Movie Rental News Archives

Confused about the next-gen format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray? So were most of the major studios, until just last month.  In January, Warner Bros, who previously supported both formats, took the plunge and went all-in with Blu-ray. This tipped the scales heavily in favor of Sony’s new discs, leaving only Paramount (which signed an exclusive deal in August) and Universal with Toshiba’s HD-DVD. The announcement from Warner Bros. came only days before CES, one of the year’s largest entertainment and technology expos, leading HD-DVD backers to cancel their press conferences. After that, the dominoes kept on falling.

 As Warner Bros. is the parent company to studios like New Line and HBO, they followed suit soon after and voiced their alliance with Blu-ray as well. Seeing this trend emerge, Netflix is now making its move to Blu-ray also. Just this week, in fact, there are rumblings out of Japan that Toshiba is dropping HD-DVD for good, making Blu-ray the only sensible choice for high-definition home video.

Currently, Netflix offers over 400 Blu-ray titles. The online movie rental company will not be picking up any new HD-DVD movies, but will continue to rent out HD-DVD titles that are already in stock.

For more information about the Blu-ray announcement, you can visit Netflix.

Netflix recently announced that its customers have watched movies and TV episodes five million times on their personal computers (PCs) since an instant watching feature was introduced in January.

"Netflix DVD delivery is fast and, with watching on the PC, it's virtually instant," said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. "Netflix continues to raise the bar to connect people with movies they love with great convenience, selection and value," Mr. Hastings said.

In January, Netflix introduced the new feature that allows subscribers to start watching a movie or TV episode on their PCs in as little as 30 seconds. Netflix subscribers can choose from a growing library of 2,000 titles that are available for instant watching. Among the most popular titles for instant watching are the American TV series The Office and the films The Matrix, The Prince and Me, Super Size Me, The Sum of All Fears, Jackass: The Movie and Sherrybaby. Netflix says it is adding more titles every day with the goal of providing 5,000 titles for instant watching by the end of the year.

As with the Netflix DVD catalog, members can browse movies available for instant watching by title, genre or star rating. Personalized recommendations, based on an individual's historical preferences, also appear at the top of the member's page tabbed "Watch Now."

The hours available for instant watching vary based on subscribers' monthly plans. For example, subscribers on the $4.99 plan get two DVDs each month with one DVD out a time plus the ability to watch 5 hours of movies and TV episodes instantly on a PC for no additional charge. The popular $17.99 plan gives unlimited DVD rentals with three DVDs out at a time and the ability to watch 18 hours of movies and TV episodes instantly on a PC for no additional charge. Subscribers are assessed by the minute, not the movie, so for 18 hours, subscribers can enjoy about nine full-length movies, or about 36 half-hour TV episodes, or a combination of both.

For more information, check out the Netflix press release.

To celebrate Father's Day this Sunday, Blockbuster recently presented a survey on the best and the worst movie dads—and how they stack up against those off-screen.

Topping movie lovers' list of on-screen fathers they'd most like as their own is the devoted and determined single dad Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness played by Will Smith. Fans also chose Will Smith as the celebrity dad they'd most like to have as their own. The on-screen and off-screen Smith was most popular with young females ages 18-34, although males also named him a top pick.

Real-life dads get less respect than their on-film counterparts, with survey respondents comparing their own fathers to some of the most notoriously humorous and sometimes bumbling dads in movie history. Topping the list is Steve Martin's George Banks in Father of the Bride. Movie lovers also named Jack Byrnes, the overprotective ex-CIA dad in Meet the Parents and Chevy Chase's clueless Clark Griswold from National Lampoon's Vacation as characters reminiscent of their own dads.

When asked what movie dad they'd least like to have as their own, more than a third chose the terrifying Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in The Shining followed by Jim Carrey's Fletcher Reede in Liar, Liar and dad from the Dark Side Darth Vader from the Star Wars series. Fortunately, none of these characters showed up on the "movie dads most like my own" list!

For more information on the survey, check out the Blockbuster press release.

To help moms select quality movies to watch with their kids, Blockbuster says it has surveyed close to 14,000 moms nationwide, asking them which movies they like best for keeping their kids entertained. Blockbuster says it is sharing the resulting list of "go-to" movies that moms can refer to all year long just in time for Mother's Day.

"Moms are the most widely-turned to authority on family entertainment," said Keith Leopard, product director, rental film, with Blockbuster Inc. "Now when the kids can't agree what to rent, the sleepover is at your place or the kids are headed to their grandparents' house for the weekend, mothers will have an easy reference to help them choose or recommend kid-friendly movies approved by moms just like them."

Topping the list of mom-approved movies for all age groups were the Shrek movies, the animated features that follow the adventures of the grumpy green ogre with a heart of gold. The funny fairytale stars comedic giants like Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Cleese, whose animated antics are almost as popular with parents as they are with their kids.

Moms also chose the best movies for different age groups. Shrek came out tops again for kids ages five to seven, but the animated fish tale Finding Nemo was more popular for moms of two- to four-year-olds. Moms selected the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean for their eight- to 10- year-olds, while the magic of the Harry Potter series was reserved for older children ages 11 to 13.

If you realize you need a kid-friendly film, Blockbuster says it makes it easy to pick up a mom-approved movie. BLOCKBUSTER stores are open seven days a week, including on Sundays and Mother's Day. BLOCKBUSTER Total Access® members who rent DVDs online also have the option of returning any not-so-kid-friendly online rental to a store where it can be exchanged for a more suitable movie free of charge.

Blockbuster also reminds moms and others choosing entertainment for kids that they should always consult ratings and make their own determinations about whether content is suitable for their child and their child's age group.

For an overview of the survey results, check out the Blockbuster press release.

Netflix recently announced plans to stage a unique movie and music series this summer called Netflix LIVE! On Location. Headlining the traveling event will be actor Bruce Willis and his band, The Accelerators, who will play a live, public concert at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, prior to an outdoor screening of his 1998 film Armageddon.

Netflix said it will announce additions to the Netflix LIVE! On Location series in the coming weeks. The series will pair classic films with live musical performances by the films' featured stars in locations uniquely associated with the movies. Last summer, as part of a nationwide summer screening tour, Netflix brought Kevin Costner and his band to the cornfields of Dyersville, Iowa for an event attended by thousands at the shooting location of the 1989 classic, Field of Dreams.

Mr. Willis's concert and screening are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 2, beginning at 7:30 p.m. local time. The star and his band are expected to perform a 60-minute set of original blues music. Returning to the space center for the first time since the filming of producer Jerry Bruckheimer's sci-fi hit Armageddon a decade ago, Mr. Willis is expected to be welcomed by about 5,000 fans in the center's spectacular Rocket Garden.

"It is truly thrilling to return to The Kennedy Space Center to enjoy Armageddon with my band on hand," said Mr. Willis. "Movies have been my career, but music has always been my love, so I am excited about merging the two worlds in such a unique way and being able to share it with so many people."

"Netflix LIVE! On Location is a great way for us to share the Netflix experience with thousands of people around the country," said Leslie Kilgore, chief marketing officer for Netflix. "Bruce's popularity with movie fans is enduring, and we are delighted to be able bring him back to Kennedy Space Center for this one-of-a-kind event."

For more information, check out the Netflix press release.

Netflix said it recently delivered the one billionth DVD since the company's subscription service was launched in September 1999. The milestone was reached on Feb. 24, when the drama Babel arrived at the home of a subscriber in Helotes, Texas, from Netflix's distribution center in Houston.

Netflix said it viewed the one billionth delivery as symbolic of the company's rapid subscriber growth, high levels of customer satisfaction and a record of operational excellence. Netflix's service is widely recognized as among the best and most reliable in Internet commerce and has for four consecutive polls been named the number one Web site for customer satisfaction by the independent researchers ForeSee Results and FGI Research.

The company said it would give the recipient of the milestone DVD a free lifetime membership to Netflix and would also mark the occasion with an update to the theme line of its current TV advertising campaign, which will now read "Over one billion movies delivered so far. Zero late fees."

The one billion deliveries span a movie library that now numbers 70,000 titles. On September 23, 1999, the day Netflix inaugurated its subscription service from a small warehouse in San Jose, Calif., the title count was barely north of 2,000. Subscriber destinations that day included Tucson, Arizona (True Crime), Annapolis, Maryland (Analyze This) and Pottstown, Pennsylvania (Dr. Strangelove). Today, Netflix serves more than 6.3 million subscribers and ships approximately 1.5 million of its trademark red mailers per day from 42 distribution centers geographically dispersed across the United States.

"A billion of anything is a lot and it's certainly a nice round number," said Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix. "What it really says to us, however, is that we've been lucky to have such supportive customers over the last seven years and that we've provided them with a distinctive customer experience."

The road to a billion deliveries passed a number of markers. The company delivered its 100,000th DVD in October 1999, its one millionth the following month and its 100 millionth in May 2003. Over the years, the service's five most frequently rented movies have been, in order, Crash, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Walk the Line, Hotel Rwanda, and Million Dollar Baby.

For more information, check out the press release One Billion & Counting: Netflix Reaches Service Milestone With Delivery of One Billionth DVD Since Launch of Business.

Netflix, in association with its Red Envelope Entertainment division, announced it has acquired worldwide rights to produce and distribute a new documentary exploring and celebrating the life and career of the legendary recording artist and concert performer, Tony Bennett. "Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends" will be directed by Bruce Ricker ("The Last of the Blue Devils," "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows"), with Clint Eastwood serving as executive producer.

Tony Bennett is beloved as one of the premiere interpreters of the Great American Songbook. The new documentary will follow Bennett's more than 50 years in the music and entertainment industries against the backdrop of a changing America. Weaving seldom seen archival footage with never before seen excerpts of Bennett's recent premier performance at the Monterey Jazz festival -- highlighted by an on-camera interview conducted by Eastwood that explores the essence of Bennett's artistry -- the film will present an exceptional man in a rare way: a living legend through his life, times and music.

This cinematic portrayal of Tony Bennett caps a year-long celebration of a singer who celebrated his 80th birthday last August. Bennett's most recent chart topping CD, "Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic," has also reached another milestone for the singer, becoming the biggest selling album of his career. "Duets" was awarded three Grammy Awards last Sunday in the categories of "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album," "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" and "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)."

The documentary project was brought to Netflix and Red Envelope Entertainment by Danny Bennett, president of RPM Productions, on behalf of Tony Bennett and Clint Eastwood. Netflix is committed to providing consumers with access to the widest variety of films available and, in association with Red Envelope Entertainment, will fully finance the production. An innovative release plan will include DVD rental and sale, online and TV distribution, as well as an event-driven premiere and theatrical release this summer. The film is currently in production at locations around the country, including Astoria, Queens in New York City, where Bennett was born, as well as Hollywood, California.

"The coming together of Tony Bennett and Clint Eastwood -- two enduring and iconic figures in the world of American entertainment -- is a cultural flashpoint," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. "Netflix spearheading this prestigious project showcases our abilities to bring unique content to our subscribers and, in this case, a global audience."

"'Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends' is an historical record of an American icon," said director and producer Bruce Ricker. "We wanted the film to reach the widest audience possible and Netflix achieves that goal."

Read more in the Netflix press release.

Since Presidents' Day is one of the 62 days in the year when online movie renters can't receive movies by mail, Blockbuster is celebrating the upcoming holiday weekend by extending to Netflix subscribers the in-store benefits of BLOCKBUSTER Total Access™. When there's no mail, BLOCKBUSTER Total Access gives its online subscribers the option of exchanging their DVDs at a participating BLOCKBUSTER® store for free in-store movie rentals.

From Feb. 15 through Feb. 21, including two days when post offices are closed, current Netflix members can bring the tear-off address flaps of their Netflix rental envelopes to any of the more than 5,000 participating U.S. BLOCKBUSTER stores. In exchange for every flap they present, they will receive an on-the-spot free movie rental.

"With this Presidents' Day offer, we're celebrating freedom of choice for American movie lovers, who no longer have to wait for the mail to get DVDs," said Nick Shepherd, president, Blockbuster North America. "Tens of thousands of customers are joining BLOCKBUSTER Total Access every day because no one else provides the convenience of online rentals backed by in-store services which enables consumers to access the movies they want 365 days a year."

Netflix subscribers who wish to participate in the program can tear off the address flaps they normally discard when mailing back their DVDs and turn them in at any participating BLOCKBUSTER store to receive a free in-store movie rental. They can continue to bring in their envelope flaps and exchange them for free in-store rentals for the duration of the promotion, which runs from Thursday, Feb. 15 through Wednesday, Feb. 21. Netflix customers do not need to subscribe to Blockbuster's online program to participate. To utilize the free store rentals, Netflix customers need to have a Blockbuster store membership, which they can sign up for on the spot. Store membership is free.

The name on the Netflix tear-off flaps must match the name on the holder's Blockbuster membership account. In-store movie rentals are subject to store rental terms, including due dates, and must be returned to the store from which they were rented.

For more on this promotion, check out the Blockbuster press release.

Confused about what movies to rent for a romantic night at home this Feb. 14? According to Blockbuster, when it comes to Valentine's Day, you should skip the movies from Mars and films from Venus and go for Cupid's middle ground. To help you make the right choices, Blockbuster is offering Cupid's Picks for Valentine's Movies, featuring romantic films that both men and women name as favorites.

Romantic movies aren't just for women, as a recent survey by Blockbuster Inc. shows. Ninety-eight percent of those surveyed indicated they watch romantic films, including 99 percent of women and 96 percent of men, showing the sexes have more common ground on watching love stories than many think.

Men and women do differ on how often they watch romantic movies. More than half of women watch them frequently compared to just 19 percent of men. Most men—close to 60 percent—prefer to watch romances just once in a while.

But, there is a surprising amount of room for compromise if you are looking for a good Valentine's date movie. Romantic comedies are a safe bet, with 86 percent of men watching them and 92 percent of women, and any great film with a romantic storyline rating high with both sexes. Perhaps the most unexpected discovery in the Blockbuster survey is that close to a third of men said they like a story that's worth a good cry. Fourteen percent of men said they'll watch any love story and that they're a romantic at heart.

To help the lovestruck find a good date movie for Valentine's, Blockbuster asked men and women about their favorite romantic movies and identified a handful of movies that emerged as top choices among both sexes.

Cupid's Picks for Valentine's Movies

• Braveheart
• Ghost
• Pretty Woman
• Sleepless in Seattle
• Titanic
• When Harry Met Sally

For the date who's truly dedicated to making Valentine's special for his or her sweetheart, Blockbuster also released separate lists of men's and women's favorite romantic films.

Men wooing their women should pick up The Notebook, starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in a tale of love that triumphs over divisions of class, time and distance. More than a quarter of women name the film as their personal favorite romantic movie. Other women's favorites include Bridget Jones' Diary, The Wedding Singer and Serendipity.

Women, on the other hand, might want to stage a screening of Casablanca, Good Will Hunting, What Women Want, Jerry Maguire or Mr. & Mrs. Smith for the men in their lives. All were named as top romantic favorites by men in the Blockbuster survey.

Read more about these Valentine's Day suggestions in the Blockbuster press release.

The alliance between Blockbuster Inc. and The Weinstein Company got a karate kick-off last week with the video release of The Protector and Seven Swords. The two films, available now on DVD, are the first titles from The Weinstein Company available for rent exclusively from Blockbuster as a part of an alliance announced last fall. The Protector will be featured as a "guaranteed in- stock" title at all Blockbuster company-operated stores.

As it plans to do with all the Weinstein films, Blockbuster will make these titles available both online and at all its company-operated stores as well as at participating franchise stores. Subscribers to BLOCKBUSTER Total Access, the company's online service, will be able to rent the titles online or rent the movies, free of charge, by exchanging their online rentals for these titles at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores. And to make sure customers don't miss the movies, Blockbuster is prominently displaying the films in a special in-store section and on its Web site.

"As a result of this agreement with The Weinstein Company, Blockbuster is going to be able to give great visibility to quality independent films like The Protector and Seven Swords, some of which may not have had wide theatrical release or any theatrical release at all," said Matthew Smith, Blockbuster senior vice president, merchandising. "We will now be able to really market these films in-store and on-line and make them available to virtually 100 percent of the U.S. population. We are thrilled to be able to do this for our customers, and we think it's a pretty exciting opportunity for independent filmmakers as well."

For more information on this new alliance, check out the Blockbuster press release.

Netflix is turning up the heat in the online DVD rental wars. In response to Blockbuster's new Total Access, Netflix, has introduced a new feature that allows people to immediately watch movies and television series on their personal computers. The company said it will make the new feature available to its subscribers in a phased roll-out over the next six months.

Subscribers will continue to receive DVDs by mail from the company's catalog and will have the additional option of instantly watching about 1,000 movies and TV series on their PCs. The new feature will be included in subscribers' monthly membership plans at no additional cost, and the company said its phased roll-out is meant to ensure that subscribers have a great initial experience with the feature.

"We named our company Netflix in 1998 because we believed Internet-based movie rental represented the future, first as a means of improving service and selection, and then as a means of movie delivery," said Reed Hastings, the company's chief executive officer. "While mainstream consumer adoption of online movie watching will take a number of years due to content and technology hurdles, the time is right for Netflix to take the first step.

"Over the coming years we'll expand our selection of films, and we'll work to get to every Internet-connected screen, from cell phones to PCs to plasma screens. The PC screen is the best Internet-connected screen today, so we are starting there. "

Netflix said the introduction of immediate viewing is part of its plan to lead movie rental in total by adding electronic delivery to its existing DVD delivery platform. Netflix is specifically focusing on the rental segment of electronic delivery, distinct from the download-to-own market and advertising-supported electronic delivery.

The new feature differs from current services in that it does not require the often lengthy downloading of a large video file. The Netflix feature uses real-time playback technology that allows video to be viewed at virtually the same time it is being delivered to a user's computer. Following a one-time, under-60-second installation of a simple browser applet, most subscribers' movie selections will begin playing in their Web browser in as little as 10 to 15 seconds. Movies can be paused and a position bar gives viewers the ability to immediately jump to any point in the movie. In all, the instant watching feature requires only Internet connectivity with a minimum of one megabit per second of bandwidth. The more bandwidth a consumer has, the higher quality the video displayed, ranging from the quality of current Netflix previews to DVD quality with a three-megabit-per-second connection.

Initially, the new feature will offer about 1,000 titles and its selection will expand over time as licensing for electronically delivered movie rentals widens. The number of titles available at introduction roughly mirrors the number of DVD titles Netflix carried when its subscription service was launched in 1999. In seven years, that DVD catalog has grown to over 70,000. Most of the major and many independent studios are supporting the introduction of the new feature, including NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and Lionsgate.

In addition, content is being provided by A&E Television Networks, Anime Network, Allumination FilmWorks, BBC Worldwide, Cinema Libre Studios, Egami Media, Film Movement, Hart Sharp Video, The Independent Film Channel, Magnolia Pictures, New Video Group, New Yorker Films, Palm Pictures, Seventh Art , Silvernitrate Entertainment, Starz Digital, ThinkFilm, Video Action Sports, WMG Productions and Wolfe Video, among others.

Once it is made available to them as part of the phased roll-out, members will access instant movie watching by clicking on a "Watch Now" tab on their home page. As with the Netflix DVD catalog, subscribers can browse movies available for immediate viewing by title, genre or star rating. Personalized recommendations, based on an individual's historical preferences, will also appear at the top of the member's "Watch Now" page.

Netflix said it expects to make the new feature available to all Netflix subscribers by the end of June. The hours available for instant watching will vary based on subscribers' monthly plans.

For more information on the new feature, check out the Netflix press release.

Citing the success of its online subscription service Total Access as a major factor, Blockbuster announced this week that the company ended the year with approximately 2.2 million online rental subscribers, including approximately 2 million paying subscribers.

"We are pleased that we achieved our year-end goal of 2 million subscribers, an addition of more than 500,000 paying subscribers since the end of the third quarter. We credit our success to Blockbuster Total Access, which gives our online customers the option of returning their DVDs through the mail or exchanging them at a participating Blockbuster store for free in-store movie rentals," said John Antioco Blockbuster Chairman and CEO. "The strong consumer appeal of Blockbuster Total Access has translated into significant subscriber growth and was accomplished without any broadcast media except in a handful of test markets."

Under the Blockbuster Total Access program for each online rental exchanged in the store, customers can receive a free in-store movie rental. Blockbuster Total Access also offers subscribers faster shipping cycles. When subscribers return their online rentals to a participating Blockbuster store, the store check-in process automatically initiates the process of shipping the next available movies in the subscriber's rental queue, so customers generally receive their online movies a day faster than if they had dropped the return movies in the mail themselves. In-store movies are still subject to store rental terms, including due dates, and must be returned to the store from which they were rented.

"Thanks to Blockbuster Total Access, customers no longer have to choose between renting online or renting in-store, and they never have to be without a movie," said Antioco. "We believe this compelling and unique offering will make blockbuster.com the fastest growing online DVD rental service in 2007."

For more details, check out the Blockbuster press release.

I'm a big fan of the NBC show Heroes, so I am excited about the latest news from Netflix. As a follow up to their successful promotional partnership in 2006, Netflix and NBC recently announced they will join forces  again to offer Netflix subscribers an exclusive DVD experience. The latest NBC DVD to be offered through the service will feature a specially produced, never-before-seen recap of the first eleven episodes of the hit Golden Globe-nominated series and the first full episode of the highly anticipated new NBC drama, The Black Donnellys from Academy Award winners Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (Crash). In addition, the DVD will offer a first-time sneak peek of actor Jeff Goldblum's new drama series Raines.

The content of the DVD will be exclusive to Netflix subscribers until Jan. 15, when the content will also be available for viewing at NBC.com.  However, the special DVD will still be available to Netflix subscribers though the end of March. With Heroes on hiatus until Jan. 22, the recap provides viewers with an easy way to catch up on the series and learn more about the characters and plot lines of the Golden Globe nominated series which Time magazine selected as one of the best shows of 2006. The Black Donnellys and Raines will join the NBC line-up this Spring.

"We are delighted to again be working with Netflix on this special offer," said John Miller, chief marketing officer, NBC Universal Television Group. "We think the combination of an exclusive catch-up for audiences who have not yet discovered Heroes, the pilot of 'The Black Donnellys, as well as a preview of Raines, will make a very attractive offering for Netflix subscribers."

"Partnering with NBC to provide original content to our subscribers that can't be found anywhere else is a tremendous value add for Netflix," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. "Enhancing consumers' entertainment experience is the end goal for both companies and this promotion certainly achieves that goal."

Blockbuster recently made a strategic move that changes the landscape of the rentable entertainment market as we know it: they decided to link their online and in store offerings into a single membership that allows members to use both channels on the same membership, whenever they feel like it.

Called Total Access, the new program allows members to browse the store for movies and order hard-to-find titles on line. They can return videos through the mail or exchange them for new ones in the store. And they receive on line promotions they can redeem in their local store for additional movie and game options. The result makes it very difficult for the competition: on line competitors like Netflix have no answer to Blockbuster's nationwide network of 5,000 stores; and the only viable store competitor, the combined Hollywood/Movie Gallery chain, has less than 3,000 stores and no chance of raising the billion dollars needed to compete on line.

The result is a confused business climate in an already shrinking market. Netflix stock is declining and Movie Gallery's stock was close to being delisted when it took a sudden and mysterious spike up, fueling a rumor of a possible joint venture or even merger between Netflix and Movie Gallery. It's really the only logical way the two companies can compete against the Blockbuster juggernaut.

Confusing the picture further is the looming shadow of downloadable movies in the not-too-distant future, a game in which all three companies hope to play but in which only Blockbuster has the experience and the capital to compete against other media outlets, which may include the studios themselves or, at least, the major media conglomerates.

In the end, those who innovate in ways that are most relevant to the customer are those who will survive. And it's a great time to be a movie fan. Not only is Hollywood making more movies than ever, but when you have more than 60,000 movies to select at Blockbuster Online, it's hard to complain that there's nothing to watch.

Netflix, together with Martin Scorsese's non-profit organization The Film Foundation, recently unveiled special holiday editions of the movie rental company's trademark red envelope featuring original artwork by various Hollywood filmmakers and actors, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Peter Jackson, Orlando Bloom, and Mr. Scorsese himself.

The special envelopes containing Netflix subscribers' DVD rentals will began mailing this week. As part of the partnership, Netflix has made a donation in support of The Film Foundation's efforts in film preservation and film education.

"The red mailer, which is one of the most visible expressions of our brand, was a natural way to showcase our partnership with The Film Foundation and express our holiday spirit," said Leslie Kilgore, chief marketing officer for Netflix. "It's gratifying for us to support the important work of The Film Foundation, which, like Netflix, is committed to preserving the heritage of film and helping it find new audiences."

"The Film Foundation's partnership with Netflix is an innovative way to create public awareness about the importance of film preservation. The mailers will communicate our message to a large national audience," said Jennifer Ahn, managing director of The Film Foundation.

The artists were encouraged to contribute their individual personalities and feelings about the holiday season in the artwork. Mr. Scorsese worked with his young daughter Francesca to create a snowflake-themed mailer, while Ms. Theron provided two pieces, one of a whimsical snowman and another of wrapped holiday presents. Mr. DiCaprio created a sturdy tree whose branches are decorated with a multi-cultural array of symbols and icons, while Mr. Jackson painted a classically-themed canvas centered on a holiday pheasant and two pugs in stocking caps. Mr. Bloom's canvas portrays two hands offering hearts in the spirit of the season.

On Sept. 23, 1999, the drama "True Crime" went trucking to Tucson from a small warehouse in San Jose, California. The comedy "Analyze This" was off to Annapolis, Maryland. And two classic doctors, one named "Doolittle" and the other "Strangelove," prepared to make house calls in St. Louis, Missouri and Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Seven years and a lot of DVDs later, the movie subscription service launched that September day approaches a milestone few could have thought possible. Sometime next year, at its current rate, Netflix says it will deliver the one billionth movie in its history.

The company said that is considering a number of ways to mark the occasion and that ideas are welcome when they announced that the impending milestone will be the centerpiece of a new national advertising campaign that debuted in October and underscores for consumers the scale, reliability and rapid adoption of its service. The company currently ships approximately one and a half million DVDs a day from 41 distribution centers geographically dispersed across the United States.

The new ads will carry the campaign line "Nearly one billion movies delivered so far. Zero late fees." and enjoy an initial network TV run across all day parts on NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. The commercials will appear on such highly visible shows as "Grey's Anatomy," "Dancing with the Stars," "Ugly Betty," "CSI," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and "Late Night with David Letterman." Netflix said the new campaign message will also be delivered through network radio and will be integrated into its online communications through ads on leading Web sites like Yahoo!, MSN and AOL, as well as its own site.

"The central message we want to convey to consumers is that Netflix offers the easiest, most convenient and most reliable way to enjoy the widest variety of movies," said Neve Savage, the company's vice president of marketing. "We deliver that theme, and our run-up to a billion deliveries, with some entertaining and attention-grabbing production, as well as a touch of humor."

At the end of September, Netflix was serving 5.7 million subscribers with a library of 65,000 titles spanning more than 200 genres. The service is widely recognized as among the best and most reliable in Internet commerce and has for three consecutive polls been named the number one Web site for customer satisfaction by the independent researchers ForeSee Results and FGI Research.

For more information, see the Netflx press release.

Netflix recently announced that more than 9,900 contestants representing approximately 8,100 teams from 99 countries have signed up to vie for the $1 million Netflix Prize since the competition was announced earlier this month.

The prize has attracted competitors from more than 200 universities and numerous corporations from around the world. In addition, several government laboratories from the U.S. and other nations have joined the competition.

Netflix is offering one million dollars to the first person or team who can achieve certain accuracy goals in recommending movies based on personal preferences. The threshold required to win the Netflix Prize is a 10 percent improvement in accuracy over the current Netflix recommendation system. If no one wins the grand prize this year, the company said it will award a $50,000 progress prize to whoever makes the most significant advancement beyond a one percent improvement by October 2007. The progress prize will be awarded annually until someone wins the grand prize.

The company said only one of the 82 current submissions has qualified for the 2007 progress prize, having the minimum one percent improvement over the current Netflix recommendation system. Submissions can continue to qualify for the 2007 progress prize through October of 2007.

Netflix recently announced the creation of the Netflix Prize, an award of one million dollars to the first person who can achieve certain accuracy goals in recommending movies based on personal preferences. The company also made available to contestants 100 million anonymous movie ratings ranging from one to five stars, the largest such data set ever released.

Netflix said it will publish a detailed description of the winning approach for the benefit of companies, entrepreneurs and academicians.

"Recommendation systems covering a wide variety of categories will play an increasingly significant commercial role in the future," said Netflix Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO Reed Hastings. "Right now, we're driving the Model T version of what is possible. We want to build a Ferrari and establishing the Netflix Prize is a first step."

The threshold required to win the Netflix Prize is a 10 percent improvement in accuracy over the current Netflix recommendation system. If no one wins the grand prize this year, the company said it will award a $50,000 progress prize to whoever makes the most significant advancement toward the goal and will award a progress prize annually until someone wins the grand prize.

For more information, check out the New York Times article And if You Liked the Movie, a Netflix Contest May Reward You Handsomely.

Starz Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television have signed an exclusive agreement that provides Starz Entertainment with the rights to more than 500 movie titles from the Sony library. The company will be able to offer the content on multiple distribution platforms, including its 16 linear channels, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) offerings and the broadband video download service, Vongo.

The library deal runs from 2008 to 2014 and provides Starz Entertainment's flagship Starz and Encore channels exclusive rights to a selection of Sony's library films, however the VOD deal for Vongo will be begin next month. Starz and Encore deliver programming to 15.1 million and 27.1 million homes respectively through cable, satellite and telco providers and its other advanced services. This new deal broadens the already-established relationship that gives them exclusive first-run premium cable channel outlet for all of Sony Pictures Entertainment's films.

"This partnership with Sony Pictures Television validates our position as a leader in movie entertainment and demonstrates our strategy to make a whole range of recent and beloved content available to our subscribers on all of our platforms," said Stephan Shelanski, Starz senior vice president, programming. "We are pleased to offer our subscribers access to Sony's extensive library of theatrical films that includes content from 'Gandhi' to 'Ghostbusters' to 'Godzilla,' via cable, or satellite, VOD and over broadband."

For more information, check out the press release.

Amazon.com has launched Amazon Unbox™, a new digital video download service offering customers television shows, movies and other video content from more than 30 studio and network partners from Hollywood and around the world. The only video download service to offer DVD-quality picture, Unbox's RemoteLoad™ technology allows customers to buy from one PC (such as an office computer) and download to another (such as a home computer). As part of the launch, the site is inviting customers to visit www.amazon.com/unbox to try the Unbox service with a free TV show.

Amazon says that Unbox offers triple the video quality of the leading commercial Internet video services, delivering content encoded at 2,500 kilobits per second using the VC-1 Advanced Profile codec. Unbox also automatically includes a second file optimized for playback on any Windows Media-compatible portable device at no additional charge. The service uses progressive download, eliminating the need to wait for the entire video to download before watching. This means the typical cable high-speed Internet customer can start watching any Unbox TV show or movie within five minutes of ordering.

"Amazon Unbox offers TV and movie enthusiasts a fast, convenient way to watch thousands of their favorite videos from around the world," said Bill Carr, Amazon.com's vice president of digital media. "Now Amazon.com customers can choose to get videos delivered to their doorstep from Amazon's DVD store or choose Amazon Unbox and download DVD-quality picture movies or television shows to their PC."

Amazon Unbox customers will be able to access their videos in the Amazon Your Media Library, a personalized Web page that indexes and organizes their media purchases from Amazon.com, including books, CDs, DVDs and Unbox Videos. Your Media Library provides each Unbox customer a place to keep track of their Unbox video purchases, and the option to download them to an additional PC.

Customers can purchase television series episodes for $1.99 per episode and most movies for $7.99 to $14.99, or rent the latest movies for $3.99.

For more information on this new service, read the Amazon.com press release or visit www.amazon.com/ubox. 

NBC announced that it will let Netflix subscribers rent the premier episodes of two new drama series before the shows air on TV. Starting Aug. 5, Netflix members can rent the debut episodes of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Kidnapped", about six weeks before they premiere on television. The DVDs will also have preview trailers of other fall dramas airing on NBC. The network hopes to generate crucial word-of-mouth buzz for the shows in an effort to climb out of third place in the ratings. Netflix will run online ads for the DVDs, while NBC will promote them on network spots.

Online movie seller CinemaNow recently unveiled a new service that allows customers to legally download a movie from the Internet and copy it onto a DVD that can be played on any standard DVD player. This new service is a major step for Hollywood as more movie and television studios are looking to offer movies and TV shows to consumers via the Web for playback on TVs and portable DVD players.

The service will first offer only 100 older titles, such as 2003's "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and 1992's "Scent of a Woman." The service is expected to grow, with some industry watchers predicting downloads could replace renters and retailers such as Blockbuster and Netflix in the $24 billion home DVD business.

Priced at $8.99 and up, downloads will include the movies plus the menus, games or director interviews that were part of the original DVDs. To protect against piracy, the technology allows users to burn only one copy. Downloading and burning one movie should take a few hours depending on content, broadband connections and other factors.

On Tuesday, Netflix said it is considering its options for allowing its users to download movies. According to an article from Reuters, "no decisions have been made regarding specific delivery options or timing, but a [Netflix] spokesman said on Monday that a proprietary set-top box was one of the options under consideration." To read more about Netflix's options, you can read this article.

Netflix and IFC will be releasing the independent movie Sherrybaby, according to an article in Variety. This is Netflix's biggest distribution deal to date. Netflix will handle video distribution, while IFC will handle the theatrical side. The movie stars Maggie Gyllenhaal. To read more about the movie and Netflix's commitment "to picking up distribution for a deeper slate of movies," you can read the article, Netflix takes movie to theaters.

On two separate occasions, I have posted about the Netflix settlement (see Update on the Netflix settlement and Netflix settlement postponed). After much debate, it appears the matter has finally been settled. A judge last week approved the settlement for the class action lawsuit against Netflix. You can read the article Judge approves Netflix settlement of 'throttling' case to find out more about the final settlement.

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, called on movie studios to release their upcoming films in both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. Hastings is worried that a long battle between the two formats will only accomplish one thing - late adoption of either of the new formats by consumers.

According to the article Hastings urges end to high-def war, Hasting said in Netflix's first quarter conference call that "protracted competition will hurt the adoption of high-definition DVD." Hastings believes that "if all studios were to embrace both formats agnostically, consumers would be more comfortable making a format decision based on hardware pricing and features."

Hastings solution might help consumers feel more comfortable buying movies in the new formats; however, producing films in both formats will be costly for the movie studios. That said, Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment do plan to release their movies on both formats.

Ever wondered how Netflix decided on the design for their current envelope? Well, apparently others did as well. In the article The evolution of the Netflix envelope, author G. Paschal Zachary discovered it was only after years of changing their envelope that Netfilx settled on their current style. The article includes a detailed photo gallery that charts the evolution of their envelope. 

On Tuesday of last week, Netflix filed a suit against Blockbuster, accusing Blockbuster of infringing on two patents owned by Netflix. Blockbuster has commented that the suit is without merit and will fight the suit. According to the article Blockbuster says Netflix suit without merit, Blockbuster officials say that Netflix did not invent the concept of renting movies over the Internet and that a rental service having a queue system is "common practice."

The Netflix settlement that will give subscribers a free month of DVD rentals has been postponed. The judge delayed approval of the settlement so that he can review how much money should be paid to the plaintiff's lawyers. Amazingly, the current settlement awards the lawyers over two million dollars for their time spent on the case. The judge said he plans to award the lawyers significantly less money.

Only so many movies can fit into a movie rental store. And because of the space limitations, most of the movies that make it into rental stores are the "blockbuster movies," which aren't necessarily the best movies. But Netflix does not have those limitations, and here is where the rental service shines.

According to the article Leveling the field, a rental at a time, this aspect of Netflix is leveling the movie playing field. Movies that don't do well in theaters don't get taken out of the Netflix system, as they might be in a movie rental store.

But, as we all know, just because a movie doesn't do well in the box office, doesn't mean it isn't a good movie. Several movies, like Oscar-nominee Hotel Rwanda and Oscar-winner Crash, which did not do well in the box office, are available through Netflix and are renting very well. Also, documentaries and foreign films, which may be very hard to get access to without the Netflix service, are rented quite frequently. Some reasons why relatively unknown movies do very well on Netflix may be due to members' ability to queue movies they have heard good buzz about as well as the ability to suggest movies to friends on the service.

Then your wish has been granted, at least sort of. With the new Web site La La, you will be able to trade your CDs with others online. Consumers using La La will be able to buy CDs from other users for $1, plus 49 cents for shipping. Although La La is only in a testing phase now, they are planning on going live in the next few months. You can read this article to find out more about the CD swapping service.

Recently, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings gave a $1 million challenge commitment to ACE Public School Network. The Netflix executive gave money to the program to support their plans to create a network of K-8 charter schools in the Silicon Valley area. The first charter will be presented to the Santa Clara County Office of Education today. To find out more about this story, read Netflix CEO backs $1M charter school challenge.

As referenced in a previous article by Stas about Netflix, many Netflix subscribers who return movies quickly have been subject to Netflix "throttling." These customers do not get priority on new releases in favor of customers who rent fewer movies or are new to Netflix. Though this practice has caused issues with some customers, Netflix says they currently have an unbelievably high customer satisfaction rating. Netflix executives say they simply use a "fairness algorithm" to determine which customers get movies faster.

However, in response to a class action lawsuit filed by several unhappy Netflix customers, Netflix will soon be giving out free DVDs for a month to anyone who was a Netflix subscriber prior to January 15, 2005. According to the article Netflix Mulling Revision to Settlement, almost 4.1 million former Netflix subscribers will be offered a free month of service, while another 2.08 million current customers will be offered a free month-long upgrade.