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Earleen Statham
When Colin McEvoy, a father of two from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and a self-described film fanatic, wants to watch a Bollywood film or an obscure independent movie, he often turns to Netflix -- but not its popular streaming service.
"I remember I was in high school when I first signed up for it, and the concept was so novel, I had to really convince my dad that it was a legit service and not some sort of Internet scam," said McEvoy, who uses an old Xbox 360 to play his Netflix DVDs. "Now I have friends who've seen my red Netflix envelopes arrive in the mail, and either didn't remember what they were or couldn't believe that I still got the DVDs in the mail."
Now, McEvoy is one of the DVD-by-mail holdouts mourning the service's imminent demise. On Tuesday, Netflix announced it will send out its final red envelope on September 29, 2023, marking an end to 25 years of mailing DVDs to members. The company will continue to accept returns of customers' remaining DVDs until October 27.
Introduced in 1998 when Netflix first launched, the service promised an easier rental experience than having to drive to the nearest Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. The red envelopes, which have long been synonymous with Netflix itself, littered homes and dorm rooms across the country. But in 2007, Netflix began streaming content online and gradually shifted the focus away from its original DVD business.
Today, the idea of receiving a DVD in the mail may sound almost as outdated as receiving a dial-up CD, but some longtime customers told CNN they continued to find value in the DVD option, including for its selection, pricing and added perks.
There are other factors, too. Michael Inouye, an analyst at ABI Research, said some consumers may still not have access to reliable or fast enough broadband connections, or simply prefer physical media to digital, much in the way that some audio enthusiasts still purchase and collect CDs and records. Other households may also own cars that still have DVD players inside.
For Netflix, however, the offering has made less sense in recent years. "Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the DVD business continues to shrink, that's going to become increasingly difficult," co-CEO Ted Sarandos wrote in a blog post this week.
Shutting down its DVD business could help Netflix better focus resources as it expands into new markets such as gaming, as well as live and interactive content. Its DVD business has also declined significantly in recent years. In 2021, Netflix's non-streaming revenue -- mostly attributable to DVDs -- amounted to 0.6% of its revenue, or just over $182 million.
The cost to operate its DVD business may also be a factor, especially as Netflix rethinks expenses broadly amid heightened streaming competition and broader economic uncertainty. "Moving plastic discs around costs far more money than streaming digital bits," said Eric Schmitt, senior director analyst at Gartner Research. "Removing and replacing damaged and lost inventory are also cost considerations."
"The inventory of available titles, while still vast, had been contracting some over the years with some movies that were once available no longer being so," Cordy said. "Turnaround times to get a new movie or movies also started to take longer, so I knew it was only a matter of time. But I didn't want it to end if I could help it."
On Wednesday, Bill Rouhana, the CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment -- which owns DVD rental service Redbox -- told The Hollywood Reporter he hopes to purchase Netflix's DVD business. "I'd like to buy it... I wish Netflix would sell me that business instead of shutting it down," he said. Redbox remains popular despite the shift in streaming but took a hit during the pandemic because of the lack of new movies and TV shows to fill the boxes.
A Netflix spokesperson told CNN it has no plans to sell the DVD business and declined to share how it plans to dispose of the discs. But Nick Maggio, a 43-year-old elementary school teacher from Valley Stream, New York, said he hopes the company will sell their individual titles. "I know there are several titles I'd like to get my hands on," he said.
McEvoy, who also subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, the Criterion channel and Mubi, said he's determined to finish seeing every film listed in the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" with the help of Netflix.
Janet finds an envelope full of cash in the store between a couple of bags of dog food, which makes me think this was a setup for a JFL Gags bit but whatevs. She drops the envelope splitting the cash as Umma catches her. She then counts the money and it comes to a grand total of $210.
Later on, Umma is seen asking every customer if they lost the money, even disclosing how much. So far, no one has claimed it as their own (except Janet, of course) who lectures Umma for being too trusting and naive.
A customer overhears them and asks about the money, saying that she thought she left it on the subway but just remembered that she was in the store recently. Janet is obviously suspicious and asks her how much money was in the envelope that she was missing.
Gerald later finds a $50 bill in the store, around where Janet had dropped the envelope, and he shows it to her. And if you're following that math correctly, that does indeed come to $260, just as the woman said.
The next day, Janet arrives at the store to find that the woman is back but Umma is giving her a hard time at the checkout. You see, Umma is usually good at detecting liars so she's feeling rather duped by this alleged scammer.
The gig is up and Janet is forced to eat crow and explain the so-called misunderstanding. Watching Janet dance around a lie she creates is the most uncomfortable, albeit entertaining, thing to watch. So if you like seeing Janet dig herself deeper into a web of lies, you're gonna LOVE next week's episode!
Anyway, when they go to the petty cash box to retrieve the envelope, it's gone (more on that later). So, Umma and Janet are forced to give the woman what is rightfully owed to her: $260 and an apology.
Shannon and Jung are settling in to watch a show. If this was in real time, this scene would've actually been two hours of them mulling over what show they were in the mood for, but then ultimately end up watching Schitt's Creek for the umpteenth time. They opt to watch episode four of "Swords of the Realm" which sounds like a Game of Thrones meets Witcher knock-off (that or this season takes place in the future where the pandemic is over and the Netflix adaptation of Magic: The Gathering has already been released).
So, Kimchee gives Jung what is probably the worst advice, which will no doubt backfire on him. He suggests that the next time they're watching one of Shannon's shows, Jung should ask a lot of questions to illustrate how annoying it is. This might be a good time to update last week's "worst boyfriend" poll.
Okay, does Jung not know who his girlfriend is? Like, of course Shannon would be into him asking a bunch of questions about her favourite show. Chatty people who are into a show can go on and on for hours, recapping every little detail of every single episode, injecting their own thoughts and commentary
The next day, Shannon walks in on Jung complaining to Terence about her talking through the show. She explains, quite reasonably, that she was only talking because he was asking all those [very ingenuine] questions, which he explains he was only trying to make a point.
Maybe actually asking her to not talk during his show would've made that point clearer but it seems lately that communication is not their strongest asset. At least her questions were from a place of interest whereas his came from a malicious scheme to get her to stop talking.
Shannon soldiers on with a smile on her passive aggressive face as she tells him that she thought they had finally found a show they can watch together but she was apparently wrong. Jung is obviously pained by this (but again, it could've been totally avoidable).
Anyway, fast forward to their apartment where Jung comes home and finds Kwami watching "Kilenny Girls." He appears a little confused so Jung answers some of his questions about the show proving that he at least was paying attention to Shannon's answers. By the time Shannon comes home, she finds them both utterly engaged in it.
While Appa is taking a quick break to dine-in at a Korean restaurant, Kimchee is also there, picking up takeout. Appa invites him to sit down and join him, much to the annoyance of the restaurant owner.
Turns out they both had a great time. Appa almost becomes a little obsessed with Kimchee (in an adorable dad way), while Kimchee feels like he may be betraying Jung due to Jung and Appa's tumultuous father-son relationship in the past, so he plays it off like it was an awkward encounter, even though he loved it.
She also insists that they go hang out right now if they really want to (and they totally do). Unfortunately, it's cut short when Kimchee thinks he sees Jung and gets all nervous. This does not go unnoticed by Appa, who graciously says they don't have to hang out too much.
There's a nice understanding between the two of them that this is a "sensitive" topic where Jung is concerned. They don't end their friendship but they do take a step back if it can mean a better relationship between Appa and his own son.
The next day we get one more chance encounter: Appa and Jung. They're at the same restaurant and my head canon tells me that Jung might have planned this because Kimchee was raving about lunch with his Appa the other day. And just as Jung is about to invite Appa to sit down and have lunch together, the restaurant owner gets all huffy about takeout being for takeout, killing the moment.
Recently moved home. Thought all was great. During the move as I expected my netflix was suspended. Now after use WhatsApp and a phone call to customer care. I still can't get my netflix back. That is included in my package. Was passed to "it team" over 7 days ago and nothing. From what I have read I need a new activation email.... please someone give me a way to sort this out!
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