Slashdot Mirror
Verizon Considering Purchase of Netflix
schwit1 writes "Shares of Netflix soared more than 6% Monday on a report that Verizon Communications is considering buying the troubled movie renter. Verizon is reportedly evaluating whether a purchase of Netflix could provide an entry into the video delivery business, DealReporter said, citing a source close to the matter. The news comes as Netflix continues to struggle from a series of missteps earlier this year when it raised subscription prices and separated its DVD-by-mail service and streaming. Netflix's stock price plunged to a new 52-week low two weeks ago when the company warned it would fall to a loss in 2012 if it failed to boost its bruised customer base."
Wowsers, if you thought Netflix was nickel-and-diming you, wait til Verizon gets hold of them. Probably cost you a quarter every time you use fast forward.
Instead of having flat-rate streaming movies, it's an add-on that dings you per movie.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
The CRTC will have a fit and use it as even more reason to keep the lecherous US company from stealing Bell's customers. Damn them netflix hooligans with their fairer prices.
If Verizon buys Netflix, we'll be paying $15/month for streaming to ONE device at a time, and the DVD delivery will be dropped entirely.There will be a limit of 15 streams a month per account, or 50GB of data, whichever comes first. Additional streams will cost $3.99 each. And you'll have to sign a 2-year contract. And if you want to stream to your PHONE, that will be another $15 a month, on top of the $15/month membership.
Streaming that only works well on verizon internet!
You know, it's bad enough that ISP's, Verizon definitely included, are using bandwidth caps now, which limits the attraction of a service like Netflix.
It's bad enough that Verizon charges you extra to use functions on your phone that don't have a damn thing to do with their network at all (Mobile Hotspot).
I don't think I want to know how they manage to ruin Netflix, if they were to snatch it up.
"No one is more miserable than the person who wills everything and can do nothing." -Emperor Claudius 10 BC - AD 54
You forgot one of their old slogans that still applies to Verizon, and would apply to Netflix.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
the content producer. Should this actually happen, it could in no way be good for Netflix's customers, or even the market in general. Content carriers really should be separate from the producers of said content. It provides far too many opportunities for conflicts of interest, including (but not limited to) bandwidth and price preference. This is a bad idea; the telcos have proven time and time again that they are not to be trusted.
After their recent misstetp they'll likely be a bargain buy. Expect Verizon to only be interested in the technology, IP and media rights portfolio, while they ditch the people who are running the company.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
That'll definitely kill it. Verizon will force folks to subscribe to their cable service and offer it as an add-on or something horrible like that. I can't see how Verizon won't resist squeezing all the blood out of Netflix like everything else they do.
I'm going to go hug a Redbox today.
I am a long time customer. I love it. Even with the latest mis-steps, I am still a happy customer. Yes, they screwed up. But the service is still totally worth it to me.
But if Verizon buys them, I'm cancelling. I just cannot imagine any way that they wouldn't completely destroy Netflix's value proposition.
Missteps were mildly annoying, but I never considered cancelling. I _will_ cancel if Verizon acquires Netflix.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - H. G. Wells
He's probably got a comfy warm seat on Verizon's board waiting for him. There has to be a reason he single-handedly destroyed Netflix from the inside. Nobody is stupid enough to do everything he did just out of the blue.
Lily Tomlin
The fact of the matter is that the majority of people on the old Netflix plan only used the streaming service or the DVD plan because it came free with the one they wanted. They never had any interest in paying for the other service, so when Netflix decided to start charging for it, they naturally dropped the one they didn't use.
There was a smaller group that liked both, and decided that even with a 60% price increase, that it was worth it.
There was an even smaller group that liked both, but were frustrated with the streaming selection, annoyed at the screwed up website. They were already looking at other options, but nothing came close to the combined value of DVDs and streaming. When the price increase came, this changed and other options started looking more competitive so they left. But again this was a very small group.
I wouldn't call people who don't want to pay for a service they hardly use spoiled. I wouldn't call people who can find a better deal spoiled. I call it obvious, and if Netflix had done any customer research they would have as well.
I have stayed with Netflix through their recent screwups because they still offer exactly what I want for the price I want, and I don't particularly hate them as a company. And despite what everyone bitches about, my rate hasn't actually changed (except down!) since I originally signed up way back in their early days.
I do, however, loathe you as a company, with every fiber of my being. If you buy Netflix, I will drop my subscription before the ink dries.
So please, don't. I would prefer to keep my Netflix subscription. I will not, however, ever do business with Verizon, under any name I recognize as affiliated with them.
I don't care if you like Verizon or not, we have to stop content carriers from buying content providers. Comcast+NBC, Verizon+Netflix, etc. It is bad enough that one company provides phone lines + service on those lines, now they are going to provide the whole thing?
"No Mr. Senator, VerizonFlix services will not be hindered when traveling over competing networks. Here, ask our friend Benjamin if he sees any problems with it..."
My 10 year old son learned on his own Verizon's business strategies... with Roller Coaster Tycoon. He'd hide the amusement park's exit gate so guests would stay longer and hence spend more, and he'd cut the prices on soft drinks a little and charge for restroom usage. My younger daughter would get involved and check the state of individual guests. They were usually desperately looking for an exit or a restroom, or feeling nauseous, but my son didn't respond to their plight since his short-term profits were increasing. Recent decisions at the USPS regarding next-day delivery WILL impact Netflix's DVD shipments adversely, driving the business even faster to streaming. The best we can hope for if Verizon buys them is that they'll quickly spin off the DVD business, and it will focus on older and commercially less-successful movies. I do expect Verflixon to charge more to stream to "smart" devices (however they decide to define that), and make it difficult to tolerate not subscribing to the extra cost options. Furthermore, they'll obsolete existing Netflix-capable devices (Roku, Wii, etc.) and market their own replacements, "free" with a 24 month contract. Also, resolution will be lower and there'll be pauses for "rebuffering." Don't forget that documentaries about corporate malfeasance, citizen discontent, and popular uprisings will disappear from the catalog. You won't be watching pieces about OWS or anything Michael Moore might think up, but you'll get virtual visits to Ground Zero—Giftshop, that is, with "buy me now" buttons onscreen. Watch for a Verizon-Disney merge soon... Derizney? My son will then be hired to run Derizneyland.