Goodbye, Qwikster. In a U-turn fast enough to burn rubber, Netflix Inc. has killed off its plan to divide streaming from physical DVD rentals. Both arms of Netflix will now continue to share a unified website and remain a single destination for all of its subscribers.
“Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that,” Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement. “There is a difference between moving quickly – which Netflix has done very well for years – and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”
He also posted a brief explanation to the company’s blog, saying that the reversal was in response to customer feedback that made it clear the two websites plan would make it more difficult and unpleasant to use Netflix. “This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster,” Hastings wrote.
The stock price briefly rose up 7.4 percent to $125.84 on the news, and momentarily even higher that than, before slipping back down to around where it started. Click here for the most recent information.
Hastings took the opportunity to recap the service’s recent additions to its streaming service, including movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax, along with more than 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.
Related link:
Netflix blog – http://tinyurl.com/3o3ptob
Well it doesn’t surprise me that they are pulling back from separating the company. They are already in trouble for the price hike and I am sure they don’t want to lose more customers then they have. I left when they had the price increase and I couldn’t be happier with Blockbuster. I got the Blockbuster Movie Pass through my provider/employer DISH Network. With the Blockbuster Movie Pass I have through my provider/employer I get games and a lot more. With the movie pass I get streaming, mail-in DVDs, in-store exchanges, and more. I also get Blu-ray DVDs and games at no extra charge. New movies I get 28 days before Netflix even releases them. For new customers through DISH you can get this offer free for 12 months and for current it is only $10 a month. I get more then I ever did with Netflix.