Netflix has decided to pull the plug on it's DVD rental service that helped launch the company 25 years ago. The streaming giant says it will close the service on September 29.
DVD.com has been operated by Netflix for the past 25 years and was the first iteration of the popular video-on-demand service. In 1997 Netflix was launched as an alternative to video rental stores like Blockbuster.
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Their business model was different in that, rather than visiting the store to buy or rent a movie, customers would order a series or movie online which was sent their home in an iconic red envelope. After some initial losses, the service took off and has turned into the popular video streaming service we know today.
Yesterday evening (March 18), Netflix CEO, Ted Sarandos announced that the company will be shipping their final discs at the end of September. In a statement Sarandos sais: "After an incredible 25 year run, we’ve decided to wind down DVD.com later this year.
"Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult. So we want to go out on a high, and will be shipping our final discs on September 29, 2023.
"Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming. From the beginning, our members loved the choice and control that direct-to-consumer entertainment offered: the wide variety of the titles and the ability to binge watch entire series.
"DVDs also led to our first foray into original programming — with Red Envelope Entertainment titles including Sherrybaby and Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion.
"We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come.
"To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you."
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