Prices hike, company split lead to loss of subscribers and credibility

The recent price structuring of Netflix, where the company has decided to separate its DVD by mail service (now called Qwikster) and its TV streaming has alienated an estimated 700,000 of its members and led to an almost 50 percent drop in its share values.

These numbers have been more of a loss than the company expected and an apology from Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, has not soothed the ire of now former Netflix subscribers.

However, the disillusionment from Netflix has failed to spread to Marshall.

“It’s not worth cancelling over,” sophomore Kyle Hammerschmidt said.

This integration of Netflix into people’s daily lives stems from the ease of its access, something which has made it one of the most used media streaming services since its establishment.

“We switched to Netflix as soon as they started offering DVDs,” junior Gelare Ghajar-Rahimi said. Ghajar-Rahimi has been a Netflix subscriber for over four years.

“They just offered a wider variety than b\Blockbuster did at the time and it was totally worth the price.”

Since Blockbuster’s collapse, Netflix has not only increased its subscriptions but has also started spreading from the U.S. to Canada and most recently to South America.

However, the recent price changes have started taking an effect on the company’s credibility.

In addition, Netflix has had recent differences with Starz Entertainment, the company that provided them with access to the most recent movies and TV shows.

Disagreement over licensing has lead to a parting between the two companies. This leaves Netflix to find another media donor when the contract ends early next year.

 Netflix is also increasing its focus on getting more TV material claiming amidst rumors of the company having troubles obtaining movie services, that the decision is driven by user response. 

However, TV services are able to profit from the growing disappointment with the company. TV and movie providers like Redbox, Hulu, Amazon and Apple, which also provide many similar services as Netflix, substitute for Netflix’s decreased use.

This has raised  hopes for these competing services. Many of Netflix’s subscribers expressed their anger and frustration about the price increases and have left over 4000 comments on the company’s blog.

One of the comments stated that “given the rather large price increase you suffer with the 1 DVD + Streaming plan, I’ll probably just end up switching to Amazon Prime’s instant streaming.”

 Another user stated, “Back to Red Box for me.”