Netflix

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings remains adamant about his goal: moving from DVDs by mail to streaming video. With Hollywood hailing his vision and needing his business, Netflix has started to rebound. But not everyone is sold.

The streaming video and DVD rental service saw net income fall 14% in the fourth quarter due to a $9 million settlement in a case claiming Netflix had violated a consumer-privacy law.

The subscription video-on-demand service is spending $1 billion this year to acquire programming to beef up its offerings, with an increased emphasis on syndicated fare. But while Netflix may be throwing around a lot of dollars, it isn’t competing with TV stations and basic cable networks for A-list, off-net sitcoms like Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory — at least not yet.

Netflix is bulking up on TV offerings for subscribers through its on-demand Internet streaming service, including reruns and its first original series

Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, says his service is helping attract viewers to broadcast and cable shows. “What’s really exciting for us is to bring new people to a show,” Sarandos says. “More people watched the first season of Mad Men on Netflix than on AMC.” And with its recent foray into original programming, it hopes to expand its role.

Netflix would now be the 15th most-watched TV “network” in the U.S. and could be the second most-watched in Netflix homes, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield wrote in a blog post Wednesday.

A new study indicates that watching a movie via a subscription service like Netflix is rapidly gaining on DVD and Blu-ray as the preferred method of at-home viewing.

The video rental company’s shares have spiked 6.8% in midday trading — an eye-popping standout on a day when the market’s down about 2%. The reason: a report that Verizon is considering buying Netflix to get into the video streaming business.

The CW’s ratings have slipped to basic-cable status this season. But with a new Netflix deal alone yielding the network $1 billion, who needs Nielsens?

Netflix boss Reed Hastings believes his biggest challenger isn’t Amazon, Blockbuster or even newcomer Verizon — but Time Warner’s HBO. After a string of stumbles that have crushed his stock, Hastings braved a crowded room yesterday to tell investors that his biggest fear was HBO’s relatively new Web service, while he downplayed the rest of his streaming rivals, including reports that Verizon was looking to launch a Netflix killer.

New episodes of the Emmy-winning comedy will stream exclusively to members of the DVD rental service Netflix.

Cable companies are still losing TV subscribers. But online services aren’t the culprit. Continued competition and a slowing economy are likely to blame.

Disney has re-upped a two-year-old deal with Netflix to stream older shows that aired on ABC, ABC Family and the Disney Channel. And it announced what is essentially the same deal with Amazon, which will make the shows available via its Amazon Prime streaming service.

With the extension of the existing license agreement, Netflix will also add new TV show episodes from ABC Studios, Disney Channel and the ABC Family to its existing library.

Shares in the company plummeted 35% Tuesday, the day after the streaming video and DVD rental service revealed it had lost 800,000 subscribers in the third quarter and projected far slower growth for the rest of the year and early 2012 than investors had expected. While many investors moved quickly to sell Netflix shares after it reported financial results Monday, the stock was hammered further by a wave of negative analyst reports.

The financial results, released on Monday, covered an abysmal stretch that saw Netflix Inc. lose its luster among consumers and investors. Netflix triggered the backlash by raising prices as much as 60% in the U.S. and bungling an attempt to spin off its DVD-by-mail rental service.

Netflix has acquired streaming rights to previous seasons of TV shows from the CW Network owned by CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros.

Netflix has decided to backtrack on its plans to separate its DVD service from the rest of its operations and will keep DVD-by-mail a part of the Netflix brand and site.

Netflix’s background in DVDs-by-mail means it is often seen as mainly a movies service. However, the balance has tipped more towards TV shows in its streaming operation.

Netflix may only have about 24 million U.S. subscribers, but 35 percent of all Americans ages 13-54 use the service at least once a month, according to a study released Thursday. The study from Knowledge Networks also revealed that each “regular user” of Netflix watches on average five TV shows and four movies per week via Netflix DVDs and streaming.

The service will be offered through Blockbuster, the video store chain that Dish Network bought out of bankruptcy court for $321 million five months ago and will compete directly with Netflix.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says the company will rebrand its DVD-rental service as “Qwikster,” and offers a public apology over its recent price hike.

Netflix shares were 16% lower in pre-market trading today after it lowered its U.S. subscriber growth forecast for the quarter. The weaker than expected subscriptions are due to its decision to split the DVD and streaming businesses and charge customers for each service.

A new TV viewing study from media and marketing consultant Altman Vilandrie & Co. and online survey firm Research Now has found that just one-third of young adults 18-34 in the U.S. now watch TV shows during their normal broadcast time on a regular basis.

Netflix on Monday launched its online streaming service in Latin America, undeterred by the setback with its Starz partnership and angry customers .And as it sets its sights on expanding around the globe with plans for Asia and Europe, the Silicon Valley streaming giant is trying to beef up its lobbying and policy staff in Washington to work out an onslaught of international and U.S. issues that threaten its business.

A press release issued by Starz to inform journalists that it has ended negotiations with Netflix to renew its streaming contract has caused the high-flying stock to slide as much as 9% in after-hours trading. Shares of Netflix, which have advanced 435% in the past two years, were down just fractionally during the regular session to $233.27 Thursday, but sunk $21 after the closing bell when the Starz news hit.

Analysts say Netflix Inc.’s higher prices, which kicked in today, are likely to drive business to video rental chain Blockbuster and other home entertainment rivals too, but none are better positioned to take advantage of the disruption than Redbox.

Netflix Inc. is giving kids and their parents a new reason to embrace its Internet video subscription service as it raises prices to the dismay of many customers. A “Just For Kids” tab has been added to subscribers’ accounts on Netflix’s website.

By buying Blockbuster and paying almost $3 billion for broadband spectrum, the nation’s third-largest pay-TV service provider plans to become a Netflix rival and a player in wireless communications.