Netflix back with a vengeance in Q4: revenues & subscribers both up

Against all odds, streaming-video giant Netflix is actually making money and signing up new customers. The company beat Wall Street estimates with better-than-expected fourth quarter results, including a well-needed subscriber boost, it announced today.

Netflix had a particularly rocky 2011, with a 60 percent price hike on combined streaming-and-DVD rental plans and a failed plan of splitting Netflix into two companies. The company was punished with a loss of more than half of its stock … Continue Reading

Netflix launches in the UK — LoveFilm undercuts it

Netflix announced yesterday that its streaming service is now available in the UK.

TV programs and movies, including local favorites such as The Only Way is Essex, can be streamed via Netflix to smart TVs, game consoles, computers, tablets and mobile device for £5.99 ($9.23) per month. A month’s free trial is available.

Netflix’s main rival in the UK market is Amazon’s well-established LoveFilm, which reacted quickly to the announcement by undercutting Netflix with a … Continue Reading

Netflix inks major new content deals ahead of UK ad launch

Netflix is putting the finishing touches on new film and TV licensing deals and launching an ad campaign this week for its streaming video service in the UK. The actual launch date for the service is still unknown.

The newest UK streaming agreements are with heavy-hitters Sony, Disney, Paramout, iTV and Channel 4, the Guardian is reporting. Netflix is launching an advertising campaign in the UK this week to build excitement among potential subscribers.

Good … Continue Reading

Netflix chief’s DreamBox Learning startup raises $11M for adaptive learning

Educational game company DreamBox Learning, which was acquired in part by Netflix chief Reed Hastings, has raised a new $11 million round.

DreamBox has created math software that is “adaptive.” That is, a child can log into an online game, start playing, and the game will react to the skill level of the child. If the child does well, the game adapts the lessons so that they are harder. If the child needs more help, … Continue Reading

Netflix needs cash, selling $200 million in convertible bonds

Netflix is selling $200 million in convertible bonds to Technology Crossover Ventures after a dismal third quarter earnings report.

The company lost north of 800,000 subscribers in its third quarter, rounding out the number to 35.4 million subscribers of both Netflix’s streaming and DVD-rental services. The major subscriber loss came after the company raised its prices 60 percent and then split the company into two parts: Netflix, the streaming arm of the company, and Qwikster, … Continue Reading

Netflix CEO: Lessons I’ve learnt

Netflix has been under pressure recently due to controversy over the company’s plans to split its DVD rental and streaming video businesses.

However, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings seemed quite relaxed in a fireside chat at Dublin’s F.ounders conference on lessons he has learnt over the course of his business career.

“There’s a ton of lessons I’ve learnt over two companies,” said Hastings, whose first company was Unix software tools firm Pure Software, “The great … Continue Reading

How Netflix dropped the ball by ignoring customer voices

It’s unclear how much research Netflix did with consumer focus groups prior to going public with its plan to split its DVD rental and streaming video businesses.

However, one thing that is certain is the company’s inability to pay attention to what its customers are saying.

Had Netflix bothered to listen, it might have avoided shattering its credibility, hurting the value of its stock price and losing more than 800,000 subscribers in the last three … Continue Reading

Netflix Chief Executive says “we simply moved too quickly”

Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings admits that his company screwed up many times over the last few months. He made the statement in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday.

In July, the video rental company decided to raise subscription rates by 60 percent on its DVD-by-mail service, which caused a huge uproar among its 25 million monthly subscribers. In September, Hastings announced that the company was spinning off its DVD-by-mail business into … Continue Reading

Netflix kills Qwikster DVD rental plans, says it’s “done with price changes”

Netflix‘s controversial plan to split off its DVD rental business as a new venture called Qwikster is no more.

“It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote in a blog post this morning. Hastings went on to call Netflix’s recent pricing changes “necessary,” but added that … Continue Reading

Netflix announces Facebook integration for Canada, Latin America — U.S. will have to wait

Netflix users in Canada and Latin America will soon be able to see what streaming videos their Facebook friends have been watching, but those of us in the U.S. will have to wait a bit longer due to a 1980s law regulating wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sale records.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings hit the stage at Facebook’s f8 developer conference today to announce the news, which could fundamentally change the way Netflix … Continue Reading

Netflix’s Qwikster game rentals may have short shelf life, thanks to cloud gaming

Netflix today spun off its mail-order DVD business into a new service called Qwikster, which will include mail-order video game rentals. Given Netflix’s immense success with the movie business, you might expect the games rental business to fare just as well.

But this is not the early 2000s, and the game rental service will face stiff competition from what might be one of the biggest revolutions in gaming since the advent of digital distribution: cloud … Continue Reading

Qwikster fiasco proves Netflix still doesn’t know how to talk to customers

Poor Netflix just can’t catch a break. The company already caught hell from subscribers over its recent pricing changes, and last night it announced that it’s spinning off its DVD rental business entirely under the name Qwikster.

The response from consumers — judging from over 11,000 comments on CEO Reed Hastings’ blog post — has been overwhelmingly negative. While there are some interesting elements to Netflix’s latest plan, the company botched any chance of making … Continue Reading

Netflix changes DVD service name to Qwikster, video games coming

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced tonight that the company will be splitting its business in two, with its DVD-by-mail service getting a name change to Qwikster, while Netflix will focus on streaming video.

Yes, the company that has become synonymous with DVD rentals by mail will no longer associate its core brand with disc rentals. But as a consolation, Qwikster will include video game disc rentals for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, something … Continue Reading

Netflix hits 1 million members in 10 months in Canada

Netflix on Thursday announced that its Canadian branch has reached one million members in just 10 months.

The company launched its $7.99/month streaming-only service in Canada in September 2010, and Canadians, with their decent broadband speeds and long winters, quickly snatched it up. The one millionth Canadian member, Amanda Bell James, from Flin Flon, Manitoba, will get a free lifetime streaming membership.

While the company has faced loud criticism in the U.S. over its decision … Continue Reading

DreamBox aces test: study shows edutainment program boosts exam scores

Maybe games can teach kids something after all.

A study released today by SRI International shows that DreamBox Learning, the education startup that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings bought last year, can be linked to significant gains in standardized test scores. The findings will likely spur discussion about the success of “hybrid” elementary schools, where computers do much of the teaching, as well as the increasing impact of Silicon Valley investment on the public education system.… Continue Reading

Netflix CEO: “We’re gonna thrive on streaming only”

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in a conference call to discuss second-quarter earnings that the online-video giant plans to focus on a “streaming only” future after separating its mail-order DVD service into a separate subscription. But that future, Hastings said, will also bring Netflix into many more countries.

“We gained some confidence when we launched in Canada. That blew away our expectations,” he said. “With the strength of streaming only internationally, we got convinced that … Continue Reading

Netflix is gearing up for European launch

Netflix is planning to expand its online video service into two European countries in the first quarter of 2012, reports Variety.

Top film distributors in Europe stated that Netflix recently closed deals to offer its service in both Spain and the United Kingdom, according to the report.

Netflix was unavailable for comment about entering into Europe. However, this wouldn’t be the first time it set up shop in another country. The company entered Canada in … Continue Reading