Netflix VP of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey Leaves Netflix

Steve Swasey, VP of Corporate Communications for 7 years at Netflix, has left the company. Netflix did not announce or give a reason for the departure, but a Netflix spokesperson confirmed the change and noted that "Steve has moved on."

HackingNetflix spoke with Swasey earlier, and he would only comment on the record that "All is well." 

It's be interesting to see where Swasey is going. For many years he was the face and voice of Netflix, dealing with issues such as the price increase and Qwikster debacle, and traveling the country giving tours of shipping centers to local press.

via Home Media Magazine.

Comments

[EL Don]

Something does seem very odd about this. Netflix appears to have a very open and employee-friendly corporate culture and for this to happen with a long-time employee, let alone the "face" of the company. This is definitely a "stay-tuned" event.

[.]

Good riddance to bad rubbish!

[xari]

Maybe he's finally tired of trying to defend Netflix's seeming desire for continued self-immolation. (I know I am!) WTF Netflix???

[tk]

obviously he's been let go for failing to help the company keep face through their own continuous bad decisions.

[tk]

again netflix demonstrates their bad decision making and lack of loyalty as a company value.

[Wogga]

to the Folks @ Netflix: How about adding good movie content back. The all-you-can eat concept with pretty good website features and good streaming worked for Netflix thus far. Content now, though, is deteriorating and needs to be improved.

[Perkins Cobb]

Sinking ship, rats, etc.

[Walt D in LV]

This really is incredulous. Steve Swasey was the face of Netflix. Sure, we all know Reed Hastings, of course, but for SO many years, if you watch Netflix on the local news, as was said in the article, at a distribution center, or online interviews, even occasional podcasts (such as Podflix), there was Steve Swasey. He always seemed so accessible and made Netflix seem so much smaller than they really were.

It would seem, however, that over the last six to nine months, amongst all this Quikster nonsense, there was more Hastings than Swasey. Maybe that was the writing on the wall?

Here, then is a video of an interview with Swasey back in 2008. Really interesting to see how far Netflix has come, from introducing a TV with Netflix built in, and only at 7 million subscribers, all the while still talking about DVDs in the mail.
http://blip.tv/takesontech/interview-with-steve-swasey-netflix-s-vp-of-communications-592213

[Judy__]

They fired the wrong guy. NF's problem is not PR but a bad design of the transition and the new data structures.

[moviegeek]

"All is well" sounds like he was fired and given a healthy severance package. The stockholders need to fire Reed Hastings, he's made some stupid decisions this past year and I don't like that he's a board member of other companies(Microsoft, Facebook, etc).

[FearNo1]

Sounds like he and hastings may have had a disagreement regarding the future of netflix. Not a good sign.

[All is well in common sense.]

@ Don you're a very smart man. @ xari - go to Netflix.com > Your Account & Help > Cancel Membership > I accept the terms > Complete Cancelation. Otherwise, blow it out the other end. Feel free to step up and do their job any time.

[uRiGnOrAnT]

@ Wogga. You pay 8 bucks a month. Don't expect the penthouse on a welfare budget.

[Hunter S. Thompson]

El Don - it's exactly the opposite. Plenty of fear and loathing inside of Netflix. One of the most arbitrary, political and dysfunctional places for a software engineer to work.

[gir]

I don't know if it's just the way this is written, but it does sound like he's leaving tight-lipped and disgruntled.

[Tim Brownhouse]

@uRiGnOrAnT, your swipe would be valid except that Netflix once was the penthouse, and t'aint anymore. That detrimental change is the only type of change of which Netflix seems capable is a fact worth lamenting, over and over again.

[satellite direct]

Golden Parachute
Satellite Direct

[uRiGnOrAnT]

@Tim my point, which was clearly missed, was that he wants every movie under the sun ever made (including brand new releases and huge blockbusters no doubt) available at his finger tips for 8 bucks a month. Get a freaking clue. If you or wogga for that matter, even understood the DRM processes and licensing behind the titles you would know that to make your heart's every desire come true its gonna take more than 8 bucks a month. Shell out the money for pay per view or shut up and be happy with the thousands of titles you have access to for less than the price of a single movie ticket. Also, thank you btw for validating my posting name.

[Tim Brownhouse]

@uRiGnOrAnT, I do shell out the money for pay-per-view and then some, but it's not about the expense. It's about a love and reverence for the medium, which you seem to lack. You seem solely concerned with 'dollars and sense' and with that bean-counting mentality, and the vitriol you've been slinging under multiple handles, the only logical explanation is that you have Netflix shares, and/or work for them.

You continue to pull the "You don't understand [the intricacies of whatever aspect of the Netflix business that's relevant to the discussion at hand]" card, but whether or not I understand is beside the point; I really don't give a shit. I know what I once enjoyed as a Netflix subscriber, and that my experience now is a sharp contrast. This is a company whose every decision, practically, over the last year has been to the debit of its customer base. And so, I will continue to be critical where criticism is due. That's not only my right as a consumer, but it's my responsibility.

And about 80% of Netflix's streaming catalog consists of direct-to-video trash produced in the last decade (rather than interesting movies that failed to win distribution). I'd be happy to see all of that go, and one quality title for each twenty of those.