Netflix Reverses Course, Drops 'Qwikster' Name

Netflix has done it again. The recently-announced price hikes that infuriated consumers was followed by the announcement that video streaming was being separated from DVD rental, which infuriated customers some more.

Now, the company says it's changed it's mind about at least one of the changes. In other words, forget about it.

Qwikster's demise

Just last month Netflix announced it was spinning off DVD rentals to a separate company and website to be called Qwikster. At the time, Netflix explained that the two companies would have a better chance to flourish on their own. DVD's would be rented from a separate website, through a separate account for a separate fee.

Last month's announcement was accompanied by an online mea culpa from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings that prompted this Saturday Night Live parody, which almost seems real in light of the latest announcement.

Over the weekend Hastings took to the Internet again, in a brief blog posting announcing the company would not follow through on its recently announced changes.

Netflix for both streaming and DVDs

“It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs,” Hastings said. “This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster.”

The announcement of Qwikster was meant to explain Netflix's change to its membership structure. The consumer grumblings began in July when Netflix announced it was charging separate membership fees for streaming access and DVD rentals. At the time, consumers got both for the $8 a month fee. Despite dropping the Qwikster site, customers will have to still pay for both separately, in what amounts to a 60 percent price increase.

Missteps

The uncharacteristic public relations miscues have come at a bad time for Netflix, which finds itself under growing pressure from its higher priced competitors as well as the emergence of an increasing number on the low end.

Starz Entertainment recently rejected Netflix's $300 million contract renewal offer, stating it was bothered by the fact Netflix was offering access to the content for only $8 a month, while cable and satellite TV companies charged much more.

In the same blog posting announcing the end of Qwikster, Hastings also sought to reassure subscribers that they won't miss the Starz content.

“We’ve recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS,” Hastings said.