The digital video revolution may be hastening the DVD to its end, but there’s quite a bit of life left in the old format–according to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, anyway. During a wide-ranging onstage interview with All Things Digital’s Peter Kafka, Hastings discussed the future of the DVD, the deal Netflix cut with Warner Bros. earlier this week, which will delay rentals of the studio’s films until 28 days after their DVD release, and Comcast’s proposal to acquire a controlling stake of NBC Universal, a move that could affect Netflix’s (NFLX) “Watch Instantly” streaming service.
“When we first started years ago, we were literally going down to Best Buy and buying a bunch of DVDs and renting them,” Hastings says, reflecting on the Warner Bros. deal. He notes that Netflix is getting a better deal on DVD prices as a result of its pact with the studio.
“But what do the customers get out of the deal?” asks Peter. More streaming content, says Hastings.
“You’ve said before that you feel you’re evolving into a streaming business,” Peter says. How quickly is that transition progressing?
“Well, now we’re a DVD rental business that streams some movies,” Hastings replies. “Pretty soon we’re going to be a streaming business that rents some DVDs.”
When do you think you’ll get to the point where you’re no longer shipping DVDs to your customers? 2030, says Hastings, another 20 years.
Peter: Are you in the market for HBO or a premium channel?
Hastings: Not yet. We’re still growing our subscriber base, growing our content.
Any interest in getting into the sports business?
We’re movie-centric, with some TV. Other companies can focus on sports and news.
You’re on 100 devices. What’s the most popular?
Hastings: Videogame consoles, Blu-ray; we’d like to be on all of the videogame consoles.
How hard were you hit by the recession?
All of the subscription entertainment businesses were hit pretty hard. It’s coming back.
What number of subscribers are idiots like me and pay full price to watch two videos a month?
Not many, says Hastings.
What’s the comparison between, say, Blu-ray subscribers and streaming subscribers?
Streaming is a rocketship. Blu-ray is not, but it may get there.
You’ve put up a document called “How to run your company the Netflix way.” It says companies should offer unlimited vacation.
It’s written as an internal document for candidates. Other companies have definitely thought it’s dangerous. They can do what they want with it.
How much vacation do you take?
Hastings: Weeks and weeks.
Peter: Awesome.
Well, part of the time you’re on vacation you’re thinking about work. Some of our most productive people aren’t in the office that much. It’s about how much you get done.
Are you threatened by what Hulu or Comcast (CMCSA) might put together?
Any time a competitor doubles in size, that’s capitalism, but not good for us. We’re movie-centric, and commercial-free. We license a lot of content. As we get more subscribers, we can write bigger checks to license more content.
We’re about three things right now: Expanding the platform, expanding the content and expanding the user interface, making it better and better.
Reed Hastings Interview Photos
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