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Brace yourselves: (former?) video titan takes aim at Netflix
Can Netflix still win when cable TV loses?
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A screen grab shows the access to Netflix online, as displayed on a television screen, in Encinitas, California July 25, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake
By Yinka Adegoke
Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:48am EDT
(Reuters) - Netflix Inc is separating its movie streaming business from its DVD-by-mail service, which it is renaming Qwikster, as it tries to recover from a customer backlash over its subscription fee increase.
Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings made the announcement in a blog post a week after the company confirmed that it was adding fewer subscribers than forecast due to the 60 percent increase for its joint streaming and DVD rental service.
The uproar has pushed shares of the company down nearly 50 percent since it announced the price increase on July 12.
Shares of Netflix were up 2.3 percent at $158.78 in morning trading.
"I messed up," Hastings wrote in the blog post. "I owe everyone an explanation."
The streaming business will retain the Netflix brand.
Hastings said streaming and DVD by mail were beginning to operate independently, with very different cost structures. They also offer different benefits that needed to be marketed differently, he added.
There will be no pricing changes, Hastings said, and subscribers to both services will have two entries on their credit card statements, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix.
The two services will have separate websites and no longer integrate customer use or preferences data for streaming and DVDs.
"The share rise is mainly a bounceback from the recent declines, and today's news doesn't change much because Reed had talked about separating the businesses in the past," said Gabelli & Co analyst Brett Harriss.
Netflix has been under pressure from Hollywood studios and cable programmers to pay much more for content. Analysts have said it would start to lose more shows for its streaming service after failing to reach a new agreement with Liberty Media's Starz.
But Hastings said new content would be coming soon.
"The additional streaming content we have coming in the next few months is substantial, and we are always working to improve our service further," he said.
Even as it seeks out more content for its streaming service, Netflix faces increasing Web video competition from the likes of Amazon.com, Google Inc and Apple Inc.
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth said Netflix's hybrid DVD/streaming model had been a "competitive advantage," but three-quarters of Netflix's new subscribers were streaming-only.
"It's possible now each business may be holding the other back," Anmuth wrote in a note to clients.
Andy Rendich, who has worked at Netflix's DVD service for 12 years and has led it for the last four years, will become the CEO of Qwikster, Hastings said.
Unlike Netflix's current DVD plan, Qwikster will feature a videogame upgrade for customers who want to rent Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox 360 software.
"Members have been asking for video games for many years," Hastings said, "and now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done."
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke in New York and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore. Editing by Jane Merriman and Lisa Von Ahn)
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We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (4)
hypodoche wrote:
So they are going to make it so you have to look at recommendations twice, have 2 queues, 2 passwords, 2 sign-ins, double the email notices, double the billing issues, twice the headache of searching… I’ve stayed with them so far, $20 isn’t an issue. This ridiculous Google/Aol-style of changing your user interface, structure and name every time your stock goes up or down is going to fail (again). This seems insane.
Sep 19, 2011 9:53am EDT -- Report as abuse
Yirmin wrote:
Well first they shot their own foot when they raised prices so high so fast… now they decided to shoot the other foot with this boneheaded move.
I was willing to pay more for the combined service but if they are going to do this… I will be cancelling them… I don’t need multiple queues and multiple bills and doubling everything else… the original system worked… now it looks like they have some moron trying to break the whole system… where did this idiot come from Blockbuster?
Sep 19, 2011 10:25am EDT -- Report as abuse
Whatsgoingon wrote:
Hastings did not mention the benefit of this move, how is he going to convince customer and his own employees? If “I messed up” was the reason how people know he does not mess up again?
Sep 19, 2011 10:54am EDT -- Report as abuse
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