Netflix
Following its collaboration with EU MVPDs, Netflix will launch the 1st MVPD integrations in the US this quarter, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells said in their letter to shareholders Mon, starting with US MVPDs that use the TiVo set-top box and extending to non-TiVo devices afterwards, they wrote: “From an MVPD point-of-view, they would rather have consumers use Netflix through the MVPD box and remote control than have consumers become accustomed to watching video from a smart TV or Internet TV device remote control.” The company has improved its content selection in the US since it launched its streaming plan in 2010 at $7.99 a month. The plan is to do a $1 or $2 increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only. Existing subs would stay at current pricing “for a generous time period.” The company cited limited impact from its Jan price hike for new subs in Ireland. The company ended 1Q with more than 48mln global members and topped $1bln in quarterly streaming revenue. In the US, it added 2.25mln net new subs, more than the 2.03mln it added a year ago. But domestic net additions were down from 2.33mln in the previous quarter. Netflix cited seasonality as a reason for its 0.52mln net new subs in 2Q, potentially down from the 0.63 net additions in 2Q, 2013. The company now has 35.7mln US subs. Meanwhile, firing shots at the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger during Netflix's earnings call, Hastings said regulators should apply “some significant merger agreements [conditions]” if they approve the deal. A Comcast rep then released a point-by-point response to what the rep called Netflix's “inaccurate claims and arguments… Netflix is free to express its opinions. But they should be factually based. And Netflix should be transparent that its opinion is not about protecting the consumer or about net neutrality. Rather, it's about improving Netflix's business model by shifting costs that it has always borne to all users of the Internet and not just to Netflix customers.” And so it continues…
