Netflix shoots itself in the foot... aka no more free streaming

I can no longer tell if I'm reading The Onion.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/netflix-abandons-plan-to-rent-dvds-on-qwikster/

 

^ Same story on Yahoo News.

 

It's a good decision, I guess. I was considering adding DVDs back in after dropping them awhile back but the splitting announcement made me change my mind. And it also seems like a good thing when a company listens to the public and recognizes when they made a mistake. But it's also incredibly awkward and looks like they have no idea what they're doing anymore.

I have the streaming service and it's certainly worth the price for me. But my queue is around 300 and having to scroll through all those just to see what's expiring soon is annoying (why not have an announcement for expiring titles in the interface at least a month out?). And the selection varies so wildly. Seems like the James Bond films were just added in but now they're gone. And why didn't they include the Pierce Brosnan films?

I have the Star Trek films on DVD, but I went to watch one on Netflix the other day because they were there earlier this year. Now they aren't. But now TAS is there. Is that new or did I miss it the first time around?

A bunch of horror films expired in late September/early October. Huh? It sometimes feels like I'm choosing what I like best out of stuff someone else rented for a few months.

Like I said, I still get plenty out of it despite having to work within those confines. But there's so much they could improve. Why I need to use an outside website (instantwatcher) to better keep up with what's new and what's going away is ridiculous.

 

Company is being run by idiots.

 

When are these companies going to learn that it is a myth that the general public embraces change? Facebook is constantly having to be reminded of this, and Netflix just got a painful reminder of it. And it's nothing new, either - the Coca-Cola company is still ridiculed for the whole New Coke fiasco of some 25 years ago. The only change people like are those that are actual improvements to service and lowering of cost (without effecting level of service).

For them to lose face like this in such a public fashion (watch for its stock to take a dip) says to me this must have been perceived as a potentially company-killing decision. The "New Coke" of video services, maybe?

Alex

 

Correction: Company is being run into the ground by idiots.

The stock has already lost half it's value. Let's see if can go down more.

 

TAS was added at the same time DS9 was, last week.

 

I used to have Netflix glad I got out of it before things went downhill hopefully one of their competitors will step in and fill the void left by their stupid business decisions.

 

What is this, the year of fuckups for Netflix?

 

Well, at least they're paying attention to their customers this time.

 

If they really knew anything they should have seen the issues before announcing it.

 

Nope been there for at least a month

 

I got an email directly from Netflix indicating the service split into two sites is indeed true.

They better get their stock up cause I read they are now, or approaching, a point where a takeover is ripe for happening.

 

I got an email today saying they changed the plan. Qwikster isn't happening.

I would bet the CEO gets pushed out before that happens...

 

Welcome to 3 weeks ago.

 

True, but there are so many CEOs who would've stayed the course anyway, being too proud, too stupid, or too both to admit they were going down the wrong path big time.

 

TAS was added Sept 1. The Trek films' streaming rights are under license to the Epix pay channel (owned by Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate), and appear on Instant Watch (NF has the same type of deal with them that they have, had, with Starz, subletting their online streaming rights) when scheduled on the pay channel-that means when the channel rotates them off the schedule, they are moved off IW too.

 

Man, the hits just don't stop coming with this story, do they? Well, they desperately needed to reverse that Qwikster nonsense, so at least that's out of the way.

Why would anyone believe that in the first place? Human nature tends towards inertia. The more important principle is, once a company establishes a status quo, they cannot change it in a direction that customers will perceive is undermining their interests without expecting to cause a shitstorm.

This is true even if the new status quo is still good for customers. They won't think "it's still good, I'm happy." They'll think "it's not as good as before, ATTICA! ATTICA!!!" This principle is well known and is even taught in business schools. It's not some new esoteric thing, it's Marketing 101.

If for some reason, they are forced to violate that principle, they need to plan for a huge PR shitstorm and figure out a battle plan for countering that shitstorm, taking every possible contingency into account. The way not to do it is running around in a panic and coming up with bullshit like that Qwikster scheme.

Better yet, don't establish a status quo that you can't maintain. The studios clamping down on streaming, which is at the heart of Netflix's problems, was predictable, because unlike DVDs, streaming is the future and it threatens the studios' business model. Netflix's management team should have understood that. If another company threatened their business model, how would they react?

Sure, I might think "it's still good, I'm happy," but I've been through Marketing 101, and I know that my unhappiness is irrational and therefore can ignore it. Netflix can't expect that mentality from the general public.

 

You're being naive. That would work if your business was in absolutely and total isolation.

But, in the real world, shit happens. There are degrees of status quo, but, if you are relying on outside companies, you can't control everything.

Sure, you can create contracts, but, no content provider is going to sign something that gives material FOREVER, which would be the only way to maintain a status quo.

 

Shit does, indeed, happen. But Netflix's particular shit wasn't a asteroid falling on it from out of the blue. It was predictable enough that they could have gotten out of the way a lot better than they did.

Netflix' business model threatens Hollywood's business model. Hollywood is far more powerful than Netflix. The next step in that story is obvious, and has been obvious for some time now.