Netflix has had it’s share of rough times in the last year. The company was going to separate both their online streaming service and physical DVD service. Dubbed Qwikster, users would pay a flat fee to watch all the TV shows and movies they wanted.

If you still wanted to get DVDs sent to your home, that would be a separate fee. Needless to say, the whole thing backfired and caused them to lose lots of customers and stock to plunge. Shortly after all the complaints and bad press, they announced everything would be kept the way it was.

Being that they had a bit of a rough patch, many were unsure if they’d be able to rebound so quickly. As it turns out, they did quite well in the fourth quarter and beat estimates. 220,000 new subscribers were added, earnings of $0.73 per share, and revenue of $876 Millon.

Wall Street’s estimate was earnings of $0.54 per share and revenue of $857 Million.

Via Mashable:

“The figures, which come in the first full quarter in which Netflix’s price increases took effect. The price hikes did take a toll on DVD subscriptions, which fell in the quarter to 11.2 million, a drop of 2.7 million. However, in a letter to shareholders, Netflix noted that “both hybrid cancellation and migration to streaming-only plans ebbed through the quarter.”

Currently, there are 24.4 Million total subscribers. 21.6 Million get their streaming service and 10.4 Million are subscribed to streaming and DVDs sent to their door.

Do you use Netflix and if so, did the recent debacle have you thinking about cancelling your subscription?

Netflix Performs Better Than Expected In Fourth Quarter is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite the not so great news over the last few months with Netflix, that doesn’t mean the service is slowing down by any means. In just a 3 month period, users logged over 2 Billion (Yes, that’s with a B) hours from the ever ranging line of TV shows and movies.

With 20 Million streaming users Worldwide, this comes out to about 100 hours per person which, while isn’t exact, probably isn’t too much of a stretch for the more dedicated customers. Despite the news towards the end of last year that it’s unlikely Netflix will turn a profit in 2012, it seems they learned their lesson with the Qwikster debacle.

From their press release:

“We were thrilled to deliver more than two billion hours of TV shows and movies across 45 countries in the fourth quarter,” said Netflix Co-Founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “Netflix delights members by giving them choice, convenience and control over the entertainment they love for an incredibly low price.”

Going forward into 2012, the company needs to keep it’s users best interests at heart and keep in touch with customers if any changes are to arise. Keeping the current options where they are at this point in time, seems to be the best way to go to keep users both happy and watching. And people definitely are watching as witnessed by this announcement.

While the price is great, only $7.99/month, there’s still seems to be the issue with ISP’s and bandwidth caps. For a family streaming Netflix, it can catch up, but that again isn’t stopping people from streaming the shows and movies they want, when they want.

Netflix Customers Stream Over 2 Billion Hours In Q4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

To say that Netflix hasn’t had a particularly good year would be a pretty big understatement. After hiking up the prices of their instant streaming service and unsuccessfully attempting to spin-off their DVD-by-mail to a separate service, Netflix’s subscriber base has seen a steady decline throughout the year.

Unsurprisingly, an annual report from ForeSee Results, a company that specializes in measuring consumer satisfaction, shows that customer satisfaction for the service has tanked pretty significantly. The survey’s 100-point scale puts Netflix customer satisfaction at 79, which is down seven points from its previous position in the survey.

“Netflix totally misread its customer base and is paying the price, damaging its brand among both consumers and investors,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee, in a statement. “Raising prices by 60% and splitting the baby into separate DVD and streaming services totally undermines Netflix’s cost and convenience advantages. Customer satisfaction is predictive, which means that Netflix’s financial woes may be just beginning.”

While Netflix’s ratings in ForeSee Results’ survey took a big hit, Amazon secured the top spot on the list with a score of 88, up two points from last year and one point from the year before that.

“E-retailers have consistently upped their game since we first started measuring holiday satisfaction in 2005, but Amazon is still the 800-pound gorilla of retail, and it just keeps getting better,” Freed said. “It’s tough for a smaller retailer to compete with this level of dedication to providing an excellent customer experience.”

On the bright side for Netflix, 2012 can only be an improvement for the company – unless they somehow manage to cook up another scheme to cause yet another mass subscriber exodus.

Source: ForeSee

Netflix customer satisfaction tanked in 2011 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Netflix is out once again to grab as much cash from their growing user base as possible, announcing on Tuesday that they are splitting their DVD-by-mail service apart from their Netflix streaming offering.

Announced on the official Netflix company blog customers will now be charged $7.99 per month for 1 DVD out at a time, $11.99 for 2 DVDs out at one time and streaming only service for an addition $7.99 should they choose to use that offering.

While Netflix’s Jessica Becker is quick to point out that DVD only subscriptions are the company’s cheapest offering to date, the cost of pairing just 1-DVD out at a time with streaming service is now more expensive than my current 2-DVD and Streaming plan at $14.99 per month.

New customers will begin with the new plans already in place, while existing members have until September 1, 2011 to change their plans.

What do you think about the new service plan pricing? I for one am dropping their subscription service and sticking with 2 DVDs out at one time at a discounted price based on my current plans cost.

Netflix Announces New Plans, Splits DVD Rentals From Streaming Service is a post from: The Inquisitr

Until just now, it was pretty easy for a family to top out Netflix’s device limit of six with just a few iPhones, a Roku player and a Wii.

Now unless you’re the Duggars, that circumstance is a lot less likely. A 50 device limit seems very reasonable and difficult to breach even for a very connected household, but Consumerist points out it probably won’t stop people from trying:

One can only imagine that there are some out there who respond to Netflix’s 50-device limit with a Barney Stinson-like “challenge accepted” and try to find 51 ways to stream Netflix with stuff they’ve got around the house, just to find something to complain about.

Do you use Netflix streaming on six devices or more? Have you run up against the limit in the past and felt frustrated? With the new, higher thresholds, will you be adding more devices that stream Netflix in your household?

[High Def Digest via Consumerist]

Netflix Ups Device Limit For Streaming From Six to 50 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Just this weekend, I was pondering the utter dominance of Netflix over the home video market while passing the sad shell of a former Blockbuster near my house, wondering if its reign would remain relatively unchallenged.

It seems Netflix may have its first really major competition, as Amazon has just added free video streaming to its popular shipping “club,” Amazon Prime. “Millions” of people currently subscribe to the $79 a year service (Amazon doesn’t like to broadcast sales numbers, it seems), and Amazon Prime users will now have an additional 5,000 or suchlike movies and TV shows available to stream to streamable devices. Amazon says:

“In addition to now offering unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows to Amazon Prime members, we continue to offer all customers more than 90,000 movies and TV shows through Amazon Instant Video,” said Cameron Janes, director of Amazon Instant Video. “With Amazon Instant Video customers can rent or purchase hit movies, such as ‘The Social Network’ as well as purchase the latest TV shows available the day-after they broadcast.”

Shaking out the freebies is easy- go to the Amazon Instant Video page, and sort for “Prime Eligible.” If you’ve got a free or trial Prime account, though, you’re not invited to the streaming orgy. (And though no service for Wii is available, Roku will stream Amazon Prime videos.) While the number of titles is small compared with Netflix, and Wii streaming is not available, do you think you’ll hang on to Prime instead of Netflix if you’re a subscriber of both? Does this feature add any value for you? Do you think people will begin phasing out Netflix subscriptions for the net-cheaper Amazon content, just paying extra for non-Prime titles?

[Press Release]

A challenger appears: Amazon Prime adds free video streaming to its service is a post from: The Inquisitr

Even if you’re a techy person, sometimes you just have those moments where you’re like, “OMG, we’re living in the future!”

I assume one of those moments will be when you go to 7-11 for some blunt wraps and a rotating egg roll and see someone pull off R2D2′s head to stick it in a kiosk and download a movie rental. Though the consumer market already has movies right this second with Netflix streaming, and all night disc dispensing with Redbox kiosks, another company is looking to add another option to the movie rental and purchase arena- thumb drive rentals.

Flix on Stix will offer the service through kiosks similar to Netflix, and is reported to be coming to a convenience or drugstore near you in the next three months or so. Although the general concept is understood- insert USB drive and money, get movie that automatically self destructs after a short time- there are a few questions that the types of people advanced enough to appreciate such a service will need to know before they start sticking. TFTS asks:

…there’s a lot yet to be discussed: do they have any kind of content, or studio support? What kind of security is on these movies (a word that is no doubt being discussed before the studio support shows up)? What does the video content look like? And how long is a file transfer going to take, anyway? Sure, if we’re all using USB 3.0 it’s a lot different (word is transfers with a 3.0 will take only 14 seconds while a 1.0 will take fully six minutes), but still–most people likely don’t have a USB 3.0 drive or slot for one at their houses.

If the service offers an array of titles similar to Netflix’s streaming titles, it could take off. (Especially since not everyone owns a Wii/PS3 or  likes watching movies on a laptop.) A clear advantage over Redbox or Netflix disc plans is the lack of action needed after consuming the media- not having to drive back to the kiosk or painstakingly repack the disc and walk all the way to the mailbox is a definite plus.

Would you use this service when it rolls out? Is there a place in the rental market for Flix on Stix?

Flix on Stix- like Redbox, but with USB drives is a post from: The Inquisitr

Although Netflix has expressed interest in getting it on with super-popular HBO properties like True Blood and Entourage, the cable channel has said it has no interest in bumping content with the filthy-dirty video subscription service.

If you, like me, were hoping to cut the horrible cable TV tether this year, HBO isn’t going to let you off the exceptionally good programming teat any time soon. Expect to be paying the same $200 a month for access to your favorite sexy dramedies, because you still won’t be able to stream it to your laptop, TV or hotel room legally without a cable subscription. HBO is in a prime position to not dabble in other services, and co-president Eric Kessler cited “entertainment enthusiasts” who can’t let go of their premium content as a reason for staying cable-only:

“There is value in exclusivity,” Kessler said in an interview. Consumers “are willing to pay a premium for high quality, exclusive content,” he said.

Netflix isn’t even playing hard to get, but they’re kind of like, “well, we’re into it if you are, HBO.”

“We would love to do a deal as well with HBO,” said Steve Swasey, a spokesman for Netflix. “Compete with us or collaborate with us, but we would much rather work with them.”

HBO subscribers can still stream content through HBO Go, the company’s online portal for programming. It may offer some of the convenience of Netflix’s streaming service, but it still carries the high price tag of a premium cable provider. Have you been planning to ditch some of your cable services for a web-based service? Do you shell out year round for shows that only run 12 episodes every year or two?

[Business Week via Mashable]

Netflix not getting its filthy, convenient hands on HBO’s content is a post from: The Inquisitr

Netflix is about to get bigger than they already are thanks to new distribution deals that have been announced with both 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios.

Under both deals Netflix will begin carrying more SD and HD titles from both companies, while providing customers with more physical DVDs and Blu-ray films being offered for in-home delivery.

The deal also provides Netflix with various popular TV shows from Fox as part of their instant streaming service, shows which include Bones, 24 and Lie to Me among others.

Of course there is a catch, the studios will have a 28 day window before certain new titles are offered through Netflix. [SlashGear]

Netflix Secures New Distribution Deals With 20th Century Fox And Universal Studios is a post from: The Inquisitr

Netflix Streaming officially arrived on the Sony PS3 today, but only if you already ordered and received your PS3 Netflix disc. The service which was announced a short while back is available with an internet connection and the specialized disc inserted in your system.

The PS3 service is free with a Netflix subscription and allows users to take advantage of the Netflix on demand programming service.

The required blu-ray disc is free upon request and users can sign up for an $8.99 per month Netflix account to take advantage fo the free disc offering.  Streaming then occurs via the BD-Live feature which is supported by the PS3 when the disc is utilized. [SlashGear]

Sony PS3 Gets Netflix Streaming Today, If You Ordered Your Free Disc is a post from: The Inquisitr

You may have already heard, but from (some unspecified day) next month, a Netflix service will be made available on the PS3. It’s probably the story of the day for gamers! And I’m milking it for all it’s worth! Hurrah!

Anyway, the appearance of the popular streaming movie service on the console is a decent victory for Sony, as Netflix was previously available through only one game console: the Xbox 360.

But what about the third player in the race, the best-selling Wii? Fear not, Nintendo fans, because here’s Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter to tell you there’s still hope:

“We believe that the exclusive arrangement limits Netflix’s ability to appear on the ‘dashboard’ for the PS3 or the Wii. We anticipate that a similar arrangement will be announced for the Wii in the next 12 months.”

Pachter regularly makes all sorts of predictions like this – it’s kind of his job – and he’s largely correct, so who knows. On the other hand, we’re still waiting on that high-definition Wii, Michael, sooo …

[Joystiq, via Go Nintendo]

Analyst: Netflix to appear on Wii in next 12 months is a post from: The Inquisitr