SAO PAULO, Sept. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Netflix, Inc. (www.netflix.com), the world's largest Internet movie and TV series subscription service, is arriving in Latin America and the Caribbean, providing instant and unlimited movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix to computers, game consoles and other Internet connected devices for a single low monthly price. Netflix launched today in Brazil and will be launched in 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean by 12 Sept.
With more than 25 million members in the U.S. and Canada, Netflix offers amazing convenience and extraordinary value with a broad range of Hollywood, international and local movies and TV series to choose from. Netflix has revolutionized entertainment in North America by giving people a choice to instantly enjoy what they want to watch, when they want to watch it for a low monthly price over a wide range of Internet-connected devices, such as computers, game consoles, and smart TVs.
"We are excited to be bringing Netflix to Latin America and the Caribbean," said Reed Hastings, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Netflix. "People throughout the region are online in ever-greater numbers and they love movies and TV shows. We are proud to bring them the Netflix experience of instantly enjoying as many movies and TV shows as they want, when they want for one low price. "
Today, the Portuguese-language version of Netflix launched in Brazil, where thousands of hours of movies and TV shows can now be watched instantly, anytime and anywhere via PC, Mac, PS2, PS3 and Wii for a monthly subscription price of BR$14.99.
On Wednesday, 7 Sept., the Spanish-language version of the Netflix streaming service will become available in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The monthly subscription for unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows in Argentina is 39 pesos while in Uruguay and Paraguay the price is US$7.99 per month.
On Thursday, 8 Sept., Netflix will become available in Chile at 3790 pesos per month and in Bolivia at US$7.99 per month. On Friday, 9 Sept., Netflix will begin unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows via the Internet in the Andean region. In Colombia, the monthly subscription price will be 14,000 Colombian pesos while in Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador the price will be US$7.99.
On Monday, 12 September, Netflix will launch its service in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. In Mexico, the monthly subscription price for unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows over the Internet will be 99 pesos while in the Central America and the Caribbean the price will be US$7.99 per month. In the Caribbean region, Netflix will be available in English and Spanish.
"It is an amazing privilege for us to travel through the region, introducing Netflix to consumers in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Hastings. "We are committed to offering the same great service, value and choice throughout the Americas and we can't wait to get started."
About Netflix: With over 25 million members in the United States, Canada and Latin America, Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) is the world's leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. For $8 a month, Netflix members instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streaming over the Internet to PCs, Macs and TVs. Among the large and expanding base of devices streaming from Netflix are Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PS3 consoles; an array of Blu-ray disc players, Internet-connected TVs, home theater systems, digital video recorders and Internet video players; Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Apple TV and Google TV. In all, more than 200 devices that stream from Netflix are available in the U.S. and a growing number are available in Canada.
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple languages.[6]
Launched on January 16, 2007, nearly a decade after Netflix, Inc. began its pioneering DVD-by-mail movie rental service, Netflix is the most-subscribed video on demand streaming media services, with over 277.7 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries as of July 2024.[5][7] By 2022, "Netflix Original" productions accounted for half of its library in the United States and the namesake company had ventured into other categories, such as video game publishing of mobile games through its flagship service. As of October 2023, Netflix is the 23rd most-visited website in the world, with 23.66% of its traffic coming from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom at 5.84% and Brazil at 5.64%.[8][9]
Initially, Netflix offered a per-rental model for each DVD but introduced a monthly subscription concept in September 1999.[20] The per-rental model was dropped by early 2000, allowing the company to focus on the business model of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping and handling fees, or per-title rental fees.[21] In September 2000, during the dot-com bubble, while Netflix was suffering losses, Hastings and Randolph offered to sell the company to Blockbuster for $50 million. John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, thought the offer was a joke and declined, saying, "The dot-com hysteria is completely overblown."[22][23] While Netflix experienced fast growth in early 2001, the continued effects of the dot-com bubble collapse and the September 11 attacks caused the company to hold off plans for its initial public offering (IPO) and to lay off one-third of its 120 employees.[24]
DVD players were a popular gift for holiday sales in late 2001, and demand for DVD subscription services were "growing like crazy", according to chief talent officer Patty McCord.[25] The company went public on May 23, 2002, selling 5.5 million shares of common stock at US$15.00 per share.[26] In 2003, Netflix was issued a patent by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to cover its subscription rental service and several extensions.[27] Netflix posted its first profit in 2003, earning $6.5 million on revenues of $272 million; by 2004, profit had increased to $49 million on over $500 million in revenues.[28] In 2005, 35,000 different films were available, and Netflix shipped 1 million DVDs out every day.[29]
In 2004, Blockbuster introduced a DVD rental service, which not only allowed users to check out titles through online sites but allowed for them to return them at brick and-mortar stores.[30] By 2006, Blockbuster's service reached two million users, and while trailing Netflix's subscriber count, was drawing business away from Netflix. Netflix lowered fees in 2007.[28] While it was an urban legend that Netflix ultimately "killed" Blockbuster in the DVD rental market, Blockbuster's debt load and internal disagreements hurt the company.[30]
On April 4, 2006, Netflix filed a patent infringement lawsuit in which it demanded a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Blockbuster's online DVD rental subscription program violated two patents held by Netflix. The first cause of action alleged Blockbuster's infringement of copying the "dynamic queue" of DVDs available for each customer, Netflix's method of using the ranked preferences in the queue to send DVDs to subscribers, and Netflix's method permitting the queue to be updated and reordered.[31] The second cause of action alleged infringement of the subscription rental service as well as Netflix's methods of communication and delivery.[32] The companies settled their dispute on June 25, 2007; terms were not disclosed.[33][34][35][36]
On October 1, 2006, Netflix announced the Netflix Prize, $1,000,000 to the first developer of a video-recommendation algorithm that could beat its existing algorithm Cinematch, at predicting customer ratings by more than 10%. On September 21, 2009, it awarded the $1,000,000 prize to team "BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos".[37] Cinematch, launched in 2000, was a system that recommended movies to its users, many of which might have been entirely new to the user.[38][39]
Through its division Red Envelope Entertainment, Netflix licensed and distributed independent films such as Born into Brothels and Sherrybaby. In late 2006, Red Envelope Entertainment also expanded into producing original content with filmmakers such as John Waters.[40] Netflix closed Red Envelope Entertainment in 2008.[41][42]
In January 2007, the company launched a streaming media service, introducing video on demand via the Internet. However, at that time it only had 1,000 films available for streaming, compared to 70,000 available on DVD.[43] The company had for some time considered offering movies online, but it was only in the mid-2000s that data speeds and bandwidth costs had improved sufficiently to allow customers to download movies from the net. The original idea was a "Netflix box" that could download movies overnight, and be ready to watch the next day. By 2005, Netflix had acquired movie rights and designed the box and service. But after witnessing how popular streaming services such as YouTube were despite the lack of high-definition content, the concept of using a hardware device was scrapped and replaced with a streaming concept.[44]
In February 2007, Netflix delivered its billionth DVD, a copy of Babel to a customer in Texas.[45][46] In April 2007, Netflix recruited ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood, to build a "Netflix Player" that would allow streaming content to be played directly on a television rather than a desktop or laptop.[47] Hastings eventually shut down the project to help encourage other hardware manufacturers to include built-in Netflix support, which would be spun off as the digital media player product Roku.[48][49][50]
In January 2008, all rental-disc subscribers became entitled to unlimited streaming at no additional cost. This change came in a response to the introduction of Hulu and to Apple's new video-rental services.[51][52][page needed] In August 2008, the Netflix database was corrupted and the company was not able to ship DVDs to customers for 3 days, leading the company to move all its data to the Amazon Web Services cloud.[53] In November 2008, Netflix began offering subscribers rentals on Blu-ray and discontinued its sale of used DVDs.[54] In 2009, Netflix streams overtook DVD shipments.[55]
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