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Netflix Nights Still Come Wrapped in Red-and-White Envelopes (apnews.com) 85

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Netflix's trailblazing DVD-by-mail rental service has been relegated as a relic in the age of video streaming, but there is still a steady -- albeit shrinking -- audience of diehards who are happily paying to receive those discs in the iconic red-and-white envelopes. From a report: Netflix declined to comment for this story but during a 2018 media event, co-founder and co-CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings suggested the DVD-by-mail service might close around 2023. When -- not if -- it happens, Netflix will shut down a service that has shipped more than 5 billion discs across the U.S. since its inception nearly a quarter century ago. And it will echo the downfall of the thousands of Blockbuster video rental stores that closed because they couldn't counter the threat posed by Netflix's DVD-by-mail alternative.

Shortly before breakup from video streaming, the DVD-by-mail service boasted more than 16 million subscribers, a number that has now dwindled to an estimated 1.5 million subscribers, all in the U.S., based on calculations drawn from Netflix's limited disclosures of the service in its quarterly reports. Netflix's video streaming service now boasts 223 million worldwide subscribers, including 74 million in the U.S. and Canada. "The DVD-by-mail business has bequeathed the Netflix that everyone now knows and watches today," Marc Randolph, Netflix's original CEO, said during an interview at a coffee shop located across the street from the post office in Santa Cruz, California.
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Netflix Nights Still Come Wrapped in Red-and-White Envelopes More

Netflix Nights Still Come Wrapped in Red-and-White Envelopes

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  • About the only way... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @10:03AM (#63088286) Homepage Journal
    Hell, doing the DVD/BluRay discs from Netflix is pretty much the ONLY way you can get a real movie from them to watch that is of any quality these days.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mousit ( 646085 )

      Hell, doing the DVD/BluRay discs from Netflix is pretty much the ONLY way you can get a real movie from them to watch that is of any quality these days.

      And sadly even that is dwindling, as they let their disc library wither. I currently have 137 items in my disc queue, but fully 84 of them are in the Saved section, with "availability unknown" and I will probably never be able to watch.

      It's not even entirely Netflix's fault either, since the other streaming services further Balkanize and seal up their IP by simply never releasing it on retail disc in the first place. Quite a few of those items in my Saved section are recent stuff, not old, but they're t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kalpol ( 714519 )
        yeah physical media is heading for the exit. Control is everything, and selling a disc relinquishes control.

    • It's also the only way to get the bonus features -- commentary by the cast and crew, deleted scenes, and sometimes the "making of" features are interesting, like when there is lots of CGI or spectacular stunts.

      I'd drop my DVD subscription in a heartbeat if ...

      * You could stream bonus features.
      * You could stream old movies.
      * They'd make their streaming site useful.

  • I DVDs by netflix (Score:3)

    by Mass Overkiller ( 1999306 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @10:10AM (#63088304)
    Iâ(TM)ve had an account for DVDs since it was first offered. Still get a DVD or two every month. Really the only way I watch movies. I could stream them but I just donâ(TM)t. The DVD selection in netflix is much much bigger than what they offer for steaming.

    • Re:I DVDs by netflix (Score:4, Informative)

      by rally2xs ( 1093023 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @10:28AM (#63088342)

      Yes, I tried streaming at first with NetFlix, and was interested in all the movies ever made, not just the latest and most popular. The streaming service mostly had just the latest and most popular. The DVDs and Blue Rays by mail offer most everything ever filmed. Everything from Charlie Chaplain to Bogart and on to present. You can often get what you want to watch.

      • You can often get what you want to watch.

        Past tense. I too use the Netflix DVD service. But that catalog has withered to become a mere ghost of what it once was.

      • Re:I DVDs by netflix (Score:4, Informative)

        by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @02:28PM (#63089022)

        The snag is that streaming got balkanized. Netflix used to have tons of older stuff, but when the original licensing deals expired they weren't renewed. Starz owns a huge amount of movie content and isn't sharing and that was probably the biggest hit to Netflix. Today, so many content owners are also streaming services, and they keep things exclusive. I'd really prefer a breakup here, keep content creations/ownership separate from distribution. The standard oil breakup did not destroy the gasoline market and most likely made it grow, so the same thing could be done here as well wthout having Disney cry over lost money.

  • I still get DVDs from Netflix because there are some films that are not available on any streaming service.

  • Doctrine of First Sale (Score:5, Informative)

    by arosenfield ( 998621 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @10:29AM (#63088346)

    The doctrine of first sale means that if a movie exists on DVD or Blu-Ray, Netflix can have it in its library and rent it out to you. No need to negotiate expensive licensing terms, like they had to do for web streaming; and nowadays most content providers won't even come to the bargaining table for that since they want to run their own streaming services.

    This business model can and should continue to exist for access to hard-to-license titles, even if the subscriber numbers dwindle. But whether it will remain economical or not is up for Netflix to decide, and if it's losing too much money then they won't hesitate to axe it.

  • Why close it? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fropenn ( 1116699 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @10:31AM (#63088354)
    Netflix should spin it off and let someone give it the attention it deserves. They have a much bigger library of high-quality content then you can find anywhere on streaming. And having a physical disc is sometimes an advantage. Allowing it to spin-off and have someone give it the attention, advertising, and innovation it needs could allow it to hang on for a much longer time. They are projecting at least $200 million in revenue even with the decreased subscription base. That's nothing to sneeze at! It seems like they want to close it because it isn't a growth engine or doesn't have the cool factor any more, but money is money!

    • Maybe redbox is just killing them in that market. It's convenient. For instance there's one outside my local Winco, where the people who don't have money to blow on both high speed internet and a streaming plan shop. Sure they have a smaller library, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. And they have a $8/mo plan which offers four rentals plus streaming, four rentals from them is normally $9 a la carte.

    • Wear and tear of physical media plus obtaining replacements cuts into profits. Streaming doesn't have this problem.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Taed ( 752514 )

      Netflix tried to spin it off about 10 or so years ago as Napster or Friendster or DVDster or some such awful name, which is why it currently brands itself as "DVD.com", with minimal references to Netflix. But there was a lot of customer unhappiness and the idea was shelved, but I expect it will occur at some point. The two services go together well and are linked reasonably well on the web sites. It's nice only having a single list of films in my queue (I'm at about 450) so that I can then see availabili

  • ...the last Blockbuster in Oregon. Those are some loyal customers about to be hung out to dry.

  • Just Canceled (Score:3)

    by Tempest_2084 ( 605915 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @10:40AM (#63088366)
    I finally canceled my Netflix DVD (2 disc plan) this month. I was using it mainly to watch older movies that were currently unavailable elsewhere or to watch the one or two recent movies that actually looked decent. But after going through most of their back catalog I found that I just didn't watch enough movies to make it worthwhile anymore. I figured it would be cheaper to just buy a new movie two or three times a year (if that) or use RedBox. While they had an impressive amount of old content, recently I was finding that many of the movies I wanted had an unknown wait on them or were currently unavailable. At this point I think I've pretty much bought any movie I'm going to watch more than once and I'm not really into most modern movies so renting DVDs no longer made sense.

    It's a shame that their streaming service has almost nothing of interest on it, although it's worth it just to see The Other Side of the Wind and the accompanying documentary if you're an Orson Welles fan.

    • Netflix seems to go for quantity over quality. There’s some good shows on streaming but the majority is trash. The slow burn horror series from Mike Flanagan have been favorites of mine. Archive 81 was pretty good too.

    • You could also check DVDs out from your local library. You have already paid for that in taxes, in fact.

      • To be honest I always forget that libraries have DVDs. When I go to a library it's just for books, books, and more books. :)

    • I finally canceled my Netflix DVD (2 disc plan) this month. I was using it mainly to watch older movies that were currently unavailable elsewhere or to watch the one or two recent movies that actually looked decent. But after going through most of their back catalog I found that I just didn't watch enough movies to make it worthwhile anymore. I figured it would be cheaper to just buy a new movie two or three times a year (if that) or use RedBox. While they had an impressive amount of old content, recently I was finding that many of the movies I wanted had an unknown wait on them or were currently unavailable. At this point I think I've pretty much bought any movie I'm going to watch more than once and I'm not really into most modern movies so renting DVDs no longer made sense.

      It's a shame that their streaming service has almost nothing of interest on it, although it's worth it just to see The Other Side of the Wind and the accompanying documentary if you're an Orson Welles fan.

      I cancelled my DVD subscription recently as we were watching older tv shows, but so many are not available or have missing disks, just doesn't seem worth it anymore.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Once upon a time I had an amazing DVD collection that is now obsolete so outside of movies that I'm pretty sure I'll watch a half dozen times or more in the disc's lifespan I'm not a big fan of buying movies anymore as there was a lot of wasted money in that collection. In another decade or so bluray will be obsolete and all those discs people bought will become garbage as well.

      • I'm honestly trying to think of the last new movie that I bought was. Maybe the last Star Wars movie just so I could have the entire set or possibly even the last Hobbit movie? I've picked up some older ones here and there, but I don't think I've seen a movie in the last 5+ years that I wanted to see more than once.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Gotta love the endless sequels, reboots, and format shifting that is 21st century Hollywood. So much of what comes out nowadays just feels so bland.

      • What makes DVD "obsolete"? It's not like VHS, for which replacement players are no longer manufactured in substantial quantity.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Perhaps obsolete is more absolute than where we're currently at with DVDs but when I run a DVD on my newish 4k projector it doesnt look so great spread out over 100+ inches. As a result I don't have any use for them anymore and I've looked and there is no way for me to sell my very large collection for any price that would make selling them worth the effort. I'll probably end up seeing if I can donate them at some point and some non-profit can sell them for .50 a piece.

    • It's a shame that their streaming service has almost nothing of interest on it

      I read this comment here all the time and it blows my mind. Netflix has thousands and thousands of hours of content from around the world. Sure, some of it is Full House 14, but some if it also amazing stuff.

      I just can't imagine how esoteric your tastes are that there is "nothing of interest on it."

  • I've been wondering if it's possible to drop Netflix streaming and going / back / to dvd only.

    Their selection in streaming is turning almost completely to shit, while their dvd selection is still outstanding.

  • Netflix has gone from movies to formula crime dramas. I enjoy the cinematic looks at other nations, and the assumptions in their crime dramas. We have now seen the actor stable in most of the European nations and it is always fun to see the on location backgrounds. Smoking is sponsored in all of these dramas, I am absolutely amazed at the constant/gratuitous puffing. While big tobacco was chased off most platforms, there is clearly a lot of money spent quietly by tobacco for these production companies.

  • Experience (Score:3)

    by ElizabethGreene ( 1185405 ) on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @11:23AM (#63088458)

    My "hit rate", i.e. "I would like to see this movie; Is it available?", is significantly higher for DVD-by-mail than for streaming. I finally stopped taking disks by mail and find that I end up rent-streaming many more movies from Amazon.

    (To my yarr-harr-diggity-dee friends: Yes I know that hoisting the mainsail and unfurling the Jolly Roger is an option. Mr. Bezos has made it more convenient to rent/stream the content. That is a lovely and welcome development. For decades Piracy was the easier option, and I'm delighted that is no longer the case.)

    • Streaming Amazon doesn’t work for me. My main monitor is ancient and connected via DVI. My 4k tv uses the HDMI port. Streaming a movie works on my monitor but the instant you move the window to the tv it disconnects. I have to pull the cable and plug it in again. I think it has something to do with HDCP. Either way fuck it torrents all the way. No my smart tv is not connected to the internet.

      • You're probably right vis-a-vis HDCP. My recollection is they have some funny business around DRM for 4k content built in. I used to have a TV that had a broken HDCP implementation and wouldn't display HD content from my AT&T service and I had to hook it up with composite/component (red white yellow blue green) instead.

        Sometimes the future is stupid. :)

    • Actually, piracy works poorly for older, unusual movies. I can usually download a copy of whatever in a few minutes. Lastweekend, my wife asked for a particlualr(unusual) movie. It was listed on PB with a reasonable number of seeds, but...nothing. Other sites didn't have it either. And it's the usual thing on the commercial side: My TV service had the movie to rent surprisingly. However, only in a dubbed version, not the original. Yuck. The content providers continue to fail to deliver content.

  • I love streaming. It's the way all content should be delivered, as files from servers rather than on fragile disks that you have to wait for in the mail and which the service must laboriously account for and clean up between customers.

    BUT...because of licensing bullshit, DVD is the only medium on which Netflix can own a copy of a film until it physically deteriorates. Streaming content "expires" after some limited time and disappears from the service. What we need is a legislative fix that erases the format

  • Netflix worked with the USPS to design the envelopes for the most efficient traversal through their sorting machines, something that Gamefly never bothered to do.

    • I'm not sure Gamefly is big enough to justify doing it. For at least a few years, Netflix by mail was how people got movies. The Post Office would have been inundated if they didn't work with each other. Gamefly is just another competitor in a fragmented market place.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kriston ( 7886 )

        The USPS approached GameFly at least once to try to help them redesign their envelopes and not only get more efficiency, but also a lower postage rate. GameFly demurred for whatever reason.

  • Getting DVDs or Blu-Ray discs shipped to your door is about the only way you can still get a wide variety of content from Netflix. The other streaming services have gutted them to the point of uselessness. On the flip side, shipping movies through the mail/FedEx/UPS is horribly inefficient compared to just streaming the content.

    • I wish there was a way to easily resell Blu-Rays by mail. It seems that eBay or some company could come along and facilitate transfers of physical discs. Basically you would buy a disc from someone. If you like it enough you'd keep it. Otherwise, watch it a couple times and put it up for sale at a discounted price. I don't need to spend $25 on a disc I may watch once or twice.
      • I just reread my comment. Obviously you can do exactly what I said on ebay, I've just found it a cumbersome process, kind of a last resort if I can't find the movie elsewhere. A streamlined Website dedicated to finding or selling films is what I was thinking.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by SteveSgt ( 3465 )

      shipping movies through the mail/FedEx/UPS is horribly inefficient

      Get back to us about that after you've lived for a year or so where your fastest Internet is 6Mbps over LTE with data overage charges.

      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a cargo-version 747 full of shiny disks!

  • It's bizarre the article makes no mention of blurays. DVD quality is horrible and nearly unwatchable, except for old 480i TV shows. Netflix also bizarrely refers to all discs as "DVD", even in the domain (dvd.netflix.com).

    I still rent blurays occasionally from netflix. It's a real shame they still have not added 4k blurays, which are superior both in video and audio to any streaming that's available. I've resorted to buying and reselling 4k blurays on ebay as a workaround for renting.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kalpol ( 714519 )
      >DVD quality is horrible and nearly unwatchable
      I mean yeah if you're watching it under a microscope. 720p is perfectly watchable on a normal television and I don't let a slight loss in quality stop me from watching something if that's the only way I can get it.
  • It's a shame none of you guys have libraries where you live. My city library has a HUGE collection of movies, all available for - Get this - FREE. You just have to promise to bring them back. You can even request a DVD online, they'll bring it to your local branch and email you when it is ready for pickup.

    Pretty nifty, eh?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kalpol ( 714519 )
      I do both. The library selection is often limited, but between the two I get what I want fairly quickly.

    • Technically, it's not free. We pay for it with tax dollars. So it may "feel" free, but it's actually the exact opposite. People are paying for this service even if they aren't using it.

  • I would still be subscribing if they offered more 4k blu rays.

    I would love to get those somehow. Gamefly was the only way I could find them and they stopped growing their collection so I cancelled.

  • They still have most things I look for. Works for me, if I don't mind waiting a bit.
  • "during an interview at a coffee shop located across the street from the post office in Santa Cruz, California."

    Note: example of a typical whiny and irrelevant Slashdot post.

  • Signed up in 2005.
    Watched a ton of dvds and later upgraded to blu-ray.
    Netflix streaming was exciting when it started, but the content whittled away over time.
    It is pretty simple the things I want to watch, and MANY of them are not streaming.
    Bluray/4k looks great. Often better than streaming. No compression and artifacts.
    I get that this service will “go away”, but the service is still useful if you want to watch something other than ancient aliens and/or young people drama.

    Having a hard copy st

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