DVDs Will Be Staying at Netflix.com
LOS GATOS, Calif., Oct. 10, 2011 – Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) today said it will not rename its DVD-by-mail service and that its U.S. members will continue to go to the Netflix website for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.
Netflix said in a September 18 blog post that its DVD-by-mail service would operate at Qwikster.com. Instead, U.S. members will continue to use one website, one account and one password for their movie and TV watching enjoyment under the Netflix brand.
“Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “There is a difference between moving quickly — which Netflix has done very well for years — and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”
Netflix today informed its U.S. members in personal emails and a post on the Netflix Blog on http://blog.netflix.com/.
source: Netflix, Inc
Gamefly Says Higher Postage Than Netflix Is Costing Them $730K Monthly
Gamefly Asks PRC To Speed Up Decision In USPS Preferential Treatment To Netflix Case
In April 2009 Gamefly filed a complaint with the Postal Regulatory Commission stating that Netflix & Blockbuster envelopes were getting preferential treatment from USPS.
Larry J. Belair, USPS senior plant manager in San Diego said in a 2010 filing to PRC:
Both Blockbuster and GameFly utilize Business Reply Mail for their return mail pieces, which requires an accounting step to assess postage due fees; while Netflix utilizes Permit Reply mail where return postage is prepaid and the postage due assessment step is not required..
Gamefly claimed that this problem cost them a lot of money as their discs are breaking at a higher rate than Netflix and Blockbuster mailers, and Gamefly games are being stolen.
Gamefly’s letter to the Postal Regulatory Commission:
Dear Chairman Goldway and Presiding Officer Blair:
I am writing to you to request that the Commission do what it can to expedite its
decision in the GameFly complaint proceeding. GameFly filed this complaint nearly two
years ago. Before that, GameFly spent 18 months working with the Postal Service in an
attempt to resolve informally the issues on which the complaint was based.
I understand that the Commission has competing demands on its resources. Delay
in resolving the case, however, is costly to GameFly. At the company’s current volume of
approximately 1.2 million shipments per month, the difference between the two-ounce flats
rate of $1.05 that GameFly must pay to avoid automated letter processing for most of its
DVD mailers, and the one-ounce letter rate of $0.44 that Netflix pays to avoid automated
letter processing of return mailers, amounts to about $730,000. This amount represents
more than 100% of GameFly’s monthly net income in 2011.
Netflix Adds Streaming-Only Plan, Raises Prices For DVDs Sent Through USPS
Filed under: netflix, postal, postal news, press releases, usps, videos
Company is Increasing, by One Dollar a Month to $9.99, the Price of Popular Subscription Plan
LOS GATOS, Calif., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — With its members now watching more content streamed over the Internet than on discs delivered by mail, Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) today introduced a $7.99 streaming-only subscription plan in the United States, the first time it is promoting a 100 percent streaming option in the U.S. The plan, which allows members to instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix to TVs and computers, is available now to both new and existing members.
“We are now primarily a streaming video company delivering a wide selection of TV shows and films over the Internet,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and CEO. “Today’s action reflects the tremendous customer value we’ve injected into streaming from Netflix, our initial success with a pure streaming service in Canada for $7.99 a month and what our U.S. members tell us they want.”
The company also announced that the price of its popular subscription combining unlimited movies and TV shows streamed instantly over the Internet and unlimited DVDs delivered quickly by mail, with one DVD out at a time, will increase by a dollar a month to $9.99. Prices of subscription plans allowing for more DVDs out at a time will also increase and are detailed at http://blog.netflix.com. Price changes take effect now for new sign-ups and in January for existing members.
Instantly watching movies and TV shows streamed over the Internet has become the preferred way members enjoy the Netflix service. The company recently announced that in the current quarter, which ends December 31, its members will watch more content streamed over the Internet than on DVDs and that in the same period Netflix will invest more money to license streaming content than to acquire DVDs.
Netflix members in the U.S. now have access to an ever expanding library of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly, and there are more than 200 consumer electronics devices – including the three major game consoles and scores of Blu-ray disc players, Internet-connected TVs and digital video players – capable of streaming from Netflix right to members’ TVs.
Over time, Netflix has added significantly to the streaming content available to its members. This year alone, licensing deals with NBC Universal, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, EPIX™, Relativity Media and Nu Image/Millennium Films have added a wealth of first-run theatrical films, hit TV series and movie classics to the Netflix streaming offering and have helped make streaming the most popular way to enjoy a Netflix membership.
In late September, the company introduced its service in Canada, the first availability of Netflix outside the U.S. Canadian members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix for C$7.99 a month. The company recently said its Canadian service has surpassed initial expectations and encouraged it to accelerate plans for further international expansion in 2011.
About Netflix
With more than 16 million members in the United States and Canada, Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) is the world’s leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. For $7.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed over the Internet to PCs, Macs and TVs. Among the large and expanding base of devices streaming from Netflix are Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PS3 consoles; an array of Blu-ray disc players, Internet-connected TVs, home theater systems, digital video recorders and Internet video players; Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Apple TV and Google TV. In all, more than 200 devices that stream from Netflix are available in the U.S. and a growing number are available in Canada. For more information, visit www.netflix.com.
SOURCE Netflix, Inc.
Netflix Announces Multiple Partners to Instantly Stream Movies and TV Episodes from Netflix to the TV
Funai, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sharp, Toshiba to Provide Netflix Ready Devices
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world’s largest online movie rental service, today announced agreements with five global consumer electronics companies that will introduce Netflix ready devices later this year. The partners include Funai, which distributes the Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania and Emerson brands in the United States, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba. Each company will introduce Blu-ray disc players or digital televisions that will instantly stream thousands of movies and TV episodes from Netflix that can be watched instantly in the comfort of the living room.
Netflix announced the partnerships at the annual Consumer Electronics Show here, representing the continued rapid integration of Netflix streaming functionality into leading consumer electronics devices.
For only $8.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers via an ever-growing list of Netflix ready devices, and can receive unlimited DVDs delivered quickly to their homes by the U.S. Postal Service.
The partners announced today join some of the world’s leading consumer electronics companies that currently market Netflix ready Blu-ray disc players from Best Buy’s Insignia brand, LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony. Microsoft and Sony market the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3, respectively, both of which instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix. Netflix members can instantly watch movies and TV episodes on the stand-alone Roku and on new TiVo digital video recorders (DVRs). And watching movies and TV episodes instantly from Netflix without an external device is possible on current and future model televisions from Insignia, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony and VIZIO.
“Ever since Netflix began instantly streaming movies and TV episodes to personal computers in January 2007 we’ve said we want to be ubiquitous on whatever device gets the Internet to the TV,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “We’ve made incredible progress toward this goal over the last year and we’ve rapidly established Netflix as a must-have service for Internet connected consumer electronics devices. The important companies and brands we’ve announced today join a roster of world-class CE companies that have partnered with Netflix.
“We look forward to adding even more partners this year, and we expect instant streaming of movies from Netflix to be available on more than one hundred different partner products in 2010,” said Mr. Hastings.
Postal Employee Charged With Theft of 450 Netflix Movies From Mail
Filed under: legal cases, netflix, postal employees, press releases, usdoj
Press Release from the U.S. Department of Justice :
INDIANAPOLIS – Ricky L. Alsip, 53, Evansville, Indiana, was charged with theft of mail by postal employee, announced Timothy M. Morrison, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Indiana, following an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
The information alleges that Alsip stole approximately 450 DVD format Netflix movies that had been placed in the mail for delivery to Netflix customers in Evansville, Indiana.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Alsip faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. An initial hearing will be scheduled before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Gamefly Accuses USPS Of Preferential Treatment For Netflix and Blockbuster
Gamefly, an online video game rental service has filed an official complaint with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) against USPS claiming preferential treatment for Other DVD Mailers Netflix and Blockbuster .
Excerpts from the complaint…
A DVD is small and light enough so that, when mailed in a lightweight mailer, the combined mailpiece can qualify as a one-ounce letter. Since the beginning of GameFly’s operations, however, the company has experienced breakage of DVDs in the mail, particularly when the DVDs are enclosed in lightweight mailers without protective inserts.
Testing by GameFly and Postal Service personnel has revealed that breakage occurs during the processing of DVD mailers on Postal Service automated mail processing equipment.
A new video game DVD costs GameFly as much as $50 to purchase.
In an effort to reduce the breakage of DVDs in transit, GameFly began inserting cardboard protectors into its DVD mailers in November 2002, about one month after the company began operations. The protectors reduced, but did not eliminate, the breakage. Moreover, the protectors increased the size and weight of the mailpieces enough to require their mailing as two-ounce flats.
In July 2007, in response to the rate increases on flat-shaped First-Class Mail in Docket No. R2006-1, GameFly began working with the Postal Service to test a variety of designs of mailers without a protective insert. The tests, which continued until July 2008, involved four progressively larger designs. While increasing the external dimensions of the mailer tended to reduce the breakage rate, even the largest of the test mailers had a breakage rate of almost two percent (approximately double the breakage rate the GameFly currently experiences with a protective insert).
The test results persuaded GameFly to continue using a mailer with a cardboard protective insert, despite the added weight and postage.
Moreover, the Postal Service failed to stop breaking GameFly DVDs despite collecting the higher rates charged for flat-shaped First-Class Mail, and even after GameFly began marking its mailers with warnings such as “FIRST-CLASS MAIL FLAT” and “PROCESS ON AFSM-100”.
In addition to breakage, GameFly DVD mailers have also experienced substantial rates of loss in transit. The Office of Inspector General and the Postal Inspection Service have made vigorous efforts to control the problem. OIG/Postal Inspection Service investigations have led to the arrest of 19 Postal Service employees for alleged theft of GameFly DVDs at a number of Postal Service facilities. Fourteen of the arrests have occurred since the beginning of 2007. These enforcement initiatives have reduced, but not eliminated, the losses. Read more of this complaint against USPS
GameFly is not the only mailer to experience significant DVD breakage rates on automated mail processing equipment. In response to this phenomenon, the Postal Service has adopted a practice of manually culling out the DVD mailers of two high-volume shippers of DVDs, Netflix and Blockbuster, for special processing
GameFly has asked the Postal Service to give GameFly’s DVD mailers processing on terms and conditions comparable to the terms and conditions offered to two larger DVD mailers, Blockbuster and Netflix. The Postal Service has not done so.
OIG Report: Potential Preferential Treatment Given to Netflix
From eKey Technologies Overview of USPS OIG Audit Report:
The report looks at just the return portion of the disk rental process. Using their own cost differential between automated and manual processing, the OIG says over the last two years the Postal Service has spent more than $40 million in additional costs processing the return portion of one company’s mail pieces. The reason for the increased processing costs is due to the non-machinable characteristics of their mail piece design. The OIG has projected over $60 million in additional processing costs over the next two years if changes are not made. Using the USPS numbers contained in the report the costs are much higher. Processing units are telling people that the outbound pieces of this customer are manually processed also, so it’s reasonable to double the above costs for a more accurate accounting.
The OIG report also states that other companies have requested approval to use a similar mail piece design but were denied its use because the design isn’t machine compatible. Several of those letters are posted on this site. The OIG says that this could be viewed as Postal favoritism. The OIG goes on to say that this rental company was told in 2002 that their current design wasn’t acceptable. The USPS marketing department later provided their own letter to the company over riding the engineering departments determination.
This seems like more than favoritism. It sounds more like malfeasance or even corruption. This isn’t about a company leveraging its size and influence; it’s about postal officials not being held accountable for the ethical administration of their duties. The USPS response seems to be that since the volume of this customer is so insignificant to the total volume in the First Class mail stream there is no need to make changes.
Additional processing costs, special handling and lost revenue running into the millions for just one customer? No wonder postage rates are going up!
source: eKeyMailer.com
OIG Report: Review of Postal Service First-Class Permit Reply Mail (PDF)