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Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

money.cnn.com

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Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#41

Post by paul9290 »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #24
paul9290 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The B-grade content they started to put front and center lost me. I just use hulu.com and other similar sites; Mac Mini connected to my TV.

You kind of have to do that to make Hulu and similar sites actually work in the living room due to the ridiculous licensing restrictions on a lot of their content disallowing phone/Xbox/360/Wii/set top box usage.

Yes with a Mac Mini connected to a LCD TV you have a ton more choices(hulu, cbsnews.com/video, tv.com & others).

It's not the same user experience as a TV, but for me it's better. It allows me to watch/listen to shows/movies in one tab while reading articles, instant messaging friends & other things within other tabs.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#42

Post by Klinky »

HaloZero wrote: post #26

I have friends who were outraged at Netflix price increase. And I mean serious outrage. I did notice that the ones who were really outraged are running tight on money. One of them works and goes to school full time so an extra $8/month after tuition, rent, even though it's marginal seems like a LOT and for no additional benefit.

I think a lot of the outrage came from people learning about the price increase, learning that Starz was going away & then on top of that learning that Netflix was going to destroy the convenience aspect by separating the services. Regardless of the costs, it just seems like Netflix kept eroding the value of their service while asking more for it. Plus how they relayed this information seemed like a mix between condescending & manic.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#43

Post by georgemcbay »

badclient wrote: post #11
gkoberger wrote: post #3

I feel bad for Netflix. They're between a rock and a hard place. The content providers want more money and eventually want to cut out the middleman. The users balk when the price is raised, even though unlimited streaming and DVDs for a month still cost less than a decent meal. And every decision they make (like Qwikster, which was likely done so they didn't have to pay content providers a fee for users who weren't s…

still cost less than a decent meal So many great things on the web cost less than a single cup of Starbucks. Yet, I myself am so hesitant to pay for them. On my landing pages I design at work, I'm increasingly trying to communicate this via comparisons("less than a morning Starbucks trip"). Another one is showing a dollar bill to communicate that for less than a dollar a day, they will get _____. For a service that w…

The reason I think long and hard before signing up for new web services isn't even the cost 99% of the time, but the uncertainty in how difficult it is going to be to cancel should I decide I do not want to continue.

I've had it UP TO HERE with services that allow me to subscribe with one click and then make me go through a half-day long ordeal of phone calls to outsourced customer service people (who earn bonuses based on convincing you not to leave the service) in order to cancel.

Making it obvious that I can leave at any time just as easily as I joined is a huge greasing agent for getting me to actually put down money to try your service. It is a shame so few sites/services do this and most go with the short-sighted trap-em-in model which hurts the industry as a whole (since it makes people like me far less likely to use any non-essential services just to avoid the potential of a cancellation PITA).

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#44

Post by wx77 »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #22
goodweeds wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm willing to bet that a lot of those users, like myself, said "I've had these same 2 dvds for the past year. The streaming selection pretty much sucks and I end up watching B-movies when I'm bored because nothing I want to watch, and haven't seen before, is in their library. I should send these 2 dvds back and cancel". I've long switched to itunes or Amazon when I want to watch movies because they tend to have the…

Of course, you don't really 'own' the movies through iTunes or Amazon either. And Netflix's stream servers have plenty of bandwidth to serve up. I use it daily without issue and HD programs, so it's not the servers. More likely, it you're internet connection or their overburdened peer connection to Netflix's peer. Either way, not something really in their control. As most internet service is getting more unreliable (…

I have a bad internet connection (1.5 Mbit) and found that without using the whole connection I wasn't able to stream netflix and was still burdened with artifacts and terrible quality. Now to put this in perspective at a little over half my connection speed (~.8Mbit maybe it is less) amazon streaming works perfectly with decent enough quality and no stops to buffer or recheck my internet speeds.

So maybe I'm in the minority or maybe I'm not but I dropped netflix streaming and probably won't be going back unless cable or fiber internet comes to my area.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#45

Post by aero142 »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #12

So, they lost 3 to 4% of their customers - that is not good. That said, my wife and I each have our own streaming accounts and I also have blu-ray delivery on my account, and Netflix is not losing our business: we really like the service. Also, with their price increases, I don't understand why the stock took such a big hit.

My 2c. Netflix was trading near a 40 P/E. This usually implies that the stock price is based on a belief about a huge future growth and that they would continue adding large numbers of subscribers every month. When they reversed the trend, they could no longer justify a high P/E, so the stock switched to be priced as a slow growth and riskier stock at a lower P/E.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#46

Post by sage_joch »

HaloZero wrote: post #26

I have friends who were outraged at Netflix price increase. And I mean serious outrage. I did notice that the ones who were really outraged are running tight on money. One of them works and goes to school full time so an extra $8/month after tuition, rent, even though it's marginal seems like a LOT and for no additional benefit.

Outrage seems like a funny response to a price increase for a no-lock-in, non-essential entertainment service.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#47

Post by sukuriant »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #12

So, they lost 3 to 4% of their customers - that is not good. That said, my wife and I each have our own streaming accounts and I also have blu-ray delivery on my account, and Netflix is not losing our business: we really like the service. Also, with their price increases, I don't understand why the stock took such a big hit.

Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. I expect it to climb back, and will probably be putting money into it when the panic settles.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#48

Post by AJ007 »

georgemcbay wrote: post #43
badclient wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

still cost less than a decent meal So many great things on the web cost less than a single cup of Starbucks. Yet, I myself am so hesitant to pay for them. On my landing pages I design at work, I'm increasingly trying to communicate this via comparisons("less than a morning Starbucks trip"). Another one is showing a dollar bill to communicate that for less than a dollar a day, they will get _____. For a service that w…

The reason I think long and hard before signing up for new web services isn't even the cost 99% of the time, but the uncertainty in how difficult it is going to be to cancel should I decide I do not want to continue. I've had it UP TO HERE with services that allow me to subscribe with one click and then make me go through a half-day long ordeal of phone calls to outsourced customer service people (who earn bonuses ba…

Cancelling a recurring service is generally no more difficult than saying, "please cancel my subscription quick so I don't have to charge this back."

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#50

Post by itcmcgrath »

georgemcbay wrote: post #43
badclient wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

still cost less than a decent meal So many great things on the web cost less than a single cup of Starbucks. Yet, I myself am so hesitant to pay for them. On my landing pages I design at work, I'm increasingly trying to communicate this via comparisons("less than a morning Starbucks trip"). Another one is showing a dollar bill to communicate that for less than a dollar a day, they will get _____. For a service that w…

The reason I think long and hard before signing up for new web services isn't even the cost 99% of the time, but the uncertainty in how difficult it is going to be to cancel should I decide I do not want to continue. I've had it UP TO HERE with services that allow me to subscribe with one click and then make me go through a half-day long ordeal of phone calls to outsourced customer service people (who earn bonuses ba…

My thoughts exactly. $1-$20 a month might not be much, but if I sign-up to something and it takes me half a day of jumping through hoops such as making phone calls then it ends up costing me a lot more than that, not just based on time (and how much I think my time is worth), but also in raising my stress/frustrating levels.

Let me know and can click 'cancel' anytime, no strings, no hassle and you'll probably get me on impulse purchase. Don't : Good luck getting my money.

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