Finally someone there makes a rational decision. Netflix has ended the Kwikster debacle. It will be one company, one site, with 2 options for services, DVD and/or streaming.
Printable View
Finally someone there makes a rational decision. Netflix has ended the Kwikster debacle. It will be one company, one site, with 2 options for services, DVD and/or streaming.
Just wait a week, they'll backtrack on this decision too and end up forming 6 separate LLCs depending on whether you want TV, Movies, Video Games, BluRays or Streaming content.
Lots of companies are badly run, but I've never seen a company run so badly run in public like this.
What's funny to me is, it seemed like Netflix was run superbly until ~1 year ago. Some say the media companies are demanding higher payment for content, which is very plausible, but WOW. It has been an utter implosion the last few months.
I got out shortly after the email they sent me notifying about the split into services. The tone of the email wasn't good, IMO, and I found myself watching less and less of their dwindling Instant content.
It was awesome while it lasted, though.
Why Netflix thought the solution to it's separate cost structures was to split off half the business and completely undermine its value proposition to customers was completely beyond me. It's amazing how they failed to see the obvious from the start.
That was an unbelievably dumb decision. However, overall, they are still a great company with a great product. I can't believe all that I get watch whenever I want for less than $10 a month.
Perhaps it made sense to the bean counters in the back room, but I have to think their company loyalty and once-stellar brand and market leadership and market share all took a torpedo amidships in a giant fireball.
From a consumer standpoint, we got a doubling of the price from out of the blue, a "we made a mistake" message that was a misdirection at best and a misleading at worst (and didn't address consumer issues), a big dilution of the Netflix brand, and then one more CEO-switch that solidified in the public's mind (at least me) that they are a bunch of idiots who don't know what they're doing and can't be trusted.
Getting Netflix used to be a no-brainer. But any more, I see the red Netflix envelope on the counter and I think "idiots!" and now I'm very seriously considering all of their competitors.