Netflix Backs U.S. Postal Service Saturday Delivery Cut

[Ed Barrow]

Source: Bloomberg

Netflix Inc., which says it’s the largest-growing first-class U.S. Postal Service customer, gave its support to ending Saturday mail delivery.

The approval of Netflix, which has more than 14 million subscribers, follows that of Time Warner Inc., publisher of more than 20 U.S. magazines including Sports Illustrated and People. The Postal Service, which says eliminating Saturday delivery would save $3 billion a year, wants to reduce the service to five days a week. The proposal is among a suite of possible changes to plug its deficit.

“A well-functioning Postal Service, positioned over the long haul to meet changing customer and consumer demand, is more important than maintaining current delivery frequency,” Andrew Rendich, Netflix chief service and DVD operations officer, said in testimony today before a joint U.S. House-Senate hearing about postal customers and workers.

Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, called on the Postal Service to make other changes, such as expanding its range of products, to restore profitability.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-23/netflix-backs-u-s-postal-service-on-eliminating-saturday-mail-delivery.html

[lazarus]

1. why not raise postage to an even 50 cents?

still a bargain. And quit giving junk mail such low rates, too. That would be good for the USPS and the environment. We keep a recycling bin next to our mailbox just to dump junk mail in, and it fills up fast.

[totodeinhere]

13. The USPS makes a lot of money off from junk mail.

If they raised their rates and advertisers found another more cost effective venue, it might backfire.

[elocs]

2. That means at best with 1 out at a time I can only get 10 dvds rather than 12.

Fortunately most of my enjoyment of Netflix is from their streaming videos and not their physical discs.

[cbdo2007]

3. They should just make all movies streaming.

but I guess not everyone has a fast enough connection, and I'm sure they aren't paying normal first class rates for shipping.

My wife and I only use the streaming currently because after all the movies and tv shows we want to stream we don't have time to watch the ones we get in the mail. Who wants to wait for movies??? ha ha :)

[elocs]

7. There have been times I've gotten dvds in the mail and immediately returned them unwatched.

Sometimes I have trouble finding dvds I want to watch to add to my queue.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. Are you kidding? I have 272 disks in my mail queue and 112 in my instant queue

How can anyone run out of movies to watch?

[elocs]

18. I have over 200 in my instant and have more than enough there to keep me busy

without the mail queue. I don't need the mail queue and the actual physical discs to have something to watch. I do have a half dozen or more of the recent releases that have a wait for them. I use the mail queue primarily to check out Blu-Ray discs to see if I might like to buy them and not so much just for dvds to watch.

[lester94111]

22. Getting movies in the mail is so obsolete

I can get almost any movies streaming from internet

[elocs]

23. I can too, but overall Netflix is a cheap and completely legal alternative.

Plus, watching the movies online I do not have available the extras that are on the dvds or Blu-Rays. I don't always watch them, but I have found some very interesting things on some of them.

Of course I grew up and went to college in the olden days when we used to listen to music by putting records on a turntable. Also, when we wanted to watch a different tv station we had to physically get up and go over and turn the channel knob on the tv.

If you live long enough the obsolete ways become nostalgic.

[totodeinhere]

14. With more and more ISP's imposing bandwidth caps, that might be a bad idea. n/t

[Skink]

6. Yeah but have you figured the gas savings for returns against walking to the mail.

[Auggie]

9. It works to their benefit to send you fewer DVDs

[Dappleganger]

10. We use streaming quite heavily.

Wasn't like this a year ago, but the two oldest kids and my husband do this several times a week. I'm ok with waiting for the dvd. Netflix is one of the best things our family has done over the past two years to help our entertainment budget's bottom line (IOW, it helps to keep us out of the movie theaters as much as possible).

[elocs]

19. Using my Roku box I can watch Netflix streaming video on my 50" plasma

and it looks great. Roku has other free channels as well, plus I can use it to rent streaming videos from Amazon.

[Dappleganger]

31. Our el cheapo $89 Best Buy brand blu-ray player does this too...

we did hardwire it to the router (it's not the wireless version). This is the Insignia brand (BB's house brand) and we got it on sale during xmas last year. Works great!

[elocs]

35. My Roku set top box was only $100 and brings much more than any el cheapo Blu-Ray player.

I get 23 free channels as well as 13 premium ones (the Roku channels: http://www.roku.com/roku-channel-store). It's wireless as well.

I know lots of tvs and Blu-Ray players offer receiving Netflix, but they don't compare with what the Roku offers. Apples and oranges.

[Dappleganger]

36. I'm very happy for you...

you've won DU's I have the best technology award!!

;)

[elocs]

43. Hey, I just want to share my good find with others here.

There's nothing wrong with that, is there? :shrug:

[mrbarber]

4. Netflix is made of win.

They could declare war on Kittens and Ice Cream and I'd still support them.

[vi5]

5. I used to feel the same way...

...but the whole deal they made delaying certain movies being available for a month after their release soured me on them. Especially since the reasoning was making more movies available for streaming and I have not noticed any uptick in good movies being added to the streaming.

[Dappleganger]

11. Most of the movies we wanted that were just released were an extensive

wait anyway, so it really doesn't affect us all that much.

[vi5]

27. I understand that, but now it's twice as long....

Movies that were a 2-3 week wait when released now have the 30 day wait, and THEN the 2-3 week wait.

[Tunkamerica]

20. Lots of tv shows were added.

[Dappleganger]

32. That's been the best element for us...

channels we don't want to pay for on satellite put out the dvd's and we can watch the entire season in just a few sittings.

[TommyO]

25. Blame the studios, that's who is responsible for the delay

[vi5]

26. I do blame the studios...

It's one of the dumbest strategies ever. Nobody who hasn't already seen a movie and already plans on buying it is going to buy it because they can't rent it on Netflix. The studios are morons.

But Netflix didn't need to agree to it. I mean they (Netflix) are buying the movies, and they are theirs to rent presumably. If they had called the studios bluff and said fine we're not carrying your movies who do you think would have budged first, given how big Netflix is and how horrible the industry is doing.

If it had legitimately resulted in more movies available for streaming then I agree that would have been a good negotiation and a good deal. But it doesn't seem to have.

I say this as a 4 movies out at a time, streaming several movies a week customer. I just think Netflix gave up much more than they got on this one.

[TommyO]

28. Oh, it's definitely a dumb strategy. I'm just not a movie buyer

Frankly, most movies aren't good enough to own, let alone watch more than once. You're also right about netflix blinking, I think that with over 14 million subscribers and nearly two billion in annual revenue, they could have held out longer for a better deal.

[vi5]

29. Exactly...

I have about 125 DVD's I've bought over the years of great movies that are what I regard as classics or favorites that I'll watch multiple times and hopefully my kids will one day enjoy. But there hasn't been a movie released in the past 5 years or so that I've felt compelled to own.

On the other hand, between what I can find on netflix streaming and itunes rentals from my 2 Apple TV's (which also hold ripped copies of most of my dvd's) I rarely even open the DVD player any more.

[TommyO]

30. We both sound like media junkies

I have a TiVo HD for TV and Netflix streaming, and an AppleTV for just the purposes you mentioned (if you don't have it already, get an iPod Touch/iPhone and use it as a remote control for AppleTV, it's far more usable than the IR remote).

The movies that I've bought recently have been primarily animated features, mostly Pixar movies, and I'm waiting anxiously for The Incredibles on Blu Ray.

[vi5]

33. It's true....

That's more or less my exact set up. I still have to set up my iphone as the remote like you said. I've been meaning to for a while. I really hope Apple puts more time/effort/money into the Apple TV. It's a really great device that still has a few bugs, but overall has just completely altered my media/viewing habits.

[Goldom]

8. Add me to the

"I'd be mad but I almost never watch the DVDs they send anymore cause it's all streaming" category. I got Netflix to try to watch all the well-known classic movies to be more culturally literate. It soon turned into "oh man I can stream the entire first two seasons of Lost straight for the next 40 hours."

[Dappleganger]

12. LOL!

You sound just like my son.

:rofl:

[OhioChick]

15. Of course they're going to back it....

Less DVDs they'll have to send out.

[Tempest]

16. Looks like I'll be cutting back to the one out at a time plan

I'll be streaming most of my movies and TV shows from now on.

[Socal31]

21. Mail brings bad news.

No bills on weekends? Sweet!

[truthisfreedom]

24. Because...

It's cheaper to deliver via the net than the mail.

[Hosnon]

34. Hopefully Netflix is advising the USPS about what direction it needs to move.

Physical delivery of 99% of what the USPS delivers will soon be a way of the past.

I'd like to see a national discussion about state- or federal-issued "official" personal email addresses.

[Abq_Sarah]

39. Email doesn't have the same protections

As regular mail. Certified mail, signature confirmation, etc.. are some of the best things the USPS has going for it. You can't "prove" receipt of an email.

[Hosnon]

40. Perhaps, but that doesn't mean everything must still be physically delivered.

If Congress issues email addresses, it can simply include a duty to check them (there is likely a similar duty to check your mailbox). That would allow the vast majority of mail to be delivered via email. To confirm receipt, the sender needs only to request confirmation before the contents of the email will be made accessible. For more important documents, you can use mandatory delivery and read receipts.

Many may prefer to continue using physical delivery for confirmation receipt, and there's no reason they wouldn't have that option (at an increased price). But as service of a lawsuit is already out of the hands of the USPS (done by marshal or sheriff), and varying degrees of important documents can be delivered via email with varying degrees of confirmation receipt, it seems like only a small portion will rely upon physical delivery.

Of course, physical delivery will remain necessary for packages, etc. I'm not advocating the elimination of physical delivery. But everything that can be delivered via email should be.

ETA: I'm not finding any duty to check your mailbox - or even a duty to have a mailbox. I suppose the "requirement" comes from individuals or companies you choose to do business with (e.g., mortgage company). So the principle would probably work the same: whatever you agree to receive by physical delivery, you would just agree to receive by email.

[Abq_Sarah]

37. From what I've read

Unless they've changed direction once again, PO Box mail will still be delivered on Saturdays.

If they end Sat street delivery, I'll just change my address with Netflix to my PO Box.

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. Who is Netflix to tell the post offfice what to do?

Who made Netflix the boss?

[IrishBuckeye]

41. How about you read the article?

As the article states these statements from Netflix was testimony they gave before a joint U.S. House-Senate hearing about postal customers and workers. Seeing how they are a large postal customer the gov. wanted feedback from them.


Read before posting, what a concept!

[Liberal_in_LA]

42. ok ok. I didn't click on the link, just read the snippet