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Netflix Subscriber Base Eclipses Comcast's
NicknamesAreStupid writes "Netflix just announced its earnings and claims to have more subscribers than Comcast. 'Netflix's global subscriber base grew almost 70% over the past year, to 23.6 million users. ... More than 7% of Americans now subscribe to Netflix.' Does that go to show how great Netflix really is or, well, you know?"
Reed Hastings is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Netflix. He also sits on the Microsoft Board of Directors. This may - or may not - have anything to do with why you can't get an Android Netflix viewer client. But those below who would complain should be aware of this.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Netflix ISP
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
obviously, netflix is the far superior value to what most cable companies offer.
Netflix isn't sucking about $2K/year out of me like Comcast.
---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.
Does that include suspended subscriptions like mine?
7% of the entire United States is damn piss poor.
It's a different format, but I'm liking the Redbox thing. It's handy and inexpensive, and importantly - commitment free. If you're going to do a rental and it's in your area, give it a try. The website will tell you what movies are available in your area, and which box to get it from. You can return the movie to any box. DVD's are $1, Blu-Ray is $1.50 (per day). If you don't bring the movie back they just ding your card a reasonable retail price and you're done. I hear they're considering video games as well. It's credit card only though.
/obviously no, I don't work for Redbox.
And yeah, Netflix is kicking butt. They're coming to some large numbers though and the studios are on to them now. They're going to see increasing friction. It remains to be seen if they can see it through. I hope they do well. I also hope they release an Android client.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
all this streaming video will force Comcast to raise their monthly limit. 250gb per month might be a lot for some, but not for a house full of video watchers...
Watch as Comcast and other ISPs claim how much HD film watchers are "degrading the quality of their networks".
http://techblog.netflix.com/2011/01/netflix-performance-on-top-isp-networks.html
Has netflix shared their data with the FCC database used to create the The National Broadband Map?
http://blog.broadband.gov/?entryId=1278226&#respond
The problem today is that at least in the US most broadband providers are TV providers also. The telecos who don't have a TV network have even gotten on board with "bundles" including DirecTV and Dish. They are smarter than consumers give them credit for though. You might think your poor service is proof of their incompetence- your wrong... sooo wrong. They will do anything to maintain a baseline of service that is merely tolerable because raising the bar costs them money and frankly where the hell will you go? To the other massive evil teleco/cable, overpriced wireless (3G/4G) or satellite? Dial-up perhaps? Of course not, they've got you buy the nuts. So expect Comcast's already pathetic 250 gig limit (even for 100$ monthly subscribers BTW) to go down (in GB per month), AT&T and Verizon are sure to follow (shocking!!). In the end, if they have their way, you will be able to watch Netflix, but it will cost in bandwidth fees nearly as much as it would cost to rent- with their respective pay-per-view fees. With today's government oversight and teleco mentality could it end any other way?
Netflix is a great STEP in the right direction...
I'm far from alone in saying -- until we can access content, on AND offline, from any device, and for a reasonable price -- entertainment industry is far from where it needs be!
I'm sure Netflix had a jump in subscribers over their streaming service, and 4.99/mo for unlimited on demand movies/tv shows is a lot nicer than a Comcast TV subscription fee + pay per view movies fee + advertising. With the flexibility of internet streaming eliminating advertising and pay per view crap, its nice to see the numbers supporting this.
I'm not fan of \any plug-in that makes compatibility harder with non so called "mainstream" OS's, but I do use an occasional utilize Mac or PC when at a friends's home to watch a film and can't help but notice it seems like the only use for MS Silverlight on the planet. If nothing else 7%+ of American PC's with Silverlight installed is pretty big for a product that has thus far felt like a massive failure. I can't for the world of me see how Adobe, Apple, or even Real or one of the other plug-in pushers didn't secure this deal.
In reality, this is where TV is going. People have complained and wanted to be able to only pay for channels that they want instead of getting these group channel deals. But now we have not only the ability to have this ability, but have it for far cheaper then anything else out there.
Cable and satellite companies just don't seem to get this and are dooming themselves until they either draw out or completely re-invent how they work and what they provide.
They'd have probably been sued by the movie industry if they tried to "Rent" movies online if they didn't do a physical DVD rental first. Even if they had one copy per every movie they rented out, they'd still probably would have been sued and lost.
God spoke to me.
Netflix is only available in the US & Canada. How can they have a global subscriber base?
I have no cable service and watch Netflix almost exclusively (plus some over the air channels), but Comcast still gets 4 times more money from me than Netflix because they provide my high speed internet.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that Comcast earns more profit from me as a internet-only subscriber than they would if I were a cable subscriber.
I, like many others dropped Comcast Cable like the flaming turd it was a couple years ago and went with Digital Antenna + Tivo for HD local network broadcast. I still use Comcast for my internet connection via Comcast Business, but hey.. that's a tax write-off. They give me decent enough upstream (10Mbps) that I can host servers, and higher than advertised downstream (I usually get about 24Mbps) with no bandwidth throttling.
HBO is run by shitheads who pretend that P2P lawsuits are an effective deterrent and somehow think their offering is enough to keep people bound to Comcast Cable. Well HBO: FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR GO SERVICE.
I pirate HBO's shows because HBO wont let me get their shows with an iTunes purchase, they wont put them on Netflix and they seem to think I'll happily bend over and let them and Comcast have their way with my anal sphincter. But I wont -- the shitfest that is Cable TV is not worth $100.00 a month. So fuck you HBO and fuck your GO service. I hope you and Comcast and Viacom die the painful and agonizing death you deserve
Comcast's bandwidth cap is ridiculously higher than AT&T's. Comcast would have to sink a hell of a lot lower for AT&T to be in a position to follow them anywhere.
'sides, Comcast is a bloody canonized saint compared to my last ISP - a regional cable provider, who took a line from Vader and repeatedly altered the terms of my service agreement, and insisted I should pray they didn't alter them further.
A few weeks back, I finally got around to sending back the DVD that I had been holding for about the last six months, having never once been hassled, harassed, or charged extra by Netflix for holding onto it for so long. Two days later, Netflix let me know that they had sent me film X from my DVD Queue.
"Hmm," I said to myself. "Wasn't X #2 on my queue? Well, no matter, I must be confused since I was rearranging it the other day."
Before film X had even arrived, Netflix notified me that X had been my #2, but that they had tracked down a copy of film Y, which was the actual #1 on my queue, and as a result, they would go ahead and send me a copy of that as well, despite the fact that I only had the plan that allows for one DVD at a time. They sent it out at no extra charge to me, and the two arrived on back-to-back days. It was great. It may have been a simple thing, but I hadn't had a company treat me so well in quite awhile. Despite that, it was the sort of thing that seemed natural with Netflix, since everything they do is so oriented around the customer.
It was with great sadness that I temporarily suspended my account the day after sending the videos back, since I needed to spend less time viewing films in my Instant Queue and more time on my graduate research. Even in that however, Netflix was great and continues to be great. They let me suspend it for up to three months, charge me nothing during that time, allow me to manage my queues and rate movies while my account is suspended, don't harass me to come back, and give me immediate access to a button for if I do want to close my account entirely. Compare that to Facebook, which makes deactivating your account a chore, places access to the feature in an out of the way location in your settings, only offers to deactivate but not delete your account, and swindles you into reactivating it if you simply log in.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to being done with my research and back in the embracing arms of Netflix in a few months. Chalk me up as a fanboy.
As for a story of great customer service from Comcast...
Umm...
Yeah, I got nothing. My latest experience with them involved 2-5 minute Internet outages that happened a few times every hour while I was visiting with my parents for the Easter holiday. I'm glad Comcast doesn't have a stranglehold over my area yet.
and comcast picks up the bill for the bandwidth. Keep on pouring that salt in the wound.
Yup! I've had the same thing happen, TWICE so far! And been discounted my monthly fees twice without my having noticed a problem.
Have I never had a problem? Of course not! I've had times when a movie would not stream right, or the audio got out of sync, but not that often, and not in a long time. And every month or so, they send an email asking how a certain movie played, or when I received a DVD. For me, Netflix usually goes like this: I get a movie on Monday (at my p.o. box), sometimes can watch it and put it in my home mailbox that same day. They'll receive it Tuesday or Wednesday, and I'll receive the next movie on Thursday or Friday. It's insane, I'm on the one-DVD-at-a-t-ime plan, and regularly watch two DVDs a week.
With service like that, I'll be their customer for a long, long time!
To be fair there is a Win Phone 7 version and iOS (which has lots of MS apps thus far). I wouldn't scream fuck MS, but at the same time providing a Win7 Phone client before Android does suggest something. Perhaps the GP is biased, but reality doesn't seem too far off.
Comcast is a regional cable provider. Netflix is nationwide. A little bit of bias there. If you want something more accurate, add up subscribers from Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, and whatever else people use.
I routinely watch Netflix streams via 5 different devices, and not one of them requires MS Silverlight. I view on an AppleTV, a Tivo HD, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and occasionally a Wii.
This is not the big win for Silverlight you think it is. This is proof that Netflix streaming is being built into more and more consumer devices. If the only way I could view their streams was via my PC, I wouldn't bother... I'd just stick with the disc mailers.
Has anyone else had a problem with netflix service lately? I had their service for the last year and a half and it worked great, up until about 2 or 3 weeks ago, now it won't play on anything i own without re buffering every 2 minutes. So needless to say, I've dropped their shitty service and i now use amazon and hulu plus.I haven't had a single problem yet with either of them, no re buffering EVER! Plus it's only an extra $4.00 a month for both services.
Just for the reason that I do have Comcast. And I do agree they will probably lower the GB cap eventually, and when/if they do, I will just stop streaming and go back to DVDs. Either ripping or buying. You know, like the old days. Or maybe Netflix will start their own ISP, or buy Comcast.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your politician, and hitting them?"
So, when does Comcast accuse Netflix of acting like a monopoly?
There's an interesting question to ask Netflix: How does the Netflix subsciber base break down, in terms of devices used? It would be interesting to see...
* Just how many people don't use a web browser to watch Netflix instant streaming?
* How many people only stream by computer, and not using any other platform?
* How many people bought a PS3 for Netflix, and the games, but eschew Blu-Ray?
* How many people don't use Netflix instant streaming at all?
That's why they use junk like silverlight
Yeah, before the online streaming,I'd cancelled my account with them. Only sent an email every 3+ months, not two a week like some (Hi dell). No hassles, no deluge of spam. Compare that to trying to drop one of three radios on XM, took thrree calls into a 45+ minute hold queue, two dropped calls, by the time I was done, cancelled them all... No XM/Serious ever again.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
Your comparison to facebook is somewhat off base. Since you don't pay anything, its hard to say they're 'swindling' you by reactivating your free account when you log into it. Also, since you're not paying anything you're not thier customer. You're the product they sell to other people.
Mod point free since 2001
Wtf is going on with the mindless cheer leading. Am I the only slash dot reader with a basic grasp of fundamentals research into companies. The main reason they have been so successful is that they managed to snare most ofof their content licenses at low low rates because the studios thought they were cute and harmless. most of their agreements expire this or next year. I hate big content as much as you all but let's be realistic the war has just begun and big content has a fuckload of cards left
they will raise the caps at the same time introducing a new pricing structure that just happens to be the equivalent to buying internet and cable TV from them.
Just a note about how screwed up Comcast is
When I wanted basic cable (local channels and some chaff) it was a royal pain to get this from Comcast at the price shown on their internet site. I called the number on my bill and was told it was $23.95 for basic cable though their website showed $12.95. After trying two levels of phone support I initiated a contract for basic cable using their online chat. The people on the phone told me the web price was wrong or not available in my area but I have the service at the web price
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
really, this shouldn't worry Comcast tho.... everybody with netflix has to have some kind of internet connecton and by in large, high speed data takes less time to recover profitability than cable tv on an install and the total profitability on HSD is more than cable and phone products combined... everybody wins. Last year Time Warner (as an example) lost subscriber base in its video products but still managed to turn a larger profit than the previous year because it expanded its HSD product. Its all in how you look at this. Now if Netflix were to suddenly start providing internet service to go along with streaming video service then the cable companies would have something to worry about. Honestly i think that cable company's by in large have more to worry about from the emerging 3G and 4G markets than from netflix, or other streming video services. As i said its all in how you look at it. What I don't see talked about much here is how inflated netflix has made the streaming video market. as an example the 9ish bucks a month they charge a month is very high considering that most cable companies practically give away nearly 70% of their streaming video product, pay per view aside most streaming video channels on cable come as a sidecar to selling the accompanying product. Don't get me wrong Netflix is a fabulous product and I am a subscriber but it seams a little preemptive to call the cable company's on the decline here.... specifically when you consider the other markets they continue to expand in such as phone, alarm systems and wireless.
Unfortunately most new movies are horrible.
Yeah, that's my problem with Redbox: the selection is limited to newer titles. I'm saving up a list of movies that I want to see but aren't in Redbox (no longer or never were) so that I can make the most of Netflix once I join.
See? The free market works! USA! USA!
Unicasting content is insanely wasteful.
You give the example of ESPN, and I agree that some form of multicasting is better for live streams where everybody is watching the same scene at the same time. But unicasting is the only way I can see to stream a recorded program on demand and make it seekable (skip/pause) without the half-hour start delays inherent in the sort of pseudo-on-demand seen on satellite TV.
The US can be as retarded as they will on cable/dsl monopolies, but the rest of the world isn't going to stop.
How easily can the rest of the world absorb 300 million refugees from U.S. retardation?
Leggo! I can't afford new ones!
One proposal to that dilemma which I have read is to make it illegal to both sell internet access directly to residential consumers and own backbone or content.
I'd like to see a good definition of "content" first. If "content" includes any copyrighted audiovisual work, then any residential ISP will own "content", even if it is only the advertisements for its own service.
I subscribe to Comcast because they offer the best broadband service in my area. I use Netflix because it's better than Comcast's on-demand service. I wonder how many Netflix subscribers rely on a Netflix competitor.
The reason I have Dish is because they carry all the ESPN stations and the NFL network.
Am I the only one that read "or, well" as "Orwell"? Netflix's rise is great and all, but if we all jump on the Netflix boat, Big Brother will just hop on as well. Tinfoil hats, anyone?
My fear is that Comcast will see Netflix as a competitor and that a large number of Netflix customers go through Comcast for their broadband. Comcast has the lobbying power so I expect Comcast to start doing every dirty deed they can to make Netflix harder for customers to access.
In the mean time, Comcast is reducing the number of stations available. They keep moving stations from basic cable to digital cable to digital premium, etc. Then they try to sell you up to the next level of service.
Maybe it's just that I don't watch much TV, but I never opted for cable or DVRs. The future always seemed destined to be "everything on-demand, from the web". No one would voluntarily *want* to be tied to a viewing schedule, so (except for breaking news and live sports) why should we be?
Koans and fables for the software engineer
having never once been hassled, harassed, or charged extra by Netflix for holding onto it for so long.
Actually, you were charged an exorbitant amount for that DVD. Far more than if you had purchased it outright. However, thanks to Netflix's creative itemizing (which has already been found illegally misleading by multiple courts) stupid people (like you) don't comprehend how much money they have thrown down the drain for that one DVD.
Holding on to a Netflix DVD for any amount of time is like shopping at Rent-a-Center, a classic example of a fool and it's money.
This might finally start pushing cable companies to put their shit on the web. They WILL have a much broader audience (worldwide) --> more revenue. I cannot understand how they still aren't doing it. There won't be any need for "piracy" anymore.
Ok so what does this supposed to mean?
"or, well, you know?"
From the Netflix site, a break down of the devices that support streaming:
Game consoles: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Stand-alone media devices: AppleTV, Logitech Revue, Roku, FreeAgent Theater+, Sony Dash, Sony NMP, WD TV, Boxee, Tivo
Select Blu-ray players from: Insignia, LG, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Yamaha, Vizio
Select HDTVs from: LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony, Vizio, Panasonic
Handheld devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Windows Phone 7
Home theater systems from: Insignia, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony
And more are announced every month, it seems. But just looking at game consoles, most households with internet service and someone under 30 probably have at least one of them..
Netflix having so many customers demonstrates a viable business model. One that has more or less destroyed the Blockbuster empire. I would have no problem with being a Netflix customer myself, except that Netflix still demonstrates they have no desire for DEAF customers. They insist on pretending that Closed Captioning is an arcane and difficult technology to implement.
So, while I applaud Netflix for their massive customer base, I do NOT welcome these Netflix overlords, because they insist on treating me as a second class citizen. Shape up, Netflix!
I dropped Comcast a few weeks ago. Of course, because I have no other reasonable option in my area (DSL isn't even offered), I still get my broadband from them, but that's subsidized by my employer. Also over the last few weeks, we've streamed several movies and TV shows via Netflix. Over that Comcast broadband link.
The way I see it, Sports is all the cable and satellite providers have left as leverage to keep customers.
If they can keep those they will be around for a while.
But yes, they will have to drop prices, which may mean users will come back.
Myself?
I stream Netflix and watch blu-rays/dvds, and then watch PBS and the occasional "regular" tv over HD antenna.
Seeing cable and satellite squirm like this is something I relish.
Customer Service, which Netflix actually cares about, is one of the main reasons why I continue to espouse their greatness. Compared to the other digital entertainment providers, Netflix is a Knight in Shining Armour.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Netflix is one of the only big companies that still uses POPUPS and POP-UNDERS to advertise. We despised all companies that used those in the past. Why support them now?
Since you don't pay anything [...] You're the product they sell to other people.
If I'm the product they sell, then I would say that I'm giving something up, and giving something up for a service is the very definition of paying for it. The account may not have a credit card attached to it that gets charged each month, but it's hardly free to use. I'd say "swindle" was the right word, but I will readily admit my bias.
I think it is inevitable and probably already happening that service like Netflix and Hulu become throttled or limited by bandwidth... it would seem a logical business move for these type high throughput services to just skip the Comcasts and Time Warners and just start their own ISP services. THAT would be some competition...
No, I really don't know. If you can't figure out what you're trying to say, how am I supposed to be able to?
If you watched the last 9 episodes of The Daily Show, then you're probably going to watch the next one. That means your computer doesn't need to wait for you to record it
Automatically joining a multicast of the next episode at the same time as a unicast of the current episode works when you have told the system that you are having an archive binge or are otherwise watching each episode in order, or when the system determines that you are. But it doesn't work so well for the model of random access to individual clips cited on other web pages.
If you're unpredictable, or refuse to plan ahead on general principles, or just have a sudden lark, then ok, you will need to incur the extra cost of unicast in order to get the job done. But most of the time, that just shouldn't be necessary
Except most of my online video streaming experience has in fact been unpredictable and/or long-tail. How would multicast help video providers like Dailymotion and YouTube, which don't have as much of a concept of "all episodes of a series in order"? How would it work for movies, when the system can't predict which I'm going to want to watch first as easily as it can for TV shows? And how would multicast get routed over the backbone, or would publishers of video need to negotiate with individual ISPs?
By "extra cost of unicast", you appear to refer to Netflix switching from "watch instantly" to "we'll choose a few films in your queue to send to your DVR, or you can pay extra to watch instantly". Do I understand you right?
I only have the Canadian version of Netflix which is crippled in comparison to our USA neighbors. Our selection is much more limited but even at that for $8 a month I can't complain, I've spent more than that on random things that may only entertain me for less than an hour. With Netflix my household is entertained and I have had nothing but positive experiences.
Even if I don't plan on watching much I don't cancel my subscription because while it is only $8 it is money put towards how content SHOULD BE delivered. Given the hardships Netflix has had to put up with, i.e. attempted bandwidth cap legislation the $8 spent is more political than it is entertainment. Not saying Netflix is a do-no-evil company, they are clearly for profit, they are just doing it with such style it is hard not to like them.
does this 'victory' account for what are sure to be large numbers of comcast users who are also netflix subscribers?
I think tablets are more important, and they run android
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Sort of a tangent, but how do you know if you're getting an HD stream from Netflix? Or is there any sort of comparison chart of different Netflix devices? I've got some cheapo Insignia Bluray player I picked up partially because it came bundled with Netflix playback. That works fine and all and streams seem fine to me but I've wondered how my experience compares to other devices. I saw the Netflix menu on a friend's PS3 and it blew the BR players' interface away. What's going to give me the best Netflix streaming experience? A Roku box? A tivo? A DIY Boxee box? I like having it bundled with a disc player or DVR or something just so I don't have to have yet another device but how do I know?
Your ideas only hold up if you make the assumption that I did not take advantage of any other aspect of the service, which is not the case. During those six months, I watched the entire X-Files series, a good chunk of Top Gear, plenty of other TV series of lesser fame, and dozens of movies. You suggesting that I didn't get my money's worth is like suggesting that a person who goes to an all-you-can-eat buffet but doesn't eat one particular item is just wasting their money, even if they eat loads and loads of other things that are there.
Your ideas only hold up if you make the assumption that I did not take advantage of any other aspect of the service
This is a logical fallacy. Anything you might have gained from Netflix doesn't make that DVD any less exorbitant. I didn't really expect you to understand this (or you wouldn't have let it happen in the first place), but you have extremely poor judgment. In fact I think you should consider refraining from discussing important topics as a kind of public service.
The producer of content can set their price to what ever the fuck they want, if you don't like it don't fucking buy it
Say I produce my own work instead of subscribing to major-label works because I "don't like it don't fucking buy it". Then the owner of copyright in a work that I "don't like it don't fucking buy" still accuses me of copyright infringement, claiming that I plagiarized their work. What should I have done differently?
Basically if you don't vote with your dollars
How do I vote with my dollars against, say, a record label that has got its music into all the grocery stores' background music systems?
If however, have no way of getting it legally then there could be some leniency as it is your only means of acquiring something. If you cannot afford or are willing to pay for something then I am afraid you should just live without it.
To take your viewpoint to the extreme, people who cannot afford half the market capitalization of a movie studio's parent company have no room to complain. What's the legitimate way to obtain a copy of Walt Disney Pictures' film Song of the South, other than by spending $42 billion on half the company's stock?
Netflix, great for people who are bad at math!
I come here for the love
Eh, I probably watched a few hundred TV episodes and/or movies during that time. I still got my money's worth.