Blockbuster heaves sigh of relief at Netflix rate hike
Netflix helped kill Blockbuster.
Its DVD-by-mail service, in conjunction with Redbox's 24-hour $1 rentals drove brick and mortar video store chain Blockbuster from market dominance into bankruptcy and near irrelevance.
How much more are you willing to pay Netflix?
I've had a DVD-rental plan from Netflix since February 1999. Sometime between now and September 1, I will cancel that plan -- not because I want to give up DVD movies but because Netflix is forcing me to choose between them or streaming. To get both, I will substantially pay more. So will you, if a Netflix subscriber.
I got the official email about an hour ago: "Your current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into two distinct plans. Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month. Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $7.99 a month. Your price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs".
Hollywood's 28-day delay for Redbox and Netflix is now Blockbuster's only advantage
National video rental chain Blockbuster went bankrupt because of the high price of running video stores when its principal competitors were shipping DVDs by mail, streaming movies online, or operating out of tiny, ubiquitous kiosks.
After being sold off to Dish Network, Blockbuster announced on Friday it is switching its pricing model to one nearly identical to competitor Redbox.
Who is cutting cable for Hulu, Netflix and OTA?
I started the week by asking "Would you cut cable for Netflix?" I end it with your responses to the question.
This all started with a report from Convergence Consulting Group stating that, since 2008, 1 million U.S. household cut cable's cord and switched to over-the-air broadcasts and online streaming. The consultancy expects the number to reach 2 million by year's end. I've been thinking about doing the same -- and summer, when reruns replace many first-run programs -- is looking like the right time. Perhaps even sooner. And what do you say?
Would you cut cable for Netflix?
This morning, I tweeted San Francisco Chronicle article "1 million homes cut cable, switch to antenna, Web," which showed up in my RSS feeds. The story is actually three days old. A surprising number of people tweet-replied that they had cut the cable, completely or partially. I've been thinking about doing the same and wondered about Betanews readers. Would you go or have gone from cable to online video streaming (from networks and services like Hulu or Netflix) and over-the-air HD broadcasts?
You can answer the question in comments or email joewilcox at gmail dot com. I'll be swapping out that email address in a day or so as I seek to create, at least temporarily, a Google-free zone. Messages will forward after the switch. Your answer could benefit other people considering a similar move, but struggling to cross that psychological barrier of "What will I give up?"
Report: Netflix to offer original programming
Netflix may be looking to leverage some of its massive market share in streaming and downloading, reportedly outbidding major cable networks to carry a new television show exclusively on its platform. According to a report on Deadline.com, the entertainment company has won the rights to House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey.
The deal is said to be worth at least $100 million, and AMC and HBO had both apparently shown interest in the show. No doubt original programming is a whole new venture for Netflix, which has previously built its business on the distribution of other's content. But it is also a costly gamble with no guarantee of success.
NPD: Netflix holds commanding lead in legal movie streams
In a validation of its strategy to make its content available on as many platforms as possible, research firm NPD Group has found that 61 percent of all legal movie downloads and streams originate from Netflix. That is over seven times its nearest competitor Comcast, with only eight percent of the market.
"VOD and other digital options are now beginning to make inroads with consumers," NPD entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick said. "Overwhelmingly digital movie buyers do not believe physical discs are out of fashion, but their digital transactions were motivated by the immediate access and ease of acquisition provided by streaming and downloading digital video files."
Streaming video largely lacks accessibility for the deaf; Netflix is working on it
The Web as a whole tends to favor those individuals with their vision intact.
There are a couple of areas of the Web that have benefitted the visually impaired: Web radio and podcasting services, for example, are generally free sources of lots of information, and many of the most popular news sites do daily or weekly audio recaps of their featured written content. Voice over IP communications, likewise has brought the convenience of free instant messaging to those without sight. But for the most part, the Web has been a silent place that we look at, instead of listen to.
[UPDATE] Netflix ranks Charter as best, Clearwire worst for data throughput
In the company blog Thursday, Netflix Director of Content Delivery Ken Florence presented a ranking of the best and worst network operators for Netflix streaming, a ranking that the company plans to maintain and publish as a monthly report.
Florence says the top HD streams from Netflix are about 4,800 Kbps, and because the service adapts to the available bandwidth a provider may have, no one carrier would hit that maximum and maintain it. However, it serves as a good reference point for the average overall throughput a network can provide. Charter, the leading US network in overall throughput, averaged 2,667 Kbps between October 1, 2010 and January 15, 2011.
Netflix buttons coming to your Blu-ray, TV remote controls
Streaming entertainment service Netflix announced ahead of CES 2011 Tuesday that it had partnered with select manufacturers to include a Netflix "button" on remote controls. So far Blu-ray players from Dynex brand, Haier, Memorex, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba will include the button, as well as Internet connected TVs from Sharp, Sony and Toshiba.
Netflix buttons would provide one-click access to the built-in application, which the company hopes will increase usage of what has become an increasingly larger percentage of its business. The first enabled devices would appear in the spring, the company said.
Google acquires Netflix, Vudu, and Blockbuster's streaming video DRM provider Widevine
Google announced on Friday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Widevine, a Seattle-based company that has focused on DRM and security for streaming internet media for the last decade.
"The Widevine team has worked to provide a better video delivery experience for businesses of all kinds: from the studios that create your favorite shows and movies, to the cable systems and channels that broadcast them online and on TV, to the hardware manufacturers that let you watch that content on a variety of devices," said Mario Queiroz, Google Vice President of Product Management.
Netflix foretells the future of content distribution with new streaming-only plan
Netflix today announced a revision to its subscription tiers that simultaneously increased the price of its DVD-by-mail plans, and introduced a new bottom-tier plan solely for streaming TV and movies.
Similar to the streaming-only plan Netflix launched in Canada in September, Netflix subscribers will pay $7.99 a month for unlimited access to the Netflix Instant Streaming library. Previously, the cheapest plan cost $8.99 per month and included one-at-a-time DVD rentals as well.
Nintendo Wii will help Netflix streaming dominate the living room
Last week, Sony, Dolby, and Netflix announced that the PlayStation 3 would be getting an all new native Netflix app today that supports 1080p streams and 5.1 channel audio without the need for a disc, as it turns out, the Nintendo Wii today has gotten a similar app update.
With a software update today and a free app from the Wii Shop Channel, the Nintendo Wii can stream Netflix Instant movies without a disc, too. Though the console supports neither High Definition nor surround sound, this update has much further-reaching consequences than the PlayStation 3's.
Netflix instant streaming gets bumped up to Dolby 5.1 surround, 1080p with PlayStation 3 update
Netflix and Dolby Laboratories today announced that Netflix Instant streaming will be enabled with 5.1 channel surround beginning on October 18.
The first consumer device to support the higher quality audio will be the Sony PlayStation 3, but Netflix says the feature will eventually come to more hardware, like the many connected HDTVs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, video game consoles, and mobile handsets supporting Netflix streaming today.
Netflix streaming finally comes to Canada
Netflix Instant streaming, the increasingly popular and ubiquitous subscription movie on demand service has officially launched in Canada after more than three years of availability in the United States. This is the first time the service has been made available outside of the U.S.
Fortunately for Canadian Netflix subscribers, there are already a wealth of devices which will let them watch videos on their TV: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony PlayStation3, Nintendo Wii, Samsung and Toshiba connected Blu-ray players, and TiVo.
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