If you’re running out of things to do with your Honeycomb-powered Android tablet, why not load up the newly-updated Netflix app? The fresh new 1.5 update finally adds support for tablets that run Android 3.x, in addition to spreading the streaming video love to tablets in Canada and Latin America. → Read More
Ahh, July. We miss you so. The world was newer then, the air fresher, the people a little nicer, and there used to be something called Qwikster. Built as a solution to the heady problem of renting videos to people who still use optical media, Qwikster was supposed to be the part of Netflix that still slipped disks into little sleeves. Netflix proper, on the other hand, would simply stream videos over the Internet and never the twain would meet.
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The Gillmor Gang — John Borthwick, Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — talked Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, Twitter, and, oh what was that oh yes, Google+. In a post-Arrington unpaid blogger world, it seems likely the new alignments suggested by the Facebook announcements will quickly migrate across the social spectrum.
Soon we may see Spotify play the role of ABC to iCloud’s Disney, which in fact is already the case. In turn, smaller producers such as turntable.fm will take the role of satellite producers in much the same way Dick Wolf and the CSI producers orbit NBC and CBS respectively. Where Facebook, Twitter, and G+ stand is TBD.
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Even more news from the Netflix camp, which has just signed an agreement with media juggernaut Discovery Communications to renew and expand their licensing deal.
The companies this morning announced a two-year, non-exclusive licensing agreement that allows Netflix users to stream prior-season series and specials, including an expanded selection of additional seasons of popular series from Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet. → Read More
And with the sound of Wall Street’s opening bell, Netflix quickly dipped below its 52 week low, opening at $141.40 but falling within a few seconds under $140. [NASDAQ:NFLX] Over the past two months the company watched subscribers leave along with 55% of its market cap from the same time period — which now places their valuation at its 52 week low of $7.46B. On July 12, 2011, just one day prior to Netflix’s all-time high price of 304.79, the company announced a radically different corporate structure and also raised the price of the most popular subscription plan by 60%.
Sure, it’s still the top consumer of internet bandwidth and the de facto leader in video streaming services, but the company’s stock has lost a year of growth in a matter of two months, or rather, two decisions. → Read More
Last night, Jason went to bed a normal man, with a normal Twitter account (albeit one with a weed-smoking Elmo as the avatar), and a few dozen followers.
This morning, Jason woke up to an inbox full of messages, thousands of new followers, and wants to sell his account for many thousands of dollars.
As we chronicled last night, Netflix made a rather fundamental mistake in launching their new spin-off brand, Qwikster: they didn’t make sure they had the name locked down on all of the big social networks before making the announcement. As Jason’s luck had it, he had long owned the @Qwikster handle. He’s willing to part with it — he just wants to make sure he’ll “be making bank” first. → Read More
Movie delivery service Netflix has just announced that it is rebranding its DVD-by-mail service as Qwikster and that it will keep calling its streaming service Netflix. Shocking news yes, but already the Internet has found one immediate chink in the company’s rebranded armor, other than the fact that, like a multitude of other failed companies, the name ends in “ster” …
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Amongst all the hollering going on over the merits of Netflix spinning their DVD shipping service into a separate company and whether or not the new service’s name, “Qwikster”, was pulled at random out of a hat labeled “Bad Names”, one detail isn’t quite getting the attention it deserves: Qwikster is going to do video games.
Hear that deafening whir? That’s the red alarm going off at GameFly HQ. → Read More
Netflix is crashing and burning in pre-trading as the company just released a statement to shareholders that cut forecasted subscribers by 1 million users. This comes after Netflix started rolling out new plans that effectively jacked prices up 60% for the most popular plan. As of this post’s writing, Netflix is down 15% [update after the jump] and falling, almost erasing the company’s stellar 19% growth over the last year.
The new estimate puts the company’s DVD-only subscriber count at 2.2 million, down from the previous projection of 3 million. Estimates for Netflix’s streaming subscriber base have been lowered as well: the user count is pegged at 9.8 million rather than the old estimate of 10 million. Even with the lower subscriber count, Netflix isn’t revising its Q3 financial outlook, which it expects to still be on target despite losing 1 million subs. → Read More
After announcing the rollout of its movie and TV show streaming service to Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean, Netflix is announcing a significant content deal for this international expansion. Film and TV show studio Miramax is bringing its library of hundreds of film titles to Netflix’s Latin American customers via a multi-year agreement. Netflix has been streaming movies from Miramax in the U.S. since May 2011. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.This is actually Miramax’s first international licensing deal.
Films that will be available from the Miramax library to Netflix Latin America subscribers will include Chicago, Chocolat, The English Patient, From Dusk Till Dawn, Gone Baby Gone, Good Will Hunting, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Swingers, There Will Be Blood, Amityville Horror, Scream and Spy Kids. The movies can be watched on multiple platforms, including TV, tablet, PC and mobile phones.
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Movie and TV subscription service Netflix has announced the arrival of its service in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean in the coming week. Netflix launched today in Brazil and will be launched in 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean by September 12.
Netflix announced in early July that it would be launching in 43 countries across Mexico, South America and the Caribbean later this year. The company also announced a deal with CBS to offer content in these regions. → Read More
Netflix adjusted its pricing back in July. The new two-plan system started immediately for new subscribers with current subs having until today, September 1st, to opt out of the higher-priced plans before they’re charged 60% more.
The good news, in case you forgot like, is that as Hacking Netflix points out, it really doesn’t hit current customers until their first billing date after September 1st. This of course means more procrastination! → Read More
Quick! Asus Transformer owners! Check your system updates. The Internet is awash with claims that build 8.6.5.9 enables sideloading of the Netflix app. Right now, only the Lenovo IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad Tablet are Netflix certified, forcing owners of other Honeycomb tablets to side load the app, something that previously wasn’t possible on the Transformer. → Read More
Netflix has just announced a “kids-only” section of their online service dedicated to titles – you guessed it – just 4 kidz! This allows children to pick movies with a parent or caregiver without fear that they’ll see Asia Argento’s backside in Boarding Gate next to Babe: Pig In The City in the recommended movies listing. It also simplifies the browsing process by removing the cruft usually associated with searching through the Netflix catalog.
The “Just for Kids” section will appear as a separate tab on the Netflix home page. It features a number of kids’ titles as well as big icons of favorite cartoon characters like SpongeBob, Dora, and Steve Buscemi. → Read More
Walmart’s Vudu movie streaming service is ready to pipe movies directly to your iPad. But don’t look for the traditional iOS app. There isn’t one. Vudu is streaming movies over a web app, which doesn’t force Walmart to share revenue with Apple.
Vudu is skirting Apple’s new terms of service that requires sharing revenue. Much like Amazon’s new Kindle Cloud Reader, Vudu can offer all the functionality of a streaming vide app through the magic of Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) without dealing with the App Store and its approval police or revenue tax collectors. → Read More
Rejoice! It only took 10 months for Netflix to rack up a million users in Canada. They launched in September of 2010, and in July a lucky Canuck by the name of Amanda, in the province they call Manitoba, became their one-millionth subscriber. She wins a lifetime subscription to Netflix’s streaming service and a lifetime of people asking if they can somehow “get in on that.” → Read More
Now this is what we call weird. It would be one thing if Netflix accidentally activated its (currently illegal) Facebook “Share” button. But it’s looking like Netflix accidentally posted a “Don’t Share This” Facebook button. Curious? Entirely. Let’s delve deeper. → Read More
We’ve taken some of the biggest news stories of the week and put them together for you in TechCrunched.
On the heels of recent management changes at Twitter, the company is now changing the way brands interact with users. Follow a brand you like and you’ll see their ads pop up in your Twitter stream. Over in the travel space, Airbnb experienced the best and worst of the business world, while back online the code for Facebook’s iPad app was found in an unlikely place. And finally, lots of people are checking out Android phones—but not necessarily keeping them.
Watch the show and click on the below links for additional details. → Read More
Netflix has just announced a deal with CBS Corporation to license TV shows from the media company for subscribers in Canada and Latin America. Netflix previously signed a two-year agreement with CBS for U.S. subscribers in Februaruy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CBS says that beginning in September (for only $7.99 a month), Netflix members in Canada will access seasons for “90210,” (the new one) as well as past seasons for a number of Showtime titles including “Californication,” “Dexter,” and “The United States of Tara.” Canadian members will also have access to shows like “Numb3rs,” “Sleeper Cell,” and “Twin Peaks.”
Tonight, it looks like Netflix is singing the after-hours blues. At the time of this writing, the company’s stock has plummeted more than 28 points in after hours trading, a 10 percent overall drop. While Netflix posted another strong quarter this afternoon, with net income up to $68 million, a 55 percent year-over-year increase and $788.6 million in revenue, up 52 percent year-to-year, there were some caveats. As my colleague Erick Schonfeld wrote earlier this afternoon, “Wall Street still isn’t happy with the slowdown in store for the third quarter”. And why is that?
Netflix’s much-talked-about price change goes into effect in the third quarter, and should be fully rolled out, Netflix estimates, by September 15th. As a result, Netflix expects “domestic net additions in Q3 to be lower than the previous year’s Q3, and because of the timing of the price change, revenues will only grow slightly on a sequential basis”. That means: Investors, temper your expectations for the next few months. (Or, as we’ve seen from this afternoon’s activity, “sell it like it’s stolen”.) → Read More
