Netflix Announces It Will Shut Down The DVD-By-Mail Business It Was Founded On
It's thee end of an era
To the fear of archivists and physical media enthusiasts everywhere, Netflix, now a powerhouse in the streaming industry revealed Tuesday that it’s closing down its original DVD-by-mail business, which was launched by founders Reed Hastings, who just transitioned from a long CEO tenure to chairman, and Marc Randolph in 1998.
CEO Ted Sarandos thanked the customers and employees today for their parts in a blog post titled “Netflix DVD – The Final Season”. The final discs will be mailed out September 29, and must be returned by four weeks later, on October 27. Final bills will go out in August. Service to subscribers with DVD and streaming accounts will be unaffected. He wrote how the goal “has always been to provide the best service for our members”, but says it’s going to become increasingly difficult, citing an allegedly shrinking DVD business. He continued, “Making 2023 our final season allows us to maintain our quality of service through the last day and go out on a high note”.
What else was revealed during the company’s first quarter earnings call? Well, they’re continuing to crack down on password sharing. Their next step? A “broad rollout” of its paid-sharing plan that will occur in the current quarter, including in the United States. They plan to start blocking devices, following a grace period that attempt to access a Netflix account without properly paying. They’re really trying to squeeze money out of people. They know it’s unpopular and they’re still doing it. The move to convert “password-piggybackers” into paying members has only led to more cancellations, heavily impacting near-term subscriber growth. They only added 1.75 million net new subscribers in Q1, a significant drop from 7.66 million added in Q4 2022, the period during which its lower-cost, ad-supported tier launched.
