Tag Archives: nflx

Amazon Prime price increase takes pressure off Netflix

With its upcoming price increase, Amazon (AMZN) Prime Instant Video will be more expensive than Netflix’s (NFLX) market-leading service, taking pressure off Netflix to offer a lower-priced service. Amazon Prime will work out to $8.25 a month compared with Netflix’s standard streaming video plan of $7.99 a month. But Amazon bundles other services with Prime, including free two-day shipping on many items, e-book borrowing access, and a rumored music streaming service. To help justify the price increase, from $79 to $99 a year, Amazon (AMZN)  is bucking up the content offerings on its streaming video service, including many exclusives. Just this year, Amazon signed deals with entertainment companies to be the exclusive streaming provider for cult TV drama “Veronica Mars,” critically acclaimed drama “Orphan Black,” MTV series “Teen Wolf,” FX period drama “The Americans,” and the upcoming CBS mystery thriller “Extant” starring Halle Berry. Variety reported Tuesday that Amazon has decided…

Netflix’s international streaming prospects underappreciated

The international opportunity for Netflix (NFLX) is greater than expected, with the streaming video service likely to enter France and Germany this year, according to a report by CRT Capital. Potential international market launches through 2016 could realistically expand Netflix’s total addressable market by $7 billion to $10 billion, CRT analyst Neil Doshi said in a report Tuesday. “Following a detailed review of the demand and competitive characteristics of potential launch markets, we believe the probability of NFLX expanding to Germany and France in 2014 is high (we estimate at 75%),” Doshi wrote. “We also forecast a 40% chance of 2014 launches in adjacent markets including Belgium, Austria and Switzerland. By the end of 2016, we estimate a 50% chance of expansion to Italy, Australia and New Zealand, and a 25% chance of expansion to Spain, Czech Republic, Japan and South Korea. Based on the company’s international prospects, Doshi…

Netflix surpasses YouTube as leading online video site

Netlfix (NFLX) has surpassed Google’s (GOOG) YouTube as the top online video service for watching TV shows and movies, according to a new survey by RBC Capital Markets. An online survey of more than 1,000 U.S. Internet users in February showed that 44% use Netflix to watch TV shows and movies, vs. 43% for YouTube. That was the first time Netflix has beaten YouTube in 10 consumer surveys by RBC since May 2011. One year ago, 37% of U.S. consumers used Netflix, vs. 40% for YouTube. Coming in a distant No. 3 was Hulu, at 27%. A year earlier, 28% of respondents used it. Amazon.com (AMZN) was No. 4 with 22%, up from 15% in February 2013. Hulu’s user penetration seems to have plateaued, while Amazon’s continues to grow, RBC analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a research report Sunday. Amazon is “probably the biggest long-term risk to Netflix, in our…