You may recall not too long ago that hell was raised over Netflix raising their prices and splitting the streaming/1 DVD at a time deal into two separate things. People were not happy, not happy at all actually, but after some time that storm passed. But over the last few weeks more trouble has been rocking the once comfortable boat that was Netflix.
For a long while now Netflix has sit high above the movie world. The “mom and pop” video stores had been closing left and right, even the big name places like Blockbuster had been shutting their doors. It seemed as if the world was shifting from actually renting from places to waiting for a movie to come in the mail, and just enjoying unlimited streaming in the meantime. As a matter of fact, the closest things Netflix has to real honest to goodness competition was Redbox, who seemed to take over the small percentage of folks who still liked to actually rent stuff instead of waiting on the mail. But here in the second half of 2011 the times are quickly changing for Netflix, and it’s not looking to be for the better.
You see, as of late other sites are jumping into the streaming ring. Amazon, Hulu, Youtube, and soon to be Facebook are all jumping into the streaming video ring. If that wasn’t bad enough for Netflix, they now have to deal with the fact that Starz is pulling a VERY large amount of movies and shows from the site. The contract is up in February, and the steal of a deal Netflix had going for themselves with Starz will be over and Starz has made it clear they won’t be negotiating. Even worse for Netflix, Starz is going to be shopping it’s self around and whoever ends up with all that library will have one giant advantage over Netflix.
So what does Netflix do? They send out letters apologizing for the price hike and inform everyone they will soon stop the DVD part of Netflix and split into two companies, with Netflix sticking with streaming and the discs going to a new brand called, Qwikster. Pretty much shooting themselves in the foot, in my humble opinion. I truly believe this is THE worst thing they could have done. People generally hate change (as you’ve seen by the stink over the recent Facebook changes), but Netflix could have saved a lot of face without going on and making things a whole lot worse for themselves. Now they want you to pay for two separate things, and even worse..what’s left to stream once Starz exits the library?? The answer to that question would be, not THAT much.
While Starz showed no signs of wanting to renew their agreement with Netflix, money does talk. If I was Netflix I would have simply put Starz in a better mood by offering them whatever amount of cash they wanted, while I was still able to afford it. Starz is BIG folks, and trust me a LOT of what you enjoy streaming in an unlimited fashion on Netflix will be going away when they pull out. Is this bad news for you or me? Not really, because if we are unahppy we simply stop paying and sign up with one of the new kids on the block. But for Netflix, the doomsday clock has perhaps started clicking on down. Which would result in the end of an era of sorts if this does come to pass. But then again, it’s hard to feel sorry for an empire who for all intents and purposes DID kinda bring this upon themselves.
BTW, here’s you a nice video to see regarding this stuff..
Chucks website
