Everyone is familiar with Netflix for its massively popular streaming service. Of course, in the beginning, Netflix actually started out as a DVD rental service via mail. Now, however, Netflix is officially ending their DVD shipping service after 25 years.
With that said, some subscribers may not even know Netflix still offered disc rentals. They ran it all through their physical media branch at DVD.com. But, as shared by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the company will be shutting down the branch after all this time.
Here’s a statement shared by Sarandos on the official website:
“After an incredible 25 year run, we’ve decided to wind down DVD.com later this year. Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult.
“So we want to go out on a high, and will be shipping our final discs on September 29, 2023.”
He continues:
“Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming. From the beginning, our members loved the choice and control that direct-to-consumer entertainment offered: the wide variety of the titles and the ability to binge watch entire series. DVDs also led to our first foray into original programming — with Red Envelope Entertainment titles including Sherrybaby and Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion.
“We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come. To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you.”
Subscribers to Netflix’s DVD plan can still rent discs until September 29. As such, it’s a sad time for the physical media industry. And while it may become increasingly difficult to rent discs – physical media is still going strong with today’s numerous boutique labels. Either way, it’s certainly come a long way since the early days of the video store.
The statement adds several pieces of trivia for fans. For example, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was the first DVD shipped by the service on March 10, 1998. Though they’ve shipped more than 5.2 billion DVDs since then to 40 million unique subscribers.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional Netflix news and physical media updates as we have them.