Hacking NetFlix

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Pledges to Give Away Half of His Wealth

CNN Money reports that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has joined 91 billionaires pledging to give away half of his wealth. The Giving Pledge, started by Bill & Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, has encouraged billionaires to pledge half of their wealth to charity.

"We are thrilled to join with other fortunate people to pledge a majority of our assets to be invested in others," Hastings and Quillin wrote in a letter posted on the Giving Pledge's website. "We hope through this community that we can learn as we go, and do our best to make a positive difference for many."

Redbox Instant Streaming in Beta & Launch By End of 2012

Bloomberg (via Inside Redbox) reports that Redbox will be launching Redbox Instant, a Netflix competitor, by the end of the year.

Coinstar Inc. (CSTR)’s Redbox and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), providing details of their challenge to Netflix Inc. (NFLX), will offer subscription streaming, movie sales and rentals by Christmas, along with DVDs from the local kiosk.

Redbox Instant by Verizon, being tested in the homes of about 500 Verizon employees, initially will focus solely on newer movies that have been available for sale and rental, Eric Bruno, Verizon’s vice president of strategy and planning for consumer and mass business markets, said yesterday in an interview.

It'll be interesting to see the quality and quantity of titles at launch.

Netflix New Releases for September 25th, 2012

Here's the full list of Netflix DVD releases this week (detailed list): The Avengers, Battleship, L!fe Happens, The Letter, Damsels in Distress, Resident Evil: Degeneration, The Tall Man, Pink Ribbons, Inc., Surviving Progress, UFC 147, Key & Peele, Delicacy, Gerhard Richter Painting, Goodbye First Love, Sleepless Night, and Klown. 

Interesting streaming releases in the past week include Weeds (new episodes), Nikita (new episodes), Mansome, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4: "Razor: Parts 1 & 2", Mark Twain (Ken Burns), Death of a Salesman, The Deep Blue Sea, A Room with a View, American Violet, Detachment, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Camp Rock, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, The Cheetah Girls, The Cheetah Girls 2, The House, and Firestarter 2: Rekindled.

Watch The Emmy's? Netflix has Many Emmy-Nominated Shows on Streaming

Did you watch the Emmy Awards tonight? Netflix has about 39 nominated shows on streaming, according to the Netflix Blog:

For US members, we’re thrilled to let you know you can stream 39 Emmy-nominated series on Netflix, including a few series you will only find exclusively here: Mad Men, most nominated series of the year with 17 noms (wow!), Breaking Bad (13 noms!), a truly addictive viewing experience, and The Walking Dead, which will scare the life out of you. 

If you’re looking to laugh, we have the most innovative comedies of the year, includingPortlandia, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Louie, American Dad, Parks & Rec, and the eternally entertaining Saturday Night Live. If you’re more in the mood for a drama, check out Downton Abbey, Damages, Bones, Sherlock, Parenthood, Luther, and the one that's always hitting a high note, Glee. You can also stream some of the best non-fiction series including Mythbusters, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and Deadliest Catch.Finally, for the kids who love to watch Netflix, there are lots of great Emmy-nominated shows including Wizards of Waverly Place, Phineas & Ferb, iCarly, and Good Luck Charlie.

What's your favorite show on streaming?

Netflix Updates iPhone App with Improved UI (iPhone 5 & Android in the Works)

Netflix announced a free update to the iPhone app that more closely matches the iPad tablet experience.

At the top of the new browse screen on iPhone and iPod touch is a row that lets you continue watching shows or movies that you previously started watching right where you left off, a very handy feature. The Instant Queue, available in some regions, is presented on the Home screen just below your Top 10 list. Lower down in the new experience are several personalized rows filled with movie and TV show recommendations.

Tapping the browse menu gives you access to an extensive list of genre galleries that show even more titles organized into categories. Parents--like me--will really appreciate the children and family gallery with many titles organized by age. 

A simple tap on any title presents all of the information for that title and a double-tap on any title starts instant playback. Also, search is available everywhere in the application, so you can always find what you are looking for. 

 

If you've ordered a new iPhone 5 don't worry -- they're working on an update that will take advantage of the larger screen.

If you're an Android user, there is also an update in the works, too.

Netflix Signs Ricky Gervais Comedy "Derek"

The NY Times reports that Netflix has signed a deal to stream the Ricky Gervais comedy "Derek."

Netflix said on Wednesday that it had acquired the rights to show “Derek,” a new comedy program written, directed by and starring Mr. Gervais, following its run on Channel 4 in Britain.

On “Derek,” Mr. Gervais, a creator and star of comedies like “The Office” and “Extras,” and a three-time host of the Golden Globe Awards, plays its title character, a naively simple man who works in a nursing home. The show also features Karl Pilkington, a regular on Mr. Gervais’s radio show and podcasts, and the star of the travel series “An Idiot Abroad.”

Netflix CFO at Goldman Sachs: Personalization Improvements "Later This Year"

Netflix CFO David Wells, speaking at the Goldman Sachs 21st Annual Communacopia Conference, said that recommendations would improve, especially in households with multiple people sharing a single Netflix account, "...later this year." I'm wondering if they will enable different user logins when the Netflix app starts, similar to how customers currently select "Just for Kids" or the normal Netflix experience.

Wells said that several things were driving Netflix growth, including "content improvements," "devices" (there are more than 700 Netflix-ready devices and growing), and "previlence, in this sales cycle, of Netflix buttons [on remotes]." He also noted that streaming usage was "up significantly, year over year."

Wells shed some light on the mix of local vs. Hollywood content in markets like South America, which are typically 80% Hollywood vs. 20% local, and markets like China and India that will require a more balanced 50% local content mix.

If you're interested in hearing the entire discussion: http://ir.netflix.com.

Netflix New Releases for September 18th, 2012

Here's the full list of Netflix DVD releases for this week (detailed list): The Cabin in the Woods, The Revenant, The Victim, The Woman in the Fifth, Chico & Rita, Bait, The Magic of Belle Isle, Hysteria, The Babymakers, Detachment, Salvation Boulevard, Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap, America's Book of Secrets, Oslo, August 31st, The Salt of Life, Katy Perry: Part of Me, and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: Best of Wubbzy: Vol. 1.

Interesting streaming releases in the past week include Scandal, Revenge, Terra Nova, The Vampire Diaries, Once Upon a Time, 90210, The Grey, An American Werewolf in London, Craig Ferguson: Does This Need to Be Said?, Exit Humanity, Tooth Fairy 2, and Mr. Bean: The Animated Series.

Netflix's Sarandos on TV Shows, Competition & The Hunger Games

Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, speaking at the BOA Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference, talked about TV shows vs. movies, the surprising lack of competition, and license windows for content like the Hunger Games.

When asked about the difference between TV shows and movies, Sarandos said, "The great acting and writing is being done on TV." He noted that TV has an "...incredibly high risk model," and that "Some good shows fail because they're in the wrong time slot."

Sarandos said that the most watched episode of Mad men was season 1, episode 1, and that Netflix was still driving new viewers to shows. He also said that 50,000 people watched all episodes of Season 4 of Breaking Bad in 24 hours when they became available the day before the season 5 premier. 

On license windows, Sarandos said that Netflix is the pay TV home for the Hunger Games, but the release windows are: sames day as DVD for latin America, 3 months for Canada, UK 4 months, and the U.S. finally after another 90 days.

On competition: "We never thought that we'd operate without competition. We're surprised it's taken this long."

via Home Media Magazine & Deadline.

Netflix Adds 'Revenge,' 'Once Upon a Time,' and 'Scandal' to Streaming

Netflix announced that they will have a streaming exclusive on three top ABC shows: 'Revenge,' 'Once Upon a Time,' and 'Scandal.'

"We are thrilled that Netflix will become the exclusive subscription destination for the first seasons of these successful ABC shows. We know our members like to immerse themselves in their favorite shows and Scandal,Revenge and Once Upon a Time are the kind of smart, serialized dramas that Netflix members love," said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix.

via Netflix on Twitter & Home Media Magazine.