netflix

Netflix on Wednesday lost almost 1,800 titles from its streaming library as licensing deals with studios like MGM, Warner Bros. and Universal expired. Titles now removed from the catalog include all 15 seasons of South Park, classic James Bond films like Dr. No and Goldfinger, and Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories. A Netflix spokesperson told The Verge that “Netflix is a dynamic service, we constantly update the TV shows and movies that are available to our members.” He added that as of May 1st, the company added more than 500 new titles such as ParaNorman and The Hunger Games. The spokesperson said that a “vast majority” of the expired titles were older features from an expired deal with Epix, noting that “this ebb and flow happens all the time.” More →

Netflix reported a blowout quarter on Monday as its subscribers in the United States surged to more than 29 million, thus giving it even more paid monthly subscribers than HBO. The stock jumped more than 25% on the news. But financials and subscriber numbers are only part of what makes Netflix such a success story: According to NPR, some analysts are now estimating that “Netflix alone takes up a third of U.S. bandwidth between 9:00 PM and midnight.” Given these sorts of enormous bandwidth requirements, it’s easy to see why Netflix keeps such close track of how fast ISPs’ connections deliver video streams to the home, since slower connections inhibit the company’s ability to grow its online business.

For a monthly fee of $7.99, Netflix customers have access to a wide variety of TV shows, movies and original content. More often than not, however, users frequently share accounts between family members and friends due to the company’s relaxed policies. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities believes chief executive Reed Hastings should try to squeeze more profit from his 33.3 million customers by “cracking down on piracy” or even raising prices. The analyst claims that as many as 10 million people are accessing the service without paying, which is ultimately hurting Netflix’s potential revenue. More →

Netflix (NFLX) on Monday announced a new licensing agreement with Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Brothers to bring even more content to the streaming service in the coming months. Animated and live-action programming from Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation and Adult Swim will be available to American subscribers on March 30th, while the TNT drama Dallas will come to the service in January 2014. Netflix, which has more than 60,000 titles and is available for $7.99 a month, announced this week that it will also be bringing 1080p content and 3D video streaming to Cablevision and Google Fiber customers. The company’s press release follows below. More →