Netflix

The company is raising prices by up to 60% for its DVDs by mail/Intenet service, with new subscribers affected immediately. Current subscribers would have to pay the increase starting Sept. 1.

The sale of online video site Hulu is entering its next phase, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The potential sale has garnered interest from a bevy of companies, including Amazon, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and DirecTV. But there is one notable exception: Hulu rival Netflix has not courted the site. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.

Netflix, which boasts 23 million-plus subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, will expand into 43 more countries in Latin America and the Caribbean later this year. The locales stretch from Barbados to Brazil, a critical developing market for many companies.

You may have seen the original BBC version of “The Office,” but have you seen the sketch show “A Bit of Fry & Laurie” with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry? […]

A survey of 2,000 adult broadband users in the United States has found that people who use Netflix to stream Internet video to their TV are twice as likely to cancel or cut back their cable television payment options as they were a year ago.

Netflix has had a rough few days with a Web site outage and a contract dispute that led it to pull Sony movies from its streaming service. These two issues independently aren’t a big deal, but they do highlight how Netflix is under more scrutiny as it grows.

Cable operators say they are happy to compete with Netflix. But they think the high cost of sports and live programming will ultimately keep Netflix out of the game.

Netflix’s online streaming service is rapidly emerging as an important gateway for accessing television programming, according to a tracking study revealed by CBS research chief David Poltrack. He used the term “phenomenon” several times to describe the rapid adoption of Netflix, especially among an important segment of the TV audience known as early adopters of next-generation media platforms. He estimated that the size of Netflix’s prime-time streaming audience is about the same as a “mid-size cable network,” and is growing fast.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix had to pay up to $200 million to renew a licensing deal with Liberty Media’s Starz network.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is pleased with his company’s massive growth, but he fears that getting too large will start “an Armageddon” with cable networks.

After acquiring first-run rights to David Fincher’s House of Cards, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells are trying to build a big audience for a well-produced serialized show.

Although more U.S. homes have Internet-connected TVs, watching online video on TV is still a small entertainment activity — unless your name is Netflix.

Longer-form digital entertainment content destinations continue to gain popularity among U.S. TV viewers. In March, Netflix remained the biggest digital platform when it comes to the most time spent per viewer, coming in at just under 10 hours a month. Netflix was up 6.6% in March over February, to 9 hours and 53 minutes — much of this coming from its longer movie content.

The video service paid nearly $1 million per episode for all seven seasons of the AMC drama, which will begin airing July 27.

The expanded arrangement with Twentieth Century Fox also covers older shows, such as Ally McBeal and The Wonder Years.

Independent film studio Miramax is in licensing talks with Netflix and other video services — including Amazon, Hulu and Google — to distribute its 700-film library online. No agreement has been reached, however the terms for any deal would likely exceed $100 million.

Netflix today said it had acquired the North American rights to at least 26 episodes of House of Cards, instantly making the streaming movie service a player in premium television programming. The deal, first reported several days ago, astonished television industry executives because it effectively makes Netflix a network just like ABC or HBO. Netflix, in fact, outbid HBO for the rights to House of Cards, which is to be directed by David Fincher, the director of The Social Network, and will star Kevin Spacey.

Netflix Inc. is in advanced talks to distribute a forthcoming television series directed by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey, said people familiar with the talks. If such a deal were to come to fruition it would add a new competitor to the television industry by increasing the degree to which Netflix vies with premium cable channels like Time Warner Inc.’s HBO.

A year ago, Netflix had 12 million subscribers; today, it has 20 million. During periods of peak Internet use, a fifth of all American bandwidth consumption is by people watching movies via the streaming video service.

Netflix and CBS aren’t disclosing terms of the deal they announced Tuesday, but an analyst said it’s worth $200 million. CBS will get that amount, according to a Wednesday research note from Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente, over two years for nonexclusive rights to stream such shows as The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Family Ties, Twin Peaks, Cheers and Frasier.

CBS and Netflix have signed a two-year, non-exclusive licensing agreement that will allow subscribers of the web service to stream content from CBS’ library. Shows covered include Medium and Flashpoint along with older series like Frasier, Family Ties, Star Trek, the original Hawaii Five-O, Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone.

With digital technology rapidly disrupting the home entertainment business, Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes is preparing aggressive moves in video-on-demand and against Netflix.

LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) – Netflix’s video subscription service reeled in another 3.1 million customers during the fourth quarter to help deliver a performance that was better than analysts anticipated. […]

Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos says he will make deals with HBO. He also says that he sees market solutions for net neutrality.

Online video and DVD distributor Netflix, which provides service in the U.S. and Canada, is talking with several advertising and media agencies about potential international assignments, according to sources.

Is NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker agreeing to deals that line the pockets of his closest allies before the Comcast takeover? That’s what some folks inside 30 Rock are saying in light of NBC Universal’s pact to sell video-streaming service Netflix fresh episodes of SNL a day after they air on TV. The move would appear to undermine Hulu in its quest to be the only place for in-season broadcast network fare. It’s all the more strange when one considers who created Hulu: NBCU.

Netflix, now the envy of the media world, had a lucrative contract with Starz that gave it cheap content. That deal is expiring, and rivals are gloating.

Disney has re-upped and expanded its online distribution deal with Netflix, allowing for some current shows on the Disney Channel to be streamed about two weeks after broadcast. Episodes of some series will be available at a minimum of 15 days after a live broadcast.

Online video provider Netflix Inc said on Tuesday its long-time chief financial officer Barry McCarthy has resigned and will be succeeded by company finance veteran David Wells, sending its shares down in after-hours trading.

Netflix is making an aggressive play for in-season episodes of hit TV shows to expand its Web streaming service. The company is in talks with studios about gaining access to current episodes of primetime shows and is willing to pay between $70,000 and $100,000 per episode, according to a person familiar with the matter.

With high-speed online access now becoming a household staple and various gadgets making it easier to connect high-definition TVs to the Web, Netflix is realizing it needs to evolve as Internet streaming goes mainstream.

Will the burgeoning video force hasten Hulu’s demise?