Reed Hastings

Neflix said Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission informed it that its staff is recommending civil action be brought against the company and CEO Reed Hastings. The reason: Hastings’ July 3 post in which he said Netflix’s online video viewing “exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time ever in June.”

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings raised the tantalizing possibility on Tuesday that his video rental company could partner with HBO, with which his company has jostled in the past, as it has with other networks that supply programming. HBO rushed to pour cold water on the suggestion, making it clear it had no intentions of making a deal with Hastings, who often singles out HBO as a chief competitor.

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.

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.

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.

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.