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Netflix to Raise Prices for Blu-ray Subscribers
Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 01:00 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
Citing higher retail and wholesale prices, Netflix plans to implement a "modest monthly premium" for access to Blu-ray titles some time this year.
As confirmed through transcripts of Netflix's first quarter earnings call, President and CEO Reed Hastings made the announcement during the conference call yesterday.
"Purchasing Blu-ray DVDs costs more both at retail and wholesale than standard definition DVDs, and consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content in every other channel, including video rental stores, video-on-demand, and cable channels," Hastings stated. "Because of the higher cost of Blu-ray and the consumer expectations around high-def content, we are planning on implementing a modest monthly premium for access to Blu-ray some time this year."
No information was provided regarding a timeline for the price increase or the amount that might be charged. We'll be sure to keep you posted as we learn more regarding the company's plans for next generation subscribers.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
Netflix Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 12:30 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
Online rentailer Netflix has announced it will drop support of the HD DVD format, and will exclusively stock Blu-ray discs.
Citing the decision by four of the six major movie studios to publish high-def DVD titles only in the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, Netflix said that it would cease purchasing new HD DVD stock immediately, and that it would phase out existing HD DVD stock by year's end.
As we've previously reported, Netflix was the first major rentailer to support both high-def disc format, stocking HD DVD beginning in April of 2006, and Blu-ray in June of that same year.
"The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "From the Netflix perspective, focusing on one format will enable us to create the best experience for subscribers who want high- definition to be an important part of how they enjoy our service."
The company says that although only a portion of Netflix subscribers have elected to receive high-def discs, a majority of those subscribers have chosen Blu-ray over HD DVD.
(Thanks to all who sent in tips related to this story)
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format [Press Release]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix Adds Blu-ray to Rental Menu (May 15, 2006)
- Netflix Adds HD DVD Rentals (Mar 13, 2006)
Report: Netflix Users Favor HD DVD
Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 01:11 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
A new report indicates that although only a tiny percentage of Netflix users are high-def early adopters, among them HD DVD appears to be favored over Blu-ray by a factor of more than two-to-one.
According to data released by web metrics site Compete.com (see chart below), out of an average 14 million monthly visitors to Netflix from June-August of 2007, only 48,000 (0.3%) viewed the site's genre pages for either HD DVD or Blu-ray.
Curiously, although those who looked at Blu-ray titles outnumbered those looking at HD-DVD by a factor of 1.8 to 1, among those who set an high-def format as their preferred disc format, HD-DVD was chosen over Blu-ray by a factor of 2.4 to 1.
Based on these numbers, Compete says those who looked at the HD-DVD genre were 4.4 times more likely than Blu-ray browsers to actually set this as their preferred format.
The numbers would appear to contradict recent statements made by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who said in a late August interview that customer demand for both formats at Netflix was "pretty evenly split."
Compete.com estimates US web traffic using a sample group of two million web users.
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See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: Does anyone care? [Compete.com Blog]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix: Demand for Blu-ray and HD DVD Evenly Split, But Tiny (Aug 24, 2007)
Blockbuster to Go Blu-ray Only in 1400+ Stores
Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 01:52 AM ETTags: Blockbuster, High-Def Disc Rentals, Industry Trends (all tags)
Blockbuster says it will expand its high-def disc rental program by 1,450 stores in July, but in a blow to the HD DVD camp, each of the new stores will only carry Blu-ray.
The nation's largest video chain began renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs in 250 stores in late 2006, but it says it has found that its customers have chosen Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time.
"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster told the AP.
While the company will continue to rent HD DVD discs in the original 250 stores and via its online rental service, its July expansion to 1,450 additional stores will see the rentailer go Blu-ray only.
Blockbuster told the Associated Press that the decision was helped in large part by the lopsided availability of titles in Blu-ray. "When you walk into a store and see all this product available in Blu-ray and there is less available on HD DVD, I think the consumer gets that," Smith said.
The HD DVD Promotional Group called Blockbuster's decision "shortsighted," and attributed Blu-ray's performance at Blockbuster to that format's stronger release slate in the first three months of 2007.
"I think trying to make a format decision using such a short time period is really not measuring what the consumer is saying," said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the group.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Blockbuster to favor Blu-ray HD disc [Associated Press]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Blockbuster to Test Blu-ray, HD DVD Rentals (Nov 06, 2006)
Retailers Report Missed Street Dates for HD DVD, Blu-ray Discs
Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 01:02 AM ETTags: High-Def Retailing, High-Def Disc Rentals, Industry Trends (all tags)
While we've seen plenty of reports of high-def discs hitting shelves days (and even weeks) ahead of time, apparently the opposite is also true, with some retailers and video rental stores reporting delayed shipments for HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.
According to home entertainment trade paper Video Business, a good number of smaller outlets are receiving high-def versions of day-and-date releases later than the titles' standard-definition versions, resulting in added costs in overnight shipping and/or missed street dates.
A rep from Scarecrow Video told Video Business that the video rental chain hadn't received its copies of 'Children of Men' on HD DVD until six days after its release date. Similarly, the Blu-ray edition of 'Happy Feet' was also reported to have arrived at some stores after its March 27 street date.
So why the delays? The problem appears to stem from the replication process, where already slim capacities are being further stymied by increasingly familiar "production quality problems," such as those recently reported for 'Children of Men.'
Lyne Fisher, spokeswoman at disc authoring company Cinram confirmed as much to Video Business, saying "standard-definition has been around since 1997, so we have a lot of practice and the process is seamless... it's only natural that when there is a new process, it can take more time."
Fisher went on to say that Cinram is improving its production capabilities for both next-gen formats, and projects 60% more capacity for both HD DVD and Blu-ray by year's end.
Meanwhile, aside from the inconvenience of having to ship and stock the high-def discs separately from their standard-def counterparts, retailers don't seem super bothered -- "we’ve absolutely seen brief delays on high-def, but it’s nothing past a week,” Mark Steiner of Scarecrow Video told Video Business. "It would have been nice getting in 'Children of Men,' though. This is the first HD title that I think our customers are really going to care about."
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- High-Def Titles Late on Delivery [Video Business]
- Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
- Children of Men (HD DVD)
- Happy Feet (Blu-ray)
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- 'Children of Men' HD DVD Hits Xbox 360 Playback Snag?
Blockbuster to Test Blu-ray, HD DVD Rentals
Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 04:37 PM ETTags: High-Def Disc Rentals, Blockbuster (all tags)
After a week of rumors, Blockbuster has confirmed it will test Blu-ray and HD DVD rentals at select outlets nationwide starting immediately.
After a leak of the news first appeared in a post at AVS Forum, speculation ran rampant on the web that the struggling rental giant was about to begin testing high-def rentals in about 250 of its high-volume stores, with each stocking about 40 titles to start, then adding about four to six titles monthly. High-def titles would rent at the same rate as standard-def DVDs.
Blockbuster has now confirmed those plans to Video Business. "It's a careful selection process," Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove said of the experiment. "We're looking at DVD adoption rate and hardware penetration. We'll continue to watch the market and monitor to see where additional expansion will be appropriate."
This marks Blockbuster's first foray into storefront high-def rentals, though the chain's online arm has been offering Blu-ray and HD DVD titles for several months.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Big Blue Tests High-Def Formats [Video Business]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Rumor Mill: Blockbuster to Stock HD DVD, Blu-ray? (Nov 01, 2006)
Blockbuster to Test Blu-ray, HD DVD Rentals
Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 04:37 PM ETTags: High-Def Disc Rentals, Blockbuster (all tags)
After a week of rumors, Blockbuster has confirmed it will test Blu-ray and HD DVD rentals at select outlets nationwide starting immediately.
After a leak of the news first appeared in a post at AVS Forum, speculation ran rampant on the web that the struggling rental giant was about to begin testing high-def rentals in about 250 of its high-volume stores, with each stocking about 40 titles to start, then adding about four to six titles monthly. High-def titles would rent at the same rate as standard-def DVDs.
Blockbuster has now confirmed those plans to Video Business. "It's a careful selection process," Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove said of the experiment. "We're looking at DVD adoption rate and hardware penetration. We'll continue to watch the market and monitor to see where additional expansion will be appropriate."
This marks Blockbuster's first foray into storefront high-def rentals, though the chain's online arm has been offering Blu-ray and HD DVD titles for several months.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Big Blue Tests High-Def Formats [Video Business]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Rumor Mill: Blockbuster to Stock HD DVD, Blu-ray? (Nov 01, 2006)
Rumor Mill: Blockbuster to Stock HD DVD, Blu-ray? (Updated)
Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 05:03 PM ETTags: Blockbuster, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
Struggling video rentailer Blockbuster may be testing the high-def waters this holiday season with a rumored expansion to HD DVD and Blu-ray in some of its most high-volume stores.
At least that's what one poster on AVS Forum says a New York-based Blockbuster store manager told him.
According to the poster's account, beginning on November 7th, select Blockbuster outlets will participate in what's being termed an "experiment" -- stocking 40 titles on both HD DVD and Blu-ray, and adding 4-6 titles each month. The high-def titles will rent at the same rate as standard def discs.
If true, this wouldn't be Blockbuster's first foray with the high-def formats. Like Netflix, the company has been renting high-def discs via itsonline rental service Blockbuster.com since the formats both launched earlier this year.
But given the limited shelf-space of their bricks and mortar outlets, such an experiment would nonetheless be notable, and might serve to encourage other bricks and mortar video rental stores to follow suit.
We'll let you know when (and if) this story is confirmed, and if you see high-def discs for rent at *your* local Blockbuster, please drop us a line (and send us a photo) via our tips and submission form.
UPDATE: (9:00pm ET, 11/1/06) A couple updates on this one -- first, readers in Florida and California wrote in tell us that they too have been told that Blockbuster will begin carrying high-def discs in select stores in their area. And second, Murilo from Brazil sent along this photo from a Brazilian Blockbuster that is apparently already carrying high-def discs. Thanks to all for the tips.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Select Blockbuster stores will carry BR & HD disks starting Nov 7th [AVS Forum]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Blockbuster Adds High-Def to Online Rental Queue (Apr 13, 2006)
Netflix Adds Blu-Ray to Rental Menu
Mon May 15, 2006 at 01:01 PM ETTags: High-Def Disc Rentals, Netflix (all tags)
With no fanfare, today Netflix has added the ability for its customers to set
up their accounts to rent Blu-Ray discs. The online rental giant began offering
HD-DVD disc titles to its service in late March.As the weblog Hacking Netflix describes, customers can now access the Blu-Ray option from the "Your Account" page, under "High Definition Account Preferences." Customers can rank their preference of format to Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and DVD in order of "First Choice," "Second Choice" and "Third Choice."
This option comes a little more than one month until the official launch of the Blu-Ray format, with the first ten Blu-Ray disc titles due for release on June 20 from Sony. For a complete list of upcoming Blu-Ray releases, visit our complete Blu-Ray Release Schedule.
- Related links:
- Netflix Adds Blu-Ray Option [Hacking Netflix]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix Adds HD-DVD Rental (Mar 13, 2006)
- Netflix to Rent High-Def DVDs (Feb 24, 2006)
Netflix CEO Urges Studios to Support Both HD-DVD, Blu-Ray
Tue Apr 25, 2006 at 02:21 PM ETTags: High-Def Disc Rentals, Netflix (all tags)
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is reaching out to all of the major Hollywood studios
in an effort to
bring an end to the high-def DVD format war.Video Business reports that during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call Monday, Hastings encouraged the studios to release their movie libraries on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to make consumers feel comfortable enough to upgrade from standard DVD, or risk leaving both next-gen formats dead in the water.
"Protracted competition will hurt the adoption of high-definition DVD," Hastings reportedly said. "If all studios were to embrace both formats agnostically, consumers would be more comfortable making a format decision based on hardware pricing and features."
He also urged the studios to follow the example set by Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment, who are supporting both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, which Hastings called a "practical solution" to the high-def DVD stand-off.
Hastings comments come one month after Netflix announced they would offer their customers the option of renting both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray titles. The service added HD-DVD rentals concurrent with the format's launch last week, and is planning to add Blu-Ray titles when its first disc titles are expected to arrive next month from Sony.
- Related links:
- Hastings Urges End to High-Def War [Video Business]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix Adds HD-DVD Rentals (Mar 13, 2006)
MORE HIGH-DEF DISC NEWS TAGGED "HIGH-DEF DISC RENTALS":
- Blockbuster Adds HD-DVD to Online Rental Queue Apr 13, 2006
- Netflix Adds HD-DVD Rentals Mar 13, 2006
- Netflix to Rent High-Def DVDs Feb 24, 2006
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