UNIVERSAL SHOWS LOVE TO U.K.’S LOVEFILM

Amazon’s LoveFilm, which is competing against Netflix in the U.K. to provide low-cost movie rentals online, announced today (Wednesday) that it has struck an exclusive deal with Universal Pictures for dozens of films for its streaming service. The films won’t be available until at least a year after they hit theaters, but subscribers to streaming […]

NETFLIX BECOMING A TV RERUN SERVICE

Given the wariness of the major Hollywood studios to support its streaming service, Netflix will become a mostly TV rerun operation when Starz yanks its content on Wednesday, the New York Times observed today (Tuesday). Commented the newspaper: “It’s a transition that Netflix has made rather successfully in the last six to 12 months, in […]

TWC: FEWER SUBSCRIBERS, GREATER PROFITS

Time Warner Cable saw a 44-percent increase in its net income during the last quarter despite the fact that it lost 129,000 customers and its gross revenue rose only 4 percent. The rise in profits was attributed to cheaper-to-operate Internet and telephone services as well as existing subscribers to its video service opting for more […]

NETFLIX SHARES ZOOM ON EARNINGS REPORT

Netflix shares soared 22 percent on the Nasdaq today (Thursday) to $116.01 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings of $41 million on a whopping 43-percent increase in revenue of $876 million. The company, which was beleaguered by subscriber losses and analysts’ downgrades after it substantially raised fees for its combined streaming and DVD-by-mail service, […]

NETFLIX SUBSCRIBERS EXPRESS MORE DISSATISFACTION

Netflix customers are still angry at the company’s recent moves, but they’re no longer dropping their subscriptions. Industry researcher ForeSee said today (Wednesday) that on its 100-point scale of consumer satisfaction, “Netflix’s well-publicized blunders caused its customer satisfaction to plummet by seven points and 8% to 79.” Once ranked as an online “satisfaction superstar,” the […]

DISH MAY SIDESTEP RETRANSMISSION FEES

Satellite operator DISH has hit on a way to cut back, if not eliminate, the costs of those retransmission consent deals it has to make with local broadcast stations in order to carry their programming: combine its satellite receiving dishes with a standard antenna so that subscribers can receive the over-the-air stations free. The company’s […]

NETFLIX SHARES NOSEDIVE

Netflix shares plunged 36 percent today (Tuesday), trading at about $75.00 — their lowest level in 18 months. Since the company announced just three months ago that it was instituting a major price increase for subscribers wishing to continue receiving DVDs by mail as well as stream them, $12 billion of its market value has […]

NETFLIX CFO DEFENDS COMPANY’S CHANGES

The chief financial officer of Netflix has defended the company’s recent changes — splitting the company into two separate units, one for streaming, the other for DVDs by mail (titled Qwikster). Speaking at an investors conference in New York David Wells said (as reported by MediaPost), “There have been too many examples in history of […]

STUDY: A THIRD OF NETFLIX’S SUBSCRIBERS MAY FLEE

Netflix could lose nearly a third of its subscribers as a result of its recent rate hike, according to a survey conducted by Marion, Iowa-based Frank N. Magid Associates. Some 16 percent have definite plans to cancel, according to the survey, while an additional 14 percent said they are seriously considering canceling. The survey was […]

WHILE CABLE COMPANIES LOSE SUBSCRIBERS, DIRECTV GAINS THEM

While several of the largest cable-TV providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cablevision, have reported significant subscriber losses during the last quarter, home satellite operator DirecTV indicated on Thursday that they may be picking up at least some of them. It said that it has added 174,000 subscribers over the past quarter versus 136,000 […]

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