Netflix, Online Video Rental | featured news

Netflix is moving to protect itself against hostile takeovers, less than a week after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a stake of nearly 10 percent in the online video company. Netflix Inc. said Monday that it has adopted a shareholder rights plan, also known as a poison pill. Such a plan is designed to make it difficult or even impossible for someone to take over the company without an agreement from the board. When the provision is triggered, additional shares flood the market and make it prohibitively expensive for a takeover.

The loss of its contract with Starz for movies may hurt Netflix less than originally thought, because more than half of its streaming audience are watching TV series.

Netflix says it will stream certain movies from The Weinstein Co., including "The Artist," under an exclusive licensing agreement.

The company’s decision to split into two businesses has customers complaining that it is treating them badly.

In a post on The Netflix Blog that went up Sunday night, the company's CEO, Reed Hastings, announced that Netflix would split its DVD-by-mail service and its streaming-video service into two companies. The new DVD-only company, called "Qwikster," will be completely separate from the streaming business. Hastings also expressed contrition for the way the company rolled out its recent price hike, which alienated many customers.

Netflix Inc. lowered its expectations for U.S. subscribers for the third quarter by 4 percent on Thursday, just weeks after separating its DVD and streaming services, which increased...

If you're a seasoned Netflix instant streaming user, it may surprise you to know that the company has always had an official policy of limiting the number of simultaneous streams you're using. Now, Netflix has made that policy more concrete by producing an error message if you attempt to access your streaming account when it is already in use.

Netflix’s marketing costs increased 39% to $81 million in the latest quarter from $58.5 million in Q3 2009 [1]. Netflix continues to win new subscribers despite competing with a host of other online and offline video services offered by players like Apple, Amazon, Google, Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Netflix cannot afford to reduce the number of titles it acquires due to the competitive environment.

Netflix's advantages will fade as online movie delivery gradually replaces DVDs.