Netflix’s recent decision to increase rates for its streaming plus-DVD service, then splitting the company in two caused customer ire. But what seemed like a bone-headed move to some, might actually be Netflix CEO Reed Hasting’s genius move. Maybe. READ MORE
After two months of customer discontent over a price increase, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings poured fuel on the fire Monday with an email to his subscribers. He meant it as an apology. It read more as pure arrogance splashed over 661 words. Now subscribers have turned their anger directly on him. In other words, Hastings completely botched the whole thing, says L. Todd Thomas, a professor on business leadership at Northwood University. “I’m not even sure what he thought the outcome of that email was going to be,” Thomas says. “So yeah, it was a dumb move.” READ MORE
Netflix will split its video-stream and DVD-mailing services into separate companies after losing a million customers over its pricing snafu. Consider this an ideal lesson in re-branding. READ MORE
Netflix, the video-streaming service, released its first quarter earnings on Monday. As TechCrunch notes in its write-up, “Depending on how many subscribers Comcast reports this quarter, Netflix might surpass it to become the largest entertainment subscription business in the U.S.” The company added 3.6 million total subscribers for the quarter, with 3.3 million of them coming from within the U.S. (That’s a bit more than the total population of Iowa.) In all, the company’s subscriber base has grown by almost 70 percent in the past year, CNNMoney reports. READ MORE
