Netflix Deliveries Back On Track After Outage

Reed Hastings explains recent price hike, but many still not happy

(NEWSER) - Netflix’s recent price hike caused rampant backlash , cost the movie rental service one million subscribers , and sent the company’s stock tumbling. Last night, CEO Reed Hastings admitted in a blog post , “I messed up.” But he’s not offering a reversal on the price hike, simply an explanation that, he admits, should have come earlier: Netflix is spinning off its classic DVD-by-mail service; it'll now be a distinct entity known as Qwikster, while Netflix itself will become streaming-only. The Wall Street Journal notes that while Qwikster will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netflix, the two websites (including movie queues and ratings and account information) will not be integrated. More»

(NEWSER) - Like 10.6 million Americans, Time film critic Richard Corliss has a subscription to Netflix, which sends everything from Bollywood megamusicals to BBC miniseries to his mailbox. "No question," Corliss admits, "Netflix serves a need"—it's super cheap and stocked with titles. But the DVD delivery service has killed off independent stores run by Tarantino-like obsessives, while we turn into "those blobby people in WALL•E." More»

New streaming venture announced, but few details given

(NEWSER) - Watch out, Netflix: Verizon and Redbox are teaming up. Verizon announced today it will enter the video streaming business in a joint venture with Coinstar, the parent company of Redbox DVD rental kiosks, Mashable reports. Verizon said the new service, which will also include access to DVD and Blu-ray discs, will be available across the nation later this year. Anyone in the US, even those who are not current Verizon subscribers, will be able to use the subscription service. More»

Half of USPS mail processing centers to shut down this spring

(NEWSER) - Get ready to wait an extra day for the next DVD of The Wire: The mail is going to slow down. As part of its plan to save $3 billion, the cash-challenged US Postal Service will be closing roughly half of its 500 mail processing centers as soon as next March, a move that could bring new meaning to the term "snail mail," the AP reports. The plan will make next-day delivery of first-class mail a thing of the past, and deal a serious blow to things like time-sensitive magazines, mail-order prescription drugs, and Netflix. More»

DVD rentals to cost $1.20 per night

(NEWSER) - With Netflix still reeling from its price-hike debacle, you’d think Redbox would hold off on any increases. Instead, the rental kiosk company is raising the per-night price of a DVD rental from $1 to $1.20, Mashable reports. The bump, announced yesterday, takes effect on Halloween. “This marks the first price increase for a Redbox standard-definition DVD rental in eight years,” said Paul Davis, CEO of Redbox parent firm Coinstar. More»