Netflix to shut down DVD rental service after 25 years

Netflix will permanently shut down the service that started the company’s trajectory. From September 29, 2023it will no longer be possible rent DVDs through the company’s website. The confirmation came from the company itself during the disclosure of its most recent fiscal report.

Despite appearing dated in streaming times, the platform still offered this modality in the United States. In the country, for 25 years, it has been possible to rent film and series discs through the platform, which are delivered by mail and also returned by the postal service. The red packaging became a classic and the color is still traditional in the brand’s visual identity.

Up in the air since 1998when Netflix was established as a company to compete with traditional rental companies, the rent worked through a monthly subscription and shipping fees were free. The catalog included both classic productions and recent releases and it was not restricted to content licensed by the online platform, also including other studios and production companies.

It was only in 2007 that the transmission of online content began on Netflix, but the rental sector continued to live on under the DVD.com domain. O Brazil did not receive the modalitysince our history with the brand started in September 2011 directly with streaming.

The Change at Netflix It is possibly motivated by financial issues. The disk rental division maintains a user base to this day, but is no longer considered operationally viable. This is explained both due to the decline in the physical media market and the need for the platform itself to focus on streaming and recover subscribers.

According to official data from the company, the DVD rental service reached more than 16 million concurrent subscribers in the United States at its peak—a number considered high for a single country and market before digital broadcasts. In all, there were 40 million payers, from the beginning to the present day. For comparison purposes, the streaming service today accumulates 232.5 million subscribers globally.

Data collected by the Associated Press indicates that the division that will be closed generated revenue of US$ 145 million in 2022. At one estimate, this means that it had about 1.1 million subscribers until a few months ago. Customers were possibly people unfamiliar with streaming, who prefer to watch content on disk or without stable internet connections.

The first rented DVD in Netflix history was Beetlejuiceon March 10, 1998. In all, there were over 5.2 billion discs shipped and the most popular title was A possible dream2009 drama starring Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron.

Via: Associated Press Source: Netflix