We've seen them all:
"that 80% of Blockbuster's rentals come from its top 30 titles is not at all surprising when you consider that about 80% of the store is dedicated to new releases."
We couldn't afford to, before:
"according to company surveys, more than three of 10 subscribers watched fewer than three movies per month before signing up. As Netflix subscribers, they watch significantly more -- on the order of six to seven per month."
We would have seen them, if we could have found them:
"Netflix derives the majority of its business from older titles. A full 99% of its titles are rented in any given year. That means Netflix subscribers watch roughly 19,800 of the 20,000 titles that Netflix keeps in stock. The popularity of older titles among Netflix subscribers often matches or exceeds that of newer titles."
We're not just movie buffs. We're normal:
"More than half of all subscribers are more than 34 years old and earn less than $75,000 per year. More than 40% do not have a college degree. In other words, Netflix subscribers are mainstream."
The high rental percentage on older movies is no surprize. For a subscriber to get his money's worth he needs to turn over at least 6 movies a month. There are never 6 NEW movies coming available every month. So people have no choice but to rent old movies. This is the flaw in the Netflix Deal. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad deal for people that love reruns. At the rate of 72 movies a year, my forecast is that virtually ALL Netflix subscribers will last no more than two years or less.
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ReplyDeleteGlad to know that Netflix subscribers are fairly normal folk, but really I don't care, I'd still subscribe even if they were crazy. I never managed to bring movies back on time to Blockbuster. Now it doesn't matter. And since I hate commercials, I can watch TV on DVD. I've watched all of the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and I am currently making my way through Star Trek: DS9. Not to mention catching up on all the past Academy Award winning movies I've never seen. It's great. I'll never go back.
ReplyDeleteOne day in December 2000, I thought I'd give this little upstart company called Netflix a try...just see how it would work out. Here I am four years later, still a loyal Netflix customer. The service is awesome. You ca nfind almost any title on DVD you want and if they dont have it, just request the darn movie and normally it will appear in a few weeks. They have movies you would NEVER find at a video store. To HELL with Blockbuster and their overpriced rentals. I haven't been into a damn video store in almost four years. Netflix just keeps getting bigger and better as time passes on.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is a complete and total movie buff, I really dig Netflix - between finding older movies, newer movies, and (of course) TV on DVD, it is easy to do the "6 movies in one month" that makes Netflix profitable. (Plus, frequent trips to reorder the queue also help - that way, I can see what I'm in the mood for and adjust accordingly)
ReplyDeleteI like Netflix because of the foreign film section. Right now I'm on a Bollywood kick. My local blockbuster and the other video stores have a limited selection of foreign films and hardly any Bollywood.
ReplyDeleteAlso there are tons of classics I haven't seen. Some less than classic but I need to see them as well.
Then there are times I get on a cute actor kick, Netflix is there for me too.
I don't need to see the new releases when they come out, especially when I'm still working on my theme kicks (bollywood, James Spader, Independents, crappy musicals, etc).
The only bad things with Netflix have been the few lost DVDs but, so far, so good.
Just came across the blog. Wanted to say I started a list of movies to rent and it got to the point it was becoming long and netflix was being heavily advertised I had to try it. I started out with about 25 on my list a few weeks ago and its gone up to 28 and down as low as 20 or 23. I plan to use Netflix until my list runs out then build another list while I'm not a subscriber.
ReplyDeletesounds like you're a Netflix investor ;) me too! ;)
ReplyDelete"subscribers watch roughly 19,800 of the 20,000 titles" I'm curious to know what those 200 movies are that no one is watching. I kind of feel sorry for unwatched movies.
ReplyDeleteFred