NETFLIX LOSES 800,000 CUSTOMERS IN Q3

After a tumultuous third quarter the numbers are finally in for Netflix, and as expected its price hike and Qwikster madness have cost it a few customers in the US. Currently the company is reporting a total of 23.79 million customers in the US, down from 24.59 million last quarter -- fewer than even it projected a few weeks ago. According to the report, it lost more "long term" customers than expected, which it attributes, again, to its poor explanation of the reasoning behind the change. To address those decisions and its inability to reach a new deal with Starz it has a few more numbers to show, as apparently only 7 percent of new customers are opting for the $15.98 hybrid package, while Starz Play content currently accounts for about six percent of streaming hours. Other competitors are also mentioned -- Amazon Prime Instant Video's content library is referred to as "duplicative" and just a "small fraction" of what Netflix offers, as it counts on newly-signed exclusive deals to widen the gap.

Those deals mean new movies like Drive, Paranormal Activity 3, The Rum Diaries and The Immortals will show up on Netflix in the usual pay-TV window, on top of a library of catalog TV shows that pulls from all five broadcast networks and 95 percent of cable TV stations. Internationally, Netflix is up to one million customers in Canada where it plans to double quarterly content spending, while Latin American customers can look forward to iOS and Xbox support soon. While its UK launch is on for Q1, it expressed concern for competition from Sky Movies, BBC and Lovefilm, and it plans to hold off on further expansion after that.

FOX RESTRICTING ACCESS TO NEW TV SHOWS TO "AUTHENTICATED" PAY TV SUBSCRIBERS

Starting this fall, for the first eight days after they air, watching Fox TV shows online will require a subscription to Hulu Plus or a participating cable or satellite company. So far Dish Network is the first and only provider to sign up its customers for access to the new walled garden on Fox's site but others looking to fill out their TV Everywhere lineups probably won't be far behind. While pay-TV networks like ESPN with ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app and EPIX have already gone the "authentication" route, Fox is the first of the broadcast networks to do so. The new rules go into effect August 15th, then we'll find out if Fox is driving cable cutters towards paying for TV, piracy, or just ignoring the latest episode of Glee altogether.

NEW COMCAST XFINITY SET-TOP BOXES INTEGRATE FACEBOOK AND INTEL PROCESSORS

If you’re a Comcast customer, your TV viewing experience will soon get very interactive. Just yesterday, Comcast announced a partnership with Skype to bring HD video calling to your television sets, and today the company unveiled a new Xfinity set-top box powered by Intel that will integrate Facebook to bring social features and app support to its content service.

Comcast is using Intel’s chip for its new Xfinity set-top box, which will be manufactured by Pace. Intel has been pushing its chips into the home-entertainment markets with Google TV products already employing them. However, sales for Google TV have not met targets, and so this new partnership with Comcast is a good opportunity for Intel to expand into the digital home space.

As for the Facebook integration, it goes beyond just being able to access Facebook from an app launcher. Xfinity will allow subscribers to suggest programming to friends and also receive recommendations. Other apps will also be delivered through Xfinity, such as real-time traffic and weather, although which ones have not yet been confirmed.

However, it has not been confirmed yet when and where the new set-top boxes will be deployed and whether there will be an additional cost for current subscribers.

NETFLIX Q4 PROFITS JUMP; SUBSCRIBERS INCREASE

The nation's top video rental service reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $47 million or 87 cents per share, on $596 million in revenue. These figures represent a sharp climb from the same period a year ago.

Income for the quarter, which ended December 31, rose 52 percent and revenue grew 34 percent from the year-ago period.

The big news came in the form of subscriber growth. Netflix reported that the total number of Netflix subscribers is 20 million. For the quarter, the company added 3.08 million subscribers. In October, Netflix predicted it would add 2.7 million subscribers for a total of 19.7 million.
Those 3 million new subscribers mark a 166 percent jump from the 1.1 million the company added in the same period last year. The number of total Netflix subscribers rose by 63 percent from a year earlier.

The fear on Wall Street was that Netflix would begin showing signs that the cost of content would empty its coffers. Either that, or the company would be unable to afford enough films and TV shows to attract new customers. None of that apparently occurred in the fourth quarter.
All the signs indicate that Netflix is more popular than ever.
A consensus of financial analysts expected Netflix to report earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $598 million. Netflix's total revenues were slightly below what analysts expected but far exceeded profit expectation.

Investors didn't appear overly confident that Netflix would see a big quarter, or at least one that could continue justifying its lofty stock price. Netflix shares closed trading today at $183.03, down $3.71 or 2 percent. The stock has tripled in price this year.