Yep, more changes are coming to Netflix, and this time it’s a shocker: the online movie rental giant will essentially split in two, with its streaming video service staying under the “Netflix” brand while its original DVD-by-mail business will land on a new site, called “Qwikster.”
Update: Well, never mind about Qwikster, with Netflix abruptly dropping its plan to spin off DVD rentals.
When is all this going to happen—and why is it happening? Will prices go up yet again? How is your Netflix account going to change? And whither those famous red Netflix envelopes? Get ready for some answers.
Wait—is this a joke? Netflix is really splitting off its DVD business into a separate service?
Yes, it’s real, although for a second there I thought April Fools’ Day had come six months early.
So … what’s going to happen, then? Where will I go to rent DVDs?
According to a blog post by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, you’ll have to visit a new site at Qwikster.com that will be “the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to.” Once there, you’ll be able to manage your DVD queue and search for movies, same as before.
The one big change for Qwikster will be a new addition: game disc rentals for the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, which will put Netflix in competition with existing games-by-mail services like Gamefly.com.
What if I’m just on Netflix’s streaming-only plan?
Nothing much will change, according to Netflix; you’ll still go to Netflix.com to find and stream movies and TV shows, just like before. The only difference, of course, is that you’ll only see movies that are available for streaming—no more DVDs.
And for those of us who both rent DVDs and stream videos from Netflix?
In that case, you’re in for some major changes. Specifically, you’ll have to go to Netflix.com for streaming videos and Qwikster.com for DVDs by mail—and more importantly, the sites “will not be integrated” (as Netflix’s Hastings puts it), meaning you’ll have to jump back and forth between the two sites to manage your streaming-video and DVD queues, search for videos to rent, and rate movies and TV shows.
How is billing going to work? Will I have two different accounts?
Yep, says Netflix: “If you subscribe to both services, and if you need to change your credit card or email address, you would need to do it in two places,” while “members who subscribe to both services will have two entries on their credit card statements, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix.”
Here’s the big question: Are prices going to go up again?
“We’re done with that,” Netflix promises (referring, of course, to its recent and unpopular price increases), pledging that those of us with separate streaming and DVD plans on Netflix and the new Qwikster site will pay a total amount that’s “the same as the current charges.”
When is all this going to happen?
We still don’t have a precise date yet, with Netflix’s Hastings saying only that “we will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.”
Alright, so why is all this happening?
That’s the question of the hour. Here’s what Hastings wrote on the official Netflix blog:
Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD, plus lots of TV series. We want to advertise the breadth of our incredible DVD offering so that as many people as possible know it still exists, and it is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection on DVD. DVD by mail may not last forever, but we want it to last as long as possible.
I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We feel we need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolve, without having to maintain compatibility with our DVD by mail service.
So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are becoming two quite different businesses, with very different cost structures, different benefits that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.
Is this the beginning of the end for Netflix’s famous red envelopes?
Hastings swears that it isn’t, promising that “Qwikster will continue to run the best DVD by mail service ever.”
But it sure tells you something about Netflix’s priorities, what with the company keeping its streaming video service while relegating DVDs to a different brand.
So, here’s my question for you: Will you stick with Netflix and/or Qwikster once the company splits into two? Or have you had enough of all the changes?
Interesting about their adding game rentals. If I had known that, I might have considered keeping my DVD rental subscription. But I’m not in a hurry to add it back just yet.
I’m curious to see what the prices are for gaming rentals—and how long it’ll take them to actually send the game discs. I use Gamefly.com right now and the prices are OK, but the discs take anywhere from several days to a week to show up. With Netflix—err, Qwikflix—DVDs usually show up on my doorstep in one day.
This is horrible. I didn’t mind the price increase (it’s still cheap, fast and awesome), but the splitting of DVDs and streaming into two sites will make my “entertainment management” much harder. I flip back and forth on an almost daily basis and keep an eye on when I can get a movie via streaming, then take it out of my DVD queue. It’s a lot of administration that is already a bit cumbersome with two different lists to flip between (I’ve always wished they’d integrate them), but with two separate, unintegrated sites, that’s going to become a major headache.
My biggest fear is that they won’t port my DVD queue over to Quikster for me. Any idea, Ben? Will I have to re-add the, um, 411 movies to my Quikster queue?
Well, the good news is that our DVD queue will be ported over to the Qwikster site—or at least, that’s what Netflix is promising. Still, I agree; splitting the site in two sounds like it’ll be more helpful for Netflix corporate that it will for us. Ugh.
Although it is fairly inconvenient to have your account and queues on different site, it will eventually benefit me if not many other people. I use instant watch all the time. I love it! best thing since vibrating chairs 😉 but on the other hand i don’t use the DVD by mail very often but don’t want to cancel it. Splitting the sites will allow me to put just the DVD portion on hold without putting my instant watch on hold.. That sounds like a good deal to me! So all in all, I’m for the changes..
Good point—again, it all depends on how you used Netflix.com in the past. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
I believe games will eventually go streaming because of the lost/stolen disc problems as well. I don’t know why they haven’t done this already. I say put the top 200 to 300 titles including the brand new games the day of their release online for download and have xbox live and PSN charge you monthly like gamefly and other game providers. Let the systems monitor the games you have and number of games you’ve downloaded. When you’re done with one just delete it from your system and will open up a slot for another game to be downloaded. This would solve the lost/stolen game dilemma. Boom.
Have you tried OnLive yet? It’s a site that lets you stream games to your PC or Mac, using a small downloadable client. Not perfect, but very interesting.
Here’s the site:
http://www.onlive.com/
And here’s my review from a year ago (keep in mind that a lot of things have changed about the service since then, but you get the general idea behind it):
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/20100702/tc_ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc3028
As long as the price will stay the same for the plan I have now, streaming and dvd by mail, I’ll keep it. If it goes up again, I’m done.