Netflix Nixes Qwikster Switch

DVD and streaming services to stay integrated, but price change remains in effect

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/10/2011 10:10:57 AM

Netflix quickly killed off its plan to split off its DVD-by-mail business into a separate unit, which was to have been called Qwikster, while it will keep the pricing changes that raised the price of streaming-plus-DVD plans as much as 60%.

Netflix said in a Sept. 18 blog post by CEO Reed Hastings that its DVD-by-mail service would operate at Qwikster.com. However, on Monday, the company announced that U.S. members will continue to use one website, one account and one password for accessing movies and TV shows under the Netflix brand.

"Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that," Hastings said in a statement. "There is a difference between moving quickly -- which Netflix has done very well for years -- and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case."

The about-face comes as Netflix has suffered a customer backlash from the decision to split apart DVD and streaming plans, which went into effect for U.S. cusotmers Sept. 1. Netflix previously forecast that it would lose approximately 600,000 customers for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, as a result of the change.