Netflix has announced that it will end its DVD-by-mail rental service on September 29, 2023.
Since 1998, the company has allowed users to make a movie list and get Blu-rays and DVDs conveniently delivered with free shipping both ways. In total Netflix shipped over 5.2 billion DVDs, the first being Beetlejuice on March 10, 1998, and the most popular being The Blind Side.
Here's the full announcement from CEO Ted Sarandos....
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After an incredible 25 year run, we've decided to wind down DVD.com later this year. Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that's going to become increasingly difficult. So we want to go out on a high, and will be shipping our final discs on September 29, 2023.
Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming. From the beginning, our members loved the choice and control that direct-to-consumer entertainment offered: the wide variety of the titles and the ability to binge watch entire series. DVDs also led to our first foray into original programming — with Red Envelope Entertainment titles including Sherrybaby and Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion.
We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come.
To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you.
-Ted Sarandos
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Since 1998, the company has allowed users to make a movie list and get Blu-rays and DVDs conveniently delivered with free shipping both ways. In total Netflix shipped over 5.2 billion DVDs, the first being Beetlejuice on March 10, 1998, and the most popular being The Blind Side.
Here's the full announcement from CEO Ted Sarandos....
-----
After an incredible 25 year run, we've decided to wind down DVD.com later this year. Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that's going to become increasingly difficult. So we want to go out on a high, and will be shipping our final discs on September 29, 2023.
Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming. From the beginning, our members loved the choice and control that direct-to-consumer entertainment offered: the wide variety of the titles and the ability to binge watch entire series. DVDs also led to our first foray into original programming — with Red Envelope Entertainment titles including Sherrybaby and Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion.
We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come.
To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you.
-Ted Sarandos
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