Figuring out which titles are going expire soon on Netflix just got a lot harder: The company changed its public API Monday night to prevent this information from popping up on third-party websites. Read more »
News Corp COO Chase Carey spoke about Fox’s digital strategy in an earnings call Wednesday afternoon. The company saw strong growth in home video, thanks to digital downloads. Carey also acknowledged that Hulu will have to adapt in coming years to compete with Netflix. Read more »
Have you been watching House of Cards? Then make sure to catch this spoof, created for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and starring key D.C. insiders. Read more »
TV is fundamentally changing from a linear delivery model to a world in which apps compete with each other, and Netflix is spending billions to be part of that future. Read more »
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings doesn’t really think that many people are sharing their accounts with extended family members. His remarks came in response to an estimate that 10 million people watch Netflix without paying for it. Read more »
Netflix made more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time in its corporate history last quarter. The company also used its Q1 results to announce a new $12 family plan. Read more »
It’s now common practice for canceled shows to find their way to fans via digital means, but there’s a big difference between uploading unaired episodes and truly coming back to life. Read more »
Netflix streamed more than four billion hours of movies and TV shows to its members in the first quarter of this year. Read more »
Netflix won’t expand to another international market until the end of this or early next year, but the company is already looking for help to translate its site – giving us some interesting clues. Read more »
Fans of edgy animated fare just got a few more reasons to binge as Netflix has started to add cult classics from Adult Swim and Cartoon Network to its catalog. Read more »
Netflix rolled out its Facebook integration for U.S. subscribers Wednesday, offering them an easy way to see what they friends are watching on the service. Read more »
Fanhattan, which is like a TV Guide for iPad, has launched out a beta web version with new discovery and recommendation features. On the web, it offers more content recommendations from more providers — 29 on the web, compared to 16 on iOS. Read more »
The rise of long-form TV dramas is often attributed to networks like HBO and Showtime, but Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton believes it’s a direct result of Netflix and digital video recorders. Read more »
Netflix is partnering with DreamWorks to release its first original children’s show this December. Netflix will also add new DreamWorks films to its streaming lineup. Read more »
The first season of House of Cards is full of intrigue and plot twists — but the drama it’s created for the television industry is almost as compelling. Read more »
Netflix’s got a unique approach to distributing its original content: Post all the episodes at once, then encourage the audience to mainline it. But what’s the actual experience of binge-viewing like? This reporter boldly investigates. Read more »
Amazon announced Friday that by the end of 2013, Prime Instant Video will be the only paid streaming service to offer episodes of Downton Abbey. Hulu Plus and Netflix will lose access. Read more »
Netflix is about to launch the first season of its original drama House Of Cards. It’s like a premium cable drama – but available to cord cutters. Read more »
Personalized profiles are coming to Netflix this year, according to CEO Reed Hastings – but the company is still testing this kind of personalization to make it simple enough. Read more »
Netflix did better than many expected in its Q4, and the company is already gearing up for another big moment: The release of its scripted series House of Cards next month. Read more »
Watch out, AirPlay: Netflix and YouTube are working on an open second screen protocol, and they’ve already secured support from key CE makers and content platforms. Read more »
Time Warner Cable wants Netflix’s 3-D movies – but not its Open Connect CDN. That’s why the cable provider is now alleging discrimination. Read more »
Don’t count out DVDs just yet: That was one of the key messages that Redbox Instant by Verizon CEO Shawn Strickland had for a select group of reporters Wednesday. Strickland said that Netflix’s decision to sideline DVDs was a mistake. Read more »
A new deal means Netflix will be able to replenish its content library with past seasons from eight shows, including the West Wing. Meanwhile, many other content goodies will stay out of its reach. Read more »
Netflix has been lobbying to change a law that prevents it from using Facebook to reveal what movies people are watching. It has finally won in Congress but, by this point, doubts about the value of frictionless sharing mean the victory may not be worth much. Read more at GigaOM »
Big problems with Amazon Web Services’ Elastic Load Balancing service in its US-East data center nailed Netflix and Heroku on Christmas Eve and carried over into Christmas. Netflix competitor Amazon Prime Instant Video appeared to be unaffected. Read more »
Netflix is down for some customers this Christmas Eve, thanks to a outage of some of Amazon’s cloud infrastructure. However, there’s good news: You may be able to watch your holiday movie, after all. Read more »
The SEC says Netflix is in trouble for sharing news on Facebook rather than through a more traditional method like a press release. The incident shows how regulators can fail to recognize transformations in our communications infrastructure. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix currently has closed captions for 82 percent of all the videos it is streaming. By October 2014, this number will go up to 100 percent, according to a consent decree the company entered to settle a lawsuit with disability rights advocates. Read more »
What should we expect from next week’s Amazon press conference in Los Angeles? The rumor mill suggest a front-lit Kindle e-reader, a new Kindle Fire with a camera and location technology, and more streaming movie offerings for Prime members. Read more at GigaOM »
The gloves are off between Netflix and HBO – in Northern Europe, anyway: HBO revealed plans for an HBO Nordic offering that can be accessed on the Internet without a TV subscription two weeks after Netflix announced its expansion to Northern Europe. Read more »
Netflix is ready to pay $9 million to resolve a class action over keeping subscriber records too long. But now dozens of people are telling a judge not to approve the deal because they get none of the money. Read more at GigaOM »
As plans for Arrested Development‘s return spread, many details indicate that thanks to Netflix, the popular cult series has the opportunity to not only legitimize the world of web content, but create a new business model for an industry that desperately needs it. Read more »
Amazon Prime Instant Video and NBCUniversal expanded their content licensing agreement to include new shows like “Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood” and “Battlestar Galactica.” Read more »
Reporting double-digit drops in both revenue and profit for its fiscal third quarter, Viacom announces a major overhaul to its most popular channel. Pundits suspected SVOD viewing of Nick shows had sapped ratings, but the conglomerate seems to be conceding that the shows just got old. Read more »
ISP technology provider Procera Networks now says its data indicating that Netflix traffic was down 25 percent Sunday was a “blip,” and that the company’s streaming activity is back up to “normal levels.” It also says its data covers only its clients’ networks. Read more »
With subscription video on demand revenue up 430 percent, Hollywood’s video business has actually shown growth for a full six-month period, according to the studio-backed Digital Entertainment Group. The DVD-cursed market hasn’t enjoyed full-year growth since George W. Bush was midway through his second term. Read more »
A day after Netflix management signals its intention to plow any profits for the foreseeable future into international expansion, Wall Street once again craters the company’s stock price. Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
