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The Bauminator
Jeff Baumgartner

Netflix Friday

November 6, 2009 | Jeff Baumgartner | Comments (3)
no ratings

11:10 AM -- My mailbox will bestow a gift on me today -- a special disc that will enable my Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) Playstation3 to stream movies and TV shows from the Netflix Inc. "Watch Instantly" service. (See Netflix to Stream to Sony PS3.)

A Netflix blog post confirms some of these details, but I’m evidently one of about 100,000 customers who will get their hands on the first batch. And an email from Netflix says mine should be showing up today, ensuring that the Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox360 loses its position as the only gaming console to have access to Netflix's streaming component:

Stream-by-Mail
Netflix confirmed that my streaming disc should arrive today.

The complimentary streaming service is one of the reasons I decided to go back to Netflix after a five-year lapse… I like the value of having access to that library. Now I'll have an opportunity to watch some of those titles on the big screen without having to assemble some kluge interface that links my PC to the TV, or have to fork over more dollars for a Roku Inc. box or some other device that embeds Netflix.

Granted, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK)'s video-on-demand (VoD) service offers plenty of content, and I like the fact that it releases some movies in the same window as the DVD release and serves up hi-def episodes of AMC's Mad Men soon after their broadcast. But the navigation system is still frustrating, making it a chore to poke around to find something good. Netflix gives me a nice complement, and does a much better job helping me find something I might like, even if Netflix's streaming component doesn't enjoy all the same release windows as cable VoD does today. In fact, Netflix has already unlocked access to the Starz premium content window. (See Netflix Bypasses Studios With Starz Deal.)

But given the size of Netflix's growing subscriber base alongside a fresh study indicating that the company's streaming service is already fairly popular, I'm guessing that Netflix should eventually be able to get its mitts on some of these more attractive release windows and start offering pay-for streaming for newer titles. It'll just have to convince the studios that it's in their best interests to do so.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News

Newest Comments First       Display in Chronological Order
Jeff Baumgartner
User Ranking
Saturday November 7, 2009 1:06:01 PM
no ratings

That's why i think it's still a nice complement more than anything at this point...you still have to get the discs or go to cable VoD to get some of the newer and, in some cases, more popular content. But I expect Netflix's streaming library to just get better and better.  The Ps3 streaming disc showed up as promised Friday, and it took all of five minutes to get it set up and working.

ninjaturtle
User Ranking
Friday November 6, 2009 8:17:55 PM
no ratings

I have it as on my new Samsung LED 55" screen I recently purchased. The problem is the instant viewing movies are not good ones. Like you can't instant movies like Godfather, Good Fellas etc. The list goes on. So you end up with a service that requires you to wait for you movie anyway. So I cancelled it and just go to Blockbuster down the street when the urge is there.

tat258
User Ranking
Friday November 6, 2009 3:04:39 PM
no ratings

I gues I'm not one of the lucky customers getting 1 of the first 100,000.  I signed up a couple days ago, probably too late, but never got an email and mine isn't showing in my queu or anywhere in my account.  Darn.

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