If you’re reading this instead of using Netflix to stream all those episodes of Sons Of Anarchy you were going to catch up on during the holiday weekend, it’s probably because you’re one of the many Netflix customers who can’t access the service following problems with Amazon-owned cloud servers. [More]
netflix
Netflix Now Posting Monthly Rankings Of ISP Speeds
By 12.11.12
If, during the course of watching a 50-hour marathon of Burn Notice on Netflix, you find yourself occasionally annoyed by drops in resolution or — heaven forefend — buffering, it might be your Internet service provider. Well, now you can get a better idea as Netflix intends to post monthly rankings of speed on 21 major ISPs. [More]
SEC Warns Netflix CEO: A Facebook Post Does Not A Disclosure To Investors Make
By 12.7.12
When it comes to running a big company, there are certain things the Securities and Exchange Commission will be a stickler about. Even if you’re the CEO of Netflix like Reed Hastings, the SEC won’t let you off the hook for Facebook and blog posts it says were violations of the Regulation Fair Disclosure rule. Ruh roh. [More]
Netflix Woos Disney In Deal To Show New Releases Starting In 2016
By 12.5.12
If a company could crow with glee, we’re willing to bet Netflix would be doing so right about now. The company announced yesterday that it had snapped up a deal with Walt Disney Studios to show films from Disney, Disney, Pixar and Marvel beginning in 2016. To sweeten that deal, starting immediately, older Disney movies like Alice in Wonderland and Pocahontas will be available on Netflix. [More]
Apple & Amazon Top This Year’s Brand Loyalty Survey, Blackberry Hangs On In Last Place
By 10.26.12
If there’s anything we want from our products and the brands that provide them, it’s love, true love. Well, maybe not quite that level, but according to the most recent Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders List, we consumers are craving an emotional connection to brands. And when they fill that special place in our hearts, they earn our loyalty. [More]
Looks Like Blockbuster Won’t Get Its Bloody Revenge On Netflix After All
By 10.5.12
When Dish Network swooped in to save Blockbuster Video from death’s chilly grasp, some people thought it was a boneheaded move by a company that was already trying to keep up with bigger competitors. But Dish seemed confident that it could leverage Blockbuster’s name recognition and its video streaming service into something that would crush Netflix into something really small and crushed. But now the Dish founder and chairman is all but admitting that maybe the Blockbuster deal was not perhaps such a wonderful idea. [More]
Netflix CEO Calls Amazon Prime Videos A “Confusing Mess”
By 9.27.12
In the time since Amazon launched its streaming video service — which includes a library of free movies and TV shows for members of Amazon Prime — it has grown to become a competitor for Netflix, especially after that company angered many customers by doubling the subscription rate for customers who wanted to keep receiving DVDs by mail. But Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says he’s not worried about Amazon, and in fact, he’s not quite sure what they’re offering consumers. [More]
Netflix's New Auto-Play Feature Enables TV Bingeing More Than Ever
By 8.10.12
Kristin’s complaint may be the archetypal definition of a first-world problem. But that’s okay, because it’s just annoying as all get out. She noticed when watching a TV series on Netflix streaming that when one episode finishes, the next one starts up right away. While this is extremely helpful if you want to, say, get through an entire season of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer in one glorious, slothful weekend day, Kristin doesn’t like it. She’s probably not alone in this. [More]
Waning Movie Rentals Could Signal Beginning Of The End For Flicks In Physical Form
By 8.8.12
I used to love driving to Blockbuster Video to pick out a horror film for scary movie nights in high school with my pals, perusing the aisles and deciding whether or not we really needed a bajillion-pound box of Raisinets. But although physical movies are still more popular than digital, Blockbuster is a ghost of its former self and rentals are on the wane in general, which could mean the beginning of the end for all kinds of disc rentals. [More]
Netflix: Cable Companies Are Trying To Block Us
By 7.19.12
In all the coverage of these battles between broadcasters and cable/satellite providers, one thing that rarely gets mentioned is the role played by Netflix and other streaming video services. But according to one Netflix executive, his company is being treated like that new friend who your old BFF hates because the two of you don’t hang out as much as you did before Netflix moved into town. [More]
Seamless Apple TV/Netflix Integration Comes With A Catch
By 7.19.12
It seemed like such a good idea in theory. Apple TV customers most likely want to use Netflix. They have iTunes accounts. So let them sign up for Netflix on the AppleTV, and bill the Netflix subscription to their iTunes account. Simple! Streamlined! What could possibly go wrong? A lot of things, as it turns out, if the customer has any interest in using their Netflix account on any device other than an Apple TV. Not even devices using other accounts and other operating systems, either: other Apple devices. [More]
How Does Netflix Categorize Movies?
By 7.9.12
What makes a Screwball Comedy different from a Slapstick Comedy? Why is Son of the Pink Panther considered a comedy at all? These decisions — at least as far as Netflix is concerned — are being made by a few dozen folks throughout North America who get paid to watch — and answer questions about — everything from Chinatown to Transylmania. [More]
Judge Allows Closed-Captioning Lawsuit Against Netflix To Proceed
By 6.22.12
Netflix recently asked a court to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the National Association for the Deaf that alleges the company violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by not including closed-captioning on many of its streaming videos. But earlier this week, the judge in the case ruled against Netflix, allowing the suit to move forward. [More]
Netflix Honors Man Who Watched 252 Movies In A Month With His Own Day
By 6.18.12
We recently detailed Mark Malkoff’s marathon attempt to squeeze in as many Netflix movies as possible within a 30-day time frame. And it looks like we weren’t the only ones watching, as Mark was invited to Netflix HQ to celebrate his data cap-crushing achievement. [More]
DOJ Reportedly Investigating Cable Companies For Squashing Online Competition
By 6.13.12
The Justice Department is reportedly engaged in an anti-trust investigation into many areas where the cable TV industry might be acting inappropriately to try and quell competition from online video. Many consumers want to pick and choose what they watch, using services like Hulu and Netflix, whereas cable companies would like them to continue to pay for bundles of TV channels, even some they might not watch. [More]
Man Pushes Netflix Account To The Max, Watches 252 Movies In 30 Days
By 6.5.12
Are you a Netflix customer who feels like you don’t always get the most of your $7.99/month for unlimited streaming video? Well, one man decided to put Netflix and himself to the test by watching more than 400 hours of video in a month. [More]
Do Amazon And Netflix Inflate Their Streaming Libraries?
By 4.17.12
When you read that Amazon offers 17,000 “movies and TV programs” in its streaming library, and that Netflix has 60,000, what do you assume that figure means? Sure, a movie’s a movie, but what constitutes a TV program? Using Amazon’s math, a “program” is a single episode of a series, meaning that the entire run of “24” counts as 192 programs. Is this a reasonable way to count videos, or is it misleading? Fast Company’s stance is clear: they think that both companies are using this trick to inflate their total program count and make their services look more impressive than they are. [More]
Does Netflix Even Have Any Playable DVDs?
By 4.16.12
Reader Somedaysomehow is annoyed with Netflix. She’s been a loyal customer on the one DVD at a time plan, but lately most of those DVDs have been unplayable. What’s the point of continuing to pay for movies in the mail? All complaining to Netflix gets her are bonus DVDs from her queue….which are unplayable, too. [More]
