Board 8 > Whoa, Netflix is splitting it's DVD/Streaming services and adding games

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/18/businessinsidernetflix-splits-in-tw.DTL

So Netflix is going to handle Streaming, and Qwikster is going to be the disc side of Netflix, that also offers games like Gamefly? Sounds crazy, but it could work.

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They're adding games? Whoa, that's actually pretty cool. Hulu+ might not kill Netflix just yet!

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CRAZY DAVE (PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES)
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Netflix: "Yeah, physical media is barely relevant going forward. People haven't caught on yet, but we'll stay ahead of the trend by separating the two and keep the well-known brand name where we believe the money is."

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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift
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Yeah, I'm actually kind of excited about the change. I can get rid of Netflix streaming, keep Hulu Plus, and then get a Qwikster account.

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TheCodeisBosco posted...
They're adding games? Whoa, that's actually pretty cool. Hulu+ might not kill Netflix just yet!

hahaha

wow

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Kiwi

I'm pretty sure they already split the DVD and Streaming facet, didn't they? I mean, they already offer a "stream only" option.

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RevolverSaro posted...
I'm pretty sure they already split the DVD and Streaming facet, didn't they? I mean, they already offer a "stream only" option.

But now the DVD portion is an entire different company.

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The streaming and dvd by mail services will have their own websites now which will not be integrated together which seems like a step back to me. Two searches now to make sure the movie you want to add to your dvd queue isnt already available for instant streaming. You would hope that they would find a way fix that if they get enough complaints. The addition of games by mail is interesting and might be worth coming back for depending on the price.

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TheCodeisBosco posted...
They're adding games? Whoa, that's actually pretty cool. Hulu+ might not kill Netflix just yet!

I love Hulu and have Hulu+ and never once thought they were anywhere close to challenging, let alone killing, Netflix. If you're a movie lover Hulu is pretty hit-or-miss. Even if a movie you love gets on Hulu, it may not be there when you actually want to watch it.

If you're a TV-lover, you are limited to the three major networks and the cable channels they are associated with. Anything other than ABC/NBC/Fox and their close affiliates is unrepresented. No CBS/HBO/Showtime. And those last two, well, they are often the big dogs in dvd show rentals.

So right now Hulu is basically an alternative to a cable television subscription. On the other-hand, Netflix is the alternative to an old-school video store account. Disney (ABC) owns a huge chunk of Hulu but you can't get Toy Story off of Hulu. You might get at least one (or all) of them off of Netflix.

At this point, the different goals of each company involved with Hulu and their insistence of making as much now as possible keeps them from fully utilizing Hulu. There's a ton of content that could, even should, be on the service that isn't because it's really used as a promotional tool for the service (cable) that is dying hard right now. Hulu is really "well, you won't pay for our traditional delivery methods and we won't give them up, so here's a compromise of sorts." On the other hand Netflix has been "you'd pay for traditional delivery methods but more convenient ones exist too." And they are more consistent in what they can deliver.

This split may actually be bad for them. I think, honestly, it's a chance for them to create a forward-thinking company and a past-trends company. One that will take advantage of going forward and one that will eventually be destroyed by catering to people who resist change. In other words, they see loses coming in the future and refuse to take them on small gains today. Quickster is, in essence, a way to write off the loses Netflix would have to face when the day comes that people don't care about physical media for rental.

Meanwhile, Hulu doesn't care much about trends at all. They aren't worried that old revenue streams will dry up or that new ones will be opened. They exist to cater to what they believe is and will be a small segment of the market that is looking for an alternative venue. ABC, NBC, and Fox don't think that their cable broadcasts are going anywhere, but at the least they're willing to hedge their bets.

Gamefly is the only company to be impacted by this news. in the end. Netflix getting into video games is bad for them and they're already in a bad position.

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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift
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lordloki12 posted...
The streaming and dvd by mail services will have their own websites now which will not be integrated together which seems like a step back to me. Two searches now to make sure the movie you want to add to your dvd queue isnt already available for instant streaming. You would hope that they would find a way fix that if they get enough complaints. The addition of games by mail is interesting and might be worth coming back for depending on the price.

This will be a set-back for Netflix in the transitionary period. However, they seem to be banking on the fact that one of those services will be in demand for years to come and one won't. Considering the fact that the Netflix name will be associated with the streaming side of the equation, it's obvious where they see things going.

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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift
BT with the victory!

I'm glad they're finally going into games, but I doubt the price will be low enough to entice me. Isn't GameFly something like $20 a month? I don't think Netflix will undercut that by a ridiculous amount.

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CBS was never on Hulu because they partnered with Joost! Joost was the amazing new service meant to give us every global channel without ever paying anything, and Viacom (CBS) was behind it. Then NBC realized they could make their own version and eventually charge people for it, and Hulu was born. Now Joost is worthless because they've seemingly given up. For a while, though, it was an innovator and was an absolutely incredible service. I will forever hate Hulu for ruining it.

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Kiwi

I was just joking about Hulu+! I think the odds are stacked against it, really - it hasn't been advertised enough, it's taking them too long to improve their library of mainstream films... and to be frank, Hulu's just known for being a free service. It's kind of like how YouTube's film rental service hasn't left much of a mark; most loyal YouTube/Hulu users are after free entertainment, and free entertainment only.

That having been said, though, I'm rooting for Hulu+ all the way. They have enormous potential, I think - their TV selection is very good, even though a few of the major networks haven't pledged their support yet, and their library of Criterion titles is stellar. If nothing else, I hope they're able to snag a decent chunk of the market share; Netflix's instant library has really gone down the tubes in recent months, and some healthy competition would hopefully give them the drive to improve it.

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CRAZY DAVE (PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES)
Your Character Battle IX champion.

Joost probably would have been great, but companies of that size (major networks) only look at the money. Hulu's model obviously made more. That's why a few Viacom properties (like the Daily Show and Colbert Report) even show up on Hulu. They could have revolutionized things but they didn't work hard enough to gain a solid audience and they didn't provide enough to incentive content providers.

Hate it if you must, but the alternative is one broken system or another (the later possibly being kept alive by Netflix).

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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift
BT with the victory!

If anybody here was in the topic about me doing a blog on Netflix's inevitable demise if they didn't make substantial changes, I think the move that Netflix made was 100% due to that blog post. I take full credit if things go well for them and none of the blame if they burst into flames

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I'm glad they're finally going into games, but I doubt the price will be low enough to entice me. Isn't GameFly something like $20 a month? I don't think Netflix will undercut that by a ridiculous amount.

Gamefly is like 16 a month for one game at a time; HOWEVER, the selection and speed are TERRIBLE in comparison to Netflix. If Netflix manages to have comparable selection, speed, and availability with their video games compared to their DVDs, Gamefly is going to go out of business in a few months.

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Also apparently some guy already had the @Qwikster account on Twitter and Netflix is just now trying to buy it from him. Really should've done it way before the announcement, now he can milk them for tons more. He also looks like a stoner so lol Netflix.

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