NETFLIX CFO ADMITS STREAMED VIDEO SERVICE LACKING

Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy acknowledged on Wednesday that the online video rental outfit’s streaming service wasn’t all it could be. At an investors’ conference in Chicago, McCarthy observed that movies available on the service are mostly old movies and TV shows, something that investors as well as customers complain about. “Is the streaming service all by itself great?” he asked rhetorically, then admitted: “No.” He suggested that the company is faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, it is cheaper to deliver films online, since the costs of postage, handling and packaging are eliminated. On the other hand, if subscribers decide to watch movies online and no longer pay for the physical rentals, the company’s profits cold be impacted, he said.