Qwikster?

[Chicago Jake]

So what do you think?

[Ron]

Meh... I think it will be as grand as "New" Coke.

[Chicago Jake]

I think they are taking a big chance: they are using a new (and kinda stupid) name for the part of their business that they are good at, and using their established, respected name for the part of their business that they really aren't very good at yet.

On the other hand, streaming IS the future, so there is some value in using the established brand for that function. They just aren't quite there yet.

[♥ COVID-19♥]

They have arrogantly misunderstood the needs of their customers by complicating matters. Sell your stock if you haven't already done so.

[Merlot Joe]

I think they are going to try to sell the DVD section (Qwikster) or even shut it down, and stay with the streaming video on demand (Netflix). That's where the business is heading to is on demand right now. People don't want to wait for a DVD in the mail any more. They have a free couple of hours and want to see a flix right now. At least that is what has been working great for us.

[Ardbeg... innit]

Joe, there is a danger with that model. There have been rumors of ISP's wanting to put usage caps and throttles on broadband access for some time now. If Netflix sells off Qwikster to rely on streaming only, they could be cutting their own neck.

[Chicago Jake]

Possibly, but bandwidth is growing by leaps and bounds, and competition is heating up. I can pretty much "tether" my smart phone to my laptop and get unlimited (for the moment) data from T-Mobile, totally bypassing my ISP. And it is about the same speed. Yes, they are all talking about caps, but this competition for customers is going to push things in the opposite direction.

[♥ COVID-19♥]

Cable/Satellite TV providers who are also ISP's will have no choice but to raise rates for downloads because their traditional business model is eroding. This is due to the ch-ch-change in TV viewing by consumers.

[Merlot Joe]

Any way you look at it, Netflix is still the best price to watch movies. Comcast from on demand rates are from $6.99 to $2.99. Do 25 movies in a month (we will do that easy) and it could cost you up to $175.00. Even if Netflix charges you $25.00 a month just for streaming video's on demand that's still cheap.

I don't think you will see ISP's limiting your boardbang useage if that's where the market is heading. They may charge you more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Merlot Joe]

Also I think the on demand video streaming at home might hurt the box office at the movies. As fast as they bring them out wait 1 month and you cna watch it at home, Most of us have 52 unch screen with surround sound, plus the pop corn is scheap and you can sit an watch the movie naked if you want to.

[Ardbeg... innit]

Not quite DOA, but the respirator has been pulled.

Netflix kills plan to split off DVD rentals

Netflix Inc. is abandoning its widely panned decision to separate its DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming services because it would make them more difficult to use.

Subscribers will be able to use both services under one account and one password, CEO Reed Hastings said Monday in a blog post.

Investors saw the reversal as an Oscar-worthy move, sending the stock up $11.24, or 9.6 percent, to $128.45 in premarket trading.

Less than a month ago, the Netflix said it would split the DVD rental business off on a new website, to be called Qwikster.

Subscribers howled at the move, saying they saw Netflix as a destination for movies in general and didn't want to manage two accounts.

"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," Hastings said in the blog post.

In July, the company said that customers who want streaming movies and DVDs will have to pay for them separately. The "Qwikster" announcement was a follow-up to that ch-ch-change. Analysts saw it as a way for Netflix to distance itself from the older DVD business, which has less future potential than Internet streaming.

Even with Monday's premarket bounce, Netflix's shares have been savaged by the price ch-ch-change and the "Qwikster" initiative. They've lost more than half their value since July

[Chicago Jake]

Just came over here to post that!

I guess the qwikster.com domain is available, if anyone wants it.......

[Ron]

Good decision, right up there with Old Coke/New Coke but it didn't take them three months to fix the mistake.