Peon's Place

Netflix has announced a streaming-only plan ($7.99), as well as an increase in every other plan they offer (+$1 up to $9.99 for the 1 disc monthly plan, for example).

Streaming is awesome. Moreso on iPads/iPhones, like when I’m at the gym and I’m tired of listening to music all the time, I’ll load up a movie to watch. However, the streaming-only plan would be more attractive if:

1. Hulu didn’t exist for TV shows
2. Netflix had a larger selection of movies to stream, and worked out that license issue to have movies and TV shows more immediately

With high-speed online access now becoming a household staple and various gadgets making it easier to connect high-definition TVs to the Web, Netflix is realizing it needs to evolve as Internet streaming goes mainstream. ”We are now primarily a streaming video company,” co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement. Netflix is spending heavily to obtain the streaming rights to more movies and TV shows to help lure more customers and shift more of its existing subscribers away from DVDs.

In the third quarter, Netflix spent $115 million on video streaming rights, up from just $10 million at the same time last year. Spending on DVDs dropped 35 percent from a year ago to just under $30 million in the third quarter.

So it’s been awhile since I’ve updated. Sue me. =)

However, I have a few updates to present, and the Netflix app for your iThing (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) is on the top of the list. Sure, I already have the app which allows me to arrange my queue, add and remove movies etc — but now I can actually watch them, too. Great for road trips, bored on a Wi-Fi enabled plane, etc.

“Apple has changed the game for mobile devices,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief executive officer. “We’re excited that our members can now carry Netflix around in their pockets and instantly watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix right to their iPhone or iPod touch.”

Follow the official press release here.

I suppose this is a reminder to resubscribe to Netflix, eh? I sort of let the account lapse when the card my subscription was attached to expired back at the end of April.

Netflix has announced that it will introduce a streaming-only service for Canadian residents to watch unlimited movies and TV shows for a monthly fee. According to a company press release, the Canadian operation, which is set to launch in the fall, will be the first of several international Websites that Netflix intends to launch in the coming months. While the cost of the service and its launch date have not yet been revealed, interested users are encouraged to sign up for e-mail notifications when more information becomes available.

Unlike its American counterpart, the Canadian Netflix service will not offer customers the opportunity to rent physical media. Although the company has not provided an explanation on why this is the case, it is likely for two reasons. First, not having a physical presence in Canada will limit operating expenses and make it easier to extend the service to other foreign markets.

I’ve written articles about the enhancements of Hulu and Netflix a few times in the past (view a list!), so here are some updates for you guys.

With the reveal of its premium Hulu Plus service last month, video streaming site Hulu announced that it would be branching out to devices other than computers, including televisions, Apple devices, and game consoles. Today, Hulu Plus has finally landed on the Playstation 3 — although it isn’t available to all PS3 owners just yet — according to the official Playstation blog.

Currently, Hulu Plus is only available to a select group of Playstation Plus subscribers — Sony’s $50-a-year premium service. Any Playstation Plus subscriber can download the app, but they’ll need to request an invitation to the Hulu Plus preview period to use it. Once accepted, users just need to pay Hulu Plus’s $9.99 monthly fee to access it. Once the preview period is over in a few months, the app will open up to all Playstation 3 users — by which point it should also be available on Sony’s Bravia TVs, Blu-Ray players, and other web-connected devices.

Read the rest of this entry » Hulu Plus available only …

Blockbuster continues its downward spiral as it has been suspended from trading and forced to delist from the NYSE effective next Wednesday. Currently trading at $0.18 per share, Blockbuster failed to win majority stockholder approval last week for a reverse stock split that would have brought its stock above the $1 threshold and back in compliance with the NYSE.

In a move that delays any immediate bankruptcy proceedings, Blockbuster was given a one-month reprieve on debt payments that the movie rental giant failed to pay on July 1st. The creditors, which hold nearly $440 million of Blockbuster’s whopping $920 million of debt, agreed to postpone any “remedies” until August 13th. In the upcoming weeks, Blockbuster is hoping to negotiate with partners to get a quick infusion of cash by possibly converting some bondholders to equity investors. This quick fix may be a little too little, a little too late and may only delay the inevitable bankruptcy as Blockbuster shows no signs of becoming profitable in the foreseeable future.

Now that Hulu has vastly expanded its service beyond computers — to iPhone, iPad and other devices — and widened its content, does that portend bad omens for Netflix on demand? That’s a question that has digital-media analysts’ tongues wagging, so to speak. Though at least one analyst downgraded Netflix stock on the news, others contend increased interest in TV content online should pave the way for more demand on Netflix, too. ”It shouldn’t have much impact short-term, because Hulu is mainly a TV hub, while Netflix streaming is mainly for movies,” says Josh Bell, new-media analyst at market researcher Interpret. “It’s possible that even longer term, the two may be seen as complements to each other, rather than competitors.”

Gartner analyst Mike McGuire goes even further: “Hulu has movies, but it’s nowhere close to Netflix. It will be interesting to see if people pay for Hulu’s premium service, which runs ads with the TV shows. Plus, Netflix has streaming on computers, iPad and game players.” An iPhone app is in the works.

On Tuesday, online video site Hulu launched a paid-subscription service. For $9.99 a month, users of Hulu Plus can get episodes of Glee, The Office and other popular TV shows. And the service is available — for the first time (by invitation only for now) — on Apple’s iPhone and iPad, and some Samsung Blue-ray players and TVs through new applications. On deck: Availability on Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox. ”More wherever. More whenever. Than ever,” is Hulu’s new marketing slogan.

The 2-year-old company, which said it was profitable on more than $100 million in revenue last year, served up 1.2 billion videos to U.S. users in May, nearly triple from a year earlier. It is a distant second to Google’s 14.6 billion, according to market researcher Comscore. Netflix did not comment on the Hulu announcement. The publicly traded company reported $493.7 million in its recently first quarter, which ended March 31. Its quarterly profit was $32.3 million. Netflix has 14 million subscribers.