If Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is to be believed, DVD is preparing to go the way of the VHS cassette.
According to Yahoo’s Today in Tech, Mr. Hastings said that DVD will remain the primary delivery format for movies for the next two years at his company which currently boasts 11 million customers. He did not, however, say if it would be Blu-ray or streaming movies that would replace the aging format.
Seeing as Blu-ray still only has about 10 percent market penetration at this time, and Netflix is continuing to invest in its streaming technology, it seems likely that Mr. Hastings was referring to streaming becoming the dominant delivery format. This isn’t to say that DVD will just disappear over night as he sees the format holding on in some way for another decade or so past 2012. This is a reversal of previous statements Mr. Hastings has given where he saw DVD remaining Netflix’s primary focus through as late as 2018.
If the CEO was discussing streaming as the primary delivery format in the near future, you have to wonder if he knows something about the United States broadband plans that is not yet common knowledge. The fairly low penetration of the necessary broadband speeds has been seen as a barrier to streaming movie delivery gaining wide acceptance in the USA. The Obama administration has said getting broadband speeds to every home has been a priority for the President since the campaign trail, but it is expected to take some time roll out.
The second biggest barrier had been the ease with which consumers could watch streaming videos on devices other than their computers, but the company has been working diligently at changing that for some time now. With interfaces for the service now on devices such as the Xbox 360, the Roku box and even being built into some TV sets, once broadband speeds become more prevalent in this country, Mr. Hastings’ predictions will probably come true.
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