and streaming businesses into two operations, as it had tried to do last fall with its ill-fated Qwikster plan. A Netflix spokesman says the company purchased the Internet address for purely defensive reasons, and that Netflix users will continue to access discs and streamed movies from the same site.
Peter Kafka in Media on October 10, 2011 at 5:01 am PT
That was quick. Three weeks after Reed Hastings announced a much-hated decision, he’s reversing himself.
News Byte
John Murrell in News on September 20, 2011 at 3:35 pm PT
Following the lead of
thousands of angry customers, investors continued to batter Netflix today in the wake of its bungled change in pricing strategy and the controversial separation of its DVD and streaming businesses. On July 13, when the price change was announced, the stock was trading at $298.73. Since then, the stock has bounced down a cliff,
closing today at $130.03, a 52-week low.
Peter Kafka in Media on September 18, 2011 at 9:10 pm PT
After an outcry from customers, and a beating from Wall Street, a rare mea culpa from Reed Hastings. The Netflix CEO says he mishandled his price hike, and apologizes. But he’s not changing his plans.
Peter Kafka in Media on July 26, 2011 at 4:11 am PT
“Believe it or not, the noise level was actually less than we expected,” says Reed Hastings. Wall Street isn’t playing it nearly as cool, though.
Peter Kafka in Media on July 25, 2011 at 1:04 pm PT
Just a blip, says Reed Hastings. But it’s enough to freak out shareholders (for now).
Peter Kafka in Media on July 13, 2011 at 1:35 pm PT
The video service raised its prices by 60 percent yesterday. But it doesn’t expect most of you to pay up — it’s hoping you spend less, and stop using discs.
Peter Kafka in Media on July 12, 2011 at 11:13 am PT
Reed Hastings and company see themselves as Web video guys, not discs-in-the-mail guys. Now they’re making it clearer than ever, with a 60 percent price hike for customers who want both.
Voices
Miguel Bustillo, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 28, 2011 at 3:40 pm PT
Big retail chains keep trying to sell or rent music and movies online as sales of CDs and DVDs decline, but these ventures have done little to dent the market share of industry leaders Netflix Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
