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Tag: Netflix Instant

  • 2,000 Netflix Movies to Disappear Today

    Netflix users may find their Instant Watch queues a bit lighter today. Nearly 2,000 movie titles on the popular streaming video service are set to expire today.

    Originally, Slate had reported that the movies set to disappear were from MGM and United Artists, and are set to move over to the new Warner Archive Instant streaming service. Warner Bros has since denied this, and a Netflix spokesperson has stated that the movies were part of a contract the company had with Epix.

    Regardless of where they are going, Netflix users today will not be able to stream movies such as Adaptation, and Big Daddy.

    In other Netflix news, the company is pushing forward with its original programming initiatives. The release date of the next Netflix original series has just been announced.

    Orange is the New Black will premiere on July 11, with thirteen one-hour episodes being released all at once. Starring Jason Biggs and Laura Prepon, the comedy series follows a “Brooklynite” sent to women’s prison who must deal with her new eccentric inmates.

  • Netflix Added 2 Million Streaming Subscribers Over the Holidays

    Though the competition to provide robust streaming services is heating up with the growth of Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime Instant Video, and the new Redbox Instant, Netflix is still holding its own. The company this week announced its fourth quarter financial results, and the news is overwhelmingly positive.

    Netflix managed to add just over 2 million new subscribers to its Instant Watch streaming service, over 9 times the number it added in the fourth quarter of 2011. Internationally it added 1.8 million new streaming subscribers, bringing the total for 2012 to 10 million new streaming subscribers.

    In a sign of the times, the number of new subscriptions for Netflix’s original DVD-by-mail service have been dropping steadily for the past year, and the company only added around 380,000 of those subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2012.

    Given the huge deals Netflix has had to work out with content providers in recent years, it might seem nearly impossible for the company to turn a profit. It has managed though, to make a slim profit of $8 million on $945 million in total revenue.

    Netflix wasn’t afraid to address its competition in its report. The company pointed to other streaming subscriptions as “a different service” due to the differing unique content between services. Netflix’s main concern with other streaming services is the content they share, as that could lead to other services being seen as a replacement for Netflix. To ease investors’ minds, Netflix pointed out that of its top 100 movies and top 100 TV shows, Amazon’s streaming service only has 73 of them, and Hulu has only 27.

  • Netflix Gaining Returning Customers

    When Netflix completely altered the services they provide to paying customers last year, something of a minor-to-mass exodus occurred. People weren’t happy about splitting DVD rentals and streaming movies from Netflix Instant into two different options, and so, many rebelled the only way they knew how: canceling their Netflix accounts.

    Now that the negativity has died down, coupled with the fact that no real successor has taken Netflix’s space, and that’s with no offense to Amazon’s Instant Video service. The fallout of the Netflix price/service alteration, and the unfortunate idea to create the ill-fated Qwikster has been well documented. Essentially, people don’t like it when you alter their service and increase prices in one swift stroke.

    With that in mind, however, the numbers indicate that people are slowly returning to the online movie rental service. According to a report from Digital Trends, the service has added 1.7 million new members during the first quarter of 2012. Crediting this increase in the Netflix customer base, Digital Trends mentions the recent EPIX deal, which will bring movies like The Avengers and The Hunger Games to Netflix Streaming:

    In a recent deal with EPIX, Netflix has negotiated the rights to offer both The Hunger Games and The Avengers to streaming subscribers ninety days after the films appear on EPIX. Films appear on EPIX approximately four to five months after being released on physical disc, thus Netflix will be offering the two popular blockbuster movies to streaming users seven to eight months after the DVDs and Blu-rays are released.

    However, one doubts the prospect of an improved streaming inventory later on down the line is the motivating reason for the improved subscriber growth.

    The fact remains, there aren’t any real alternatives to Netflix. Blockbuster tried and failed, and as far as Amazon Instant Video, well, they’re trying. However, Amazon’s service acts more like a brick-and-mortar video store, in that consumers pay for each movie that they rent, instead of paying one monthly fee that gives you access to Netflix’s entire streaming catalog.

    With that in mind, it’s hard not to wonder about the level of customer satisfaction for either returning or new customers. Considering the ridiculous nature of various movie studios when it comes to offering their content to Netflix, it’s easy to see where the problem lies, and it’s not with the company that made red envelopes a trendy item.

  • How Does Netflix Perform On Various ISPs?

    How Does Netflix Perform On Various ISPs?

    For fans of Netflix Instant, are you happy with the service? Is the stream watchable or are you faced with a pixelated picture that doesn’t satisfy your desire to see “The Girl With/Who …” trilogy? Considering the bandwidth hog Netflix has become, isn’t it important to understand which Internet service providers handle these Netflix streams the best?

    If so, you’re in luck, thanks to a recent post at the Netflix Tech blog. The post details how Netflix Instant performs on the available ISPs in the United States, and the results are revealing. While all of the ISPs listed in Netflix’s graphic clock in at over 1200 kilobytes per second, the difference between the top provider and the lower ones is substantial. Have a look at the graphic — click for a larger size — and see what you think:

    Netflix Performance Chart

    As you can see, the current top three are Charter, Comcast and CableOne, all of which come in at over 2000 KBS. In fact, the top eight ISPs are above the 2000 kilobyte plateau, including such notable providers like Time-Warner Cable and Verizon. Surprisingly, however, AT&T does not break the 2000 KBS threshold. Perhaps the new bandwidth caps have something to do with that; although, they didn’t begin until May of 2011. Whatever the case, for such a prominent, international company, it’s surprising to see AT&T in the lower tier.

    As for the methodology used by Netflix to determine the chart, Ken Florance, Director of Content Delivery for Netflix, says:

    As you can see, the familiar pattern persists, dividing cable networks on the high end from DSL networks in the lower bitrates. We’re still showing the AT&T and Verizon networks’ performance as an average across their DSL and FTTx (Fiber) offerings. That’s due to a limitation in how we collect data, which we will resolve soon, so you can expect the DSL and Fiber offerings of these ISPs to be represented separately in future updates.

    Also of note, we’ve rolled Qwest under CenturyLink following the merger of those companies.

    The current performance chart only focuses on the United States, because Canada has yet to resolve the bandwidth cap issue that encompasses the entire country. Furthermore, Florance directly addresses the issue with the following comment:

    We’re only publishing U.S. data this time. This data has become less significant for Canada in the wake of Netflix reducing default bitrates in Canada to help our Canadian members who are subject to low bandwidth caps.

    While the idea of a capped Internet has been around for a little while, it’s disappointing to see it in such black and white terms. As for these charts, Florance also revealed these will be updated on a quarterly basis, indicating the next chart will be available in August. It will be interesting to see where AT&T stands in relation to its competitors, especially if the T-Mobile merger goes through.