I called it. After the disastrous "apology" email that Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, sent out on September 19th, Netflix has hit terminal velocity in their belly flop from media dominance. Daddy Clay asked about this at dinner last night and I felt just informed enough to list some options. We've had this discussion in the last week in our house because it's been a haunting topic for about a month. Let's see why.

I've been a Netflix subscriber since 2002. I have been one of those that's qualified for a couple class action lawsuit freebies. When they added the streaming content, I really didn't have a use for it. But then, we got an HD Tivo with it's shiny new Netflix app along with a lot of other digital content portals. Adding a couple Android Phones and an iPod Touch, we were suddenly looking at digital video as a way to assuage the beast that is the toddler's need for exactly one episode of a show, anywhere. A couple years ago, I would have converted a Tivo recording to an iPod format and kept the show on near-line media (laptop hard drive) for instant access. Once we found Netflix on Tivo to have Mighty Machines, Backyardigans, Dora and VeggieTales, Tivo recordings became klunky.

So, our Netflix usage has been dominated by kid demands for about 6 months. I really don't know whether is ever came to my mind that as a kid I should have been able to watch The Dukes of Hazard or Knight Rider at any time of any day. But now my 3 year old can request "Backyardigans with Robot Roscoe!" And that very thing happened just two weeks ago. We'd watched this one hour Backyardigans special on Netflix streaming and the boys really got into it. Duncan wanted to watch it again. "No problem," I said. Except it was a really big problem. Robot Rampage is from Season 4 of Backyardigans. When we went into the Backyardigans folder on Netflix, it was gone. Going to the web site, it was "not yet available" and comments abounded that subscribers couldn't bear their kids melting down because this new, advertised content had been taken away after only a week.

Digging in further, Netflix is slated to lose all of their Nikelodeon programming next year along with all of the children's programming that they had through Starz, especially what little Disney programs they handle right now. This is a total fail for the households that use Netflix for kids' programming. I'd wager that this constitutes a substantial portion of their streaming business.

Now they're splitting off the DVD business that built their company and giving it a name that reminds everyone of the Internet sensations, Napster and Friendster. And they're doing SO well. My take is that they are going to sell off the DVD business and needed to split it off for the buyer along with finding a way to maintain subscribers. I'd guess that any deal would have payments based on the number of surviving subscribers. So, Netflix retains their streaming which isn't really all that great. Their interface has all sorts of technical problems from user security to inconsistent application designs. There are a lot of reasons to be looking for another source for online streaming.

Here's a Yahoo article on just this topic.

They say plenty on the subject. Suffice it to say that there are plenty of options, including the big three, Apple, Google and Amazon. Add Hulu and RedBox and I think Netflix will be a very distant memory by the time the Starz deal expires.

For our family, we've decided that $79 for Amazon Prime is a steal. Free 2-day shipping AND paying less per month for streaming from Amazon's impressive lineup seems too good to pass up. They seem to have worked their content deals well by offering single rentals in addition to this subscription plan. We know that we can use their apps on the Tivos, even our Series2 which has been mothballed for six months. Their apps on Android are solid.

We'll be looking forward to the YouTube and Hulu Plus options in a few months. It looks like those advanced features are going to require another Tivo upgrade. But knowing that a Roku or game system would tap into those makes them seem like viable options.

And then there's also the On Demand route for almost all of this.

So, don't fret, fellow Neflixters! We'll survive and we may even come out of this way ahead.

Fantastic info.

My biggest complaint with Netflix has long been the parental controls. It's a blanket restriction which has to be operated from the web. So if a dad has the account restricted to PG-13, for example, and the kids go to bed and dad wants to watch an R movie streaming on the Roku, he has to go to the computer, log in, change the restrictions, watch the movie, then reset the restrictions before going to bed.

Why not the ability to enter a passcode like every other system?

I'm going to be exploring the Amazon Prime alternative because Roku also had an Amazon channel.

Although our content needs are slightly different (my teen son is completely addicted to Top Gear -- BBC version), the issues are the same. Thanks for the info.

Wait... the indecision continues...

Clicky---> Netflix abandons plan to rent dvds qwikster