HASTINGS: NO PLAN TO QUIT NETFLIX

Netflix founder Reed Hastings says he has no intention to step down following the furor over his decision to raise subscription prices substantially and his failed plan to split the company into a DVD-by-mail and DVD-by-streaming rental companies and the subsequent backlash from shareholders. In an interview with the New York Times‘s Sunday magazine, Hastings insisted that “not for a second” did he think of quitting. “I founded Netflix. I’ve built it steadily over 12 years now. … This is the first time there have been material missteps.” Asked “what grade” he thinks he has earned as CEO of Netflix, Hastings answered indirectly: “We went public nine years ago at [a stock price of] $7.50 and under a million subscribers. Now we’re over 25 million and a much larger stock price. It’s a mistake to measure everything by what happened last week or last month.” Netflix opened on the Nasdaq today (Monday) at $116.11, down from $304 in July. Netflix is due to report third-quarter earnings after today’s close. That report, headlined Forbes.com today, “Could Be Crippling or Spark Monster Rally.” Meanwhile, the company announced that it plans to launch its streaming service early next year in the U.K. and Ireland, where it will compete directly with Amazon’s LoveFilm streaming service.