Hacking NetFlix

Netflix Expands ABC Streaming Offerings

Netflix's Elizabeth Bradley, Director of Content, announced that Netflix has expanded the list of ABC shows offered on Netflix streaming:

In the U.S., we’re excited to bring you new episodes to watch instantly of great ABC shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Brothers & Sisters, as well as some terrific programs from ABC Family like Switched at Birth, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Make It or Break It, and more. For the kids, we’re pleased to offer an expanded line up of Disney Channel shows, including the awesome adventures of Phineas & Ferb and new shows like Shake It Up!, Pair of Kings and Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil.

Netflix New Releases for November 1st, 2011

Here's the full list of new releases this week (detailed list): Cars 2, Fast Five, The Heart Specialist, Trespass, An Invisible Sign, The Craigslist Killer, Tabloid, The Last Mountain, Bunraku, Boy Toy, Rejoice and Shout, Magic Trip, How the States Got Their Shapes, and Machete Maidens Unleashed!

Interesting streaming releases in the past week include A Little Help, Faces in the Crowd, The Next Three Days, Season of the Witch, Welcome to the Rileys, Ken Burns: The West, At First Sight, and Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking.

HackingNetflix Update: Offline Due to East Coast Storm

Update: Finally have electricity, heat, and WIFI again after storm on Saturday night. Catching up on stories & email. 

Sorry it's been so quiet here, but we got hit by the freak East Coast snow storm, so along with 880,000 people in Connecticut we have been without power, dealing with a kerosene heater (it was 19 degrees last night), fallen trees, down power lines everywhere, and living with spotty cell service. The problem is that the leaves were still on the trees, so the damage was 5 times that of the hurricane 2 months ago. Here's a view from my deck yesterday -- note the oak tree bent over from the weight of the snow.

We will hopefully have power soon, and I'll be catching up when we go back online. I have limited access to email and WIFI because of the spotty service and outages. I'm particularly disappointed because this was one of the few times in almost 8 years that I was late with the new releases (coming up shortly).

Netflix CEO Talks About Recent Events at Dublin Conference

Mashable reports that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, speaking at the Founders Conference in Dublin, discussed the recent price change and move towards streaming:

“You have to keep trying,” Hastings told a small audience of prominent startup founders. “You can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Every entrepreneur is about creating change.”

Hastings explained the world is moving toward faster Internet connections and mobile devices — pointing out 5 billion people are active mobile phone users — and that Netflix has to be positioned to seize the opportunities these changes represent. That means moving fast, making mistakes and focusing on the digital side of the business, rather than the still-lucrative DVD arm of the company.

Hastings hopes that as more people gain smartphones and broadband connections they will become Netflix subscribers. It’s important to note Hastings isn’t thinking about Netflix’s growth in terms of months or years, but “the next two decades.”

“We have to go country by country and build a subscriber base,” Hastings told the audience. The next step toward Netflix’s international expansion starts early next year with the launch of Netflix in the UK and Ireland.

Netflix Lays Off 15+ Employees

Bloomberg reports that Netflix is laying off more than 15 employees:

The cuts, which began before earnings were announced on Oct. 24, are mostly in human resources, where Netflix had hired in anticipation of faster growth and the creation of separate companies for its mail-order and streaming businesses, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

A Om Malik from NewTeeVee notes, it's hardly news (although we do feel for the people who were laid off) when a handful of employees out of more than 2,000 staff members are eliminated. 

Redbox to Increase DVD Rental Prices to $1.20 per Day

Redbox is raising DVD rental prices to $1.20 per day due to increased operating expenses, including debit card fees with could be up to 21 cents per transaction due to new legislation.

Here's the text of the email Redbox sent out to customers:

Redbox is making an announcement about its prices today, and we want to make sure that you hear it from us first. 

Starting on Monday, October 31, the daily rental charge for DVDs will change to $1.20 a day.* The price change is due to rising operating expenses, including new increases in debit card fees. Daily rental charges for Blu-ray™ Discs and video games won't change.** Additional-day charges for DVDs rented before 10/31 won't be affected, either. 

In order to make the transition easier, Redbox will discount the first day of all online DVD rentals to $1.00 from 10/31 through 11/30. Additional rental days will be $1.20.*** 

If you have any questions, please visit redbox.com/pricechange. There, we've provided additional information. 

This marks our first price change in more than eight years as we work hard to keep prices low for our customers. 

Thanks to Brian, Bast, Carrie, Marc, TxGowan, Bob, Walt, Eric, Nancy, and everyone else for sending this in.

Roku 2 Update Fixes Bugs & HBO Go Channel Coming Soon

The Roku Blog announced a new Roku 2 update that fixes a Netflix captions bug, improves WIFI, and more. The update will happen automatically, but if you can't wait go to Settings & Software to select the update.

Tech of the Hub reports that this update also includes hooks for a new HD HBO Go channel that should be available by the end of the month. The HBO Go channel will require a HBO subscription through your cable or satellite provider.

Google TV to Get Updated Starting This Weekend

The Google TV platform showed so much promise (Web, Netflix, HBO Go, and more) and let us down with limited access to TV programming. I have to admit that the Google TV became a lot more interesting when Logitech dropped the price and started selling them for $99. 

TechCrunch reports that the long-awaited update will still have limited access to TV programming and no Hulu access, but it will still offer Netflix, HBO GO, and Android apps designed for TV.

Google TV is finally ready for prime time a year after it officially launched. Starting on Sunday, the update will first roll out to the Sony Internet TV units with the Logitech Revue units getting it shortly thereafter. Existing users will probably love the update as it brings a redesigned interface and a selection of the Android Market. It seems to be exactly what the platform should have been when it launched last year. But for everyone else, either those looking to cut the cord or supplement pay TV with Internet video, it’s still a tough sell. All the downfalls associated with Google TV a year ago still exist. While the system might not be half-baked anymore, I’m still not sure if Google TV deserves a place in your living room.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Google TV, but we'll see once the upgrade comes out.

WSJ's Jenkins Thinks Netfix Isn't Doomed

Holman W. Jenkins from The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the recent problems at Netflix, Netflix Isn't Doomed.

The hidden lesson of Netflix's fall from grace is that content markets will remain fragmented. In the future, you'll still need a search engine and a credit card, and you still won't find what you're looking for. In such a world, there's no reason Netflix can't survive and prosper with a streaming proposition that amounts to "all the content that $8 per month will get you."

In such a world, it will become clear that Netflix's great innovation was not the discovery that there's a market for streamed content (which surprised nobody). Netflix's great innovation was a price point—a bunch of choices for less than the price of a movie ticket. One strength of this business model is that others with TV ambitions (Apple, Amazon, Google, HBO, the cablers) won't feel a need to challenge it directly. They'll do better to make their own niches and charge a price that rewards them for being different.

via Neil Hunt.

Cramer on Why Netflix Stock Dropped So Far So Fast

Love him or hate him, Jim Cramer explains why Netflix stock dropped from $300 to $77 per share so quickly, Short Selling Doomed Netflix. Cramer writes that the number of shorts grew as the price of the Netflix stock rose, but the supply of stock was actually getting smaller because of the buyback program. 

So, shorts kept shorting and trying to borrow stock and they couldn't locate it.

When you can't locate stock you are forced to cover or buy back shares. When you saw the stock skyrocket from $50 to nearly $300, some of that demand was from natural buyers. But much more was from buyers who were forced to cover. In an amazing confluence, just at the height of when shorts were being forced to cover like mad, Netflix committed its now legendary screw up.

The longs panicked, but more importantly the shorts who would normally cushion the blow with their buying had been wiped out by the rise. The result? No floor. None. Without growth, with a shrinking subscriber base and with no natural covering short sellers what happens?

You got this astounding collapse from a level that it should never have been. You want to know why Netflix soared? Blame the short selling process. You want to know why it collapsed? Blame management, for certain. You want to know why it fell with such velocity? That's what happens when a stock gets squeezed up to the point that there's no one left to cover.

Timing is everything.