Netflix (NFLX) is responding to Amazon.com’s (AMZN) competing streaming video service by offering a new, lower-priced plan. Netflix is testing a discount plan for new subscribers priced more closely to the subscription service offered by Amazon, the world’s leading online retailer, according to an analyst report released Tuesday. In his report, Sterne, Agee & Leach analyst Arvind Bhatia says Netflix is testing a plan for new subscribers in which
FedEx (FDX) and UPS (UPS) weren’t the only companies having delivery problems this Christmas. Netflix and Nintendo each suffered high-profile service outages this week that prevented them from delivering to consumers. Nintendo announced Friday that it is pushing back the Western release of two Pokemon-related apps for its 3DS video game device from its eShop because of “a large volume of traffic” to its network. The “Pokemon Bank” and “Poke Transporter” apps were supposed to be available on Friday. Nintendo (NTDOY) also decided to take down its eShop for 12 hours Friday and Saturday to make improvements, starting at 4 p.m. ET. For the second Christmas in a row, Netflix (NFLX) suffered a service outage that prevented it from streaming video to customers. The latest outage affected customers in the U.S., Canada and Latin America for about an hour Thursday night, the Next Web reported. A year ago, Netflix suffered…
Netflix(NFLX) says “binge-watching” television shows is the “new normal” with viewers. A survey of nearly 1,500 Netflix streaming subscribers by Harris Interactive found that binge-watching is a widespread behavior among this group, with 61% binge-watching regularly, the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company reported. A majority (73%) defined binge-watching as watching two to six episodes of the same TV show in one sitting. Netflix (NFLX) pioneered the practice of giving subscribers entire seasons of TV shows to watch, rather than doling out an episode a week as broadcast and cable channels do. And with the recent survey, it tooted its own horn pretty loudly. Comedians like to make fun of Netflix for the binge-viewing trend and the service’s movie recommendation engine. After Netflix posted its recent binge-watching survey, CollegeHumor writer Patrick Cassels tweeted , “Mad props to ‘Moby Dick’ on using the Netflix model and releasing all its chapters at once.”