Editor’s Note: Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ:VMED)
Netflix Tops Record as Hastings Recovers From 2011 Gaffes (Bloomberg)
Netflix eclipsed its all-time high set in mid-2011, capping a two-year recovery for Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings from marketing missteps that angered customers and cratered the stock. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), which has more than tripled this year to lead the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, gained 6.4 percent to $313.06 at the close in New York. The previous closing high of $298.73 was set on July 13, 2011. A day earlier, Netflix had raised prices for users who wanted DVDs and streaming — triggering a backlash that cost the service 800,000 subscribers.
How Netflix keeps its cloud strong by using virtual ‘monkeys’ to unplug servers at random (VB)
What does not kill me, makes me stronger. So said Nietzsche, Conan the Barbarian, and Kelly Clarkson. Now Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) cloud director Ariel Tseitlin is taking that philosophy to its natural limit in the world of the cloud. Every day, he unleashes an army of virtual monkeys on his company’s computing infrastructure, trying to kill it. Every day, it survives — and it gets stronger, more resilient, and more resistant to real outages. By now, it is almost unkillable.
Netflix vs Blu-ray: is there a future for optical discs? (Tech Radar)
The Blu-ray format can stay relevant despite the challenges from streaming, according to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which has confirmed plans to announce a new 4k-capable Blu-ray Disc with enhanced audio before the end of the year. Marty Gordon, Vice President of Alliances & Communications at Philips and spokesman for the BDA, told TechRadar at the IFA 2013 exhibition in Berlin that people are buying ‘smart’ Blu-ray players to both play discs and stream movies from cloud-based apps like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Lovefilm and Blinkbox.
Netflix Stock Boom May Bring Gloom to Hollywood (Variety)
A deal announced Monday between Netflix and Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ:VMED) in the U.K. is the likeliest reason for the streaming service’s stock rocketing past $300 this morning to record highs. But what’s great news for Netflix may not be as rosy for Hollywood, analysts caution, whether that’s the content companies with which Netflix competes or the pay-TV companies which pay the programmers billions of dollars in affiliate-fee revenue each year.
Netflix Launches in The Netherlands (Variety)
As Variety reported earlier this week, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) on Wednesday launched its Internet streaming service in the Netherlands, priced at €7.99 per month (about $10.59 U.S.). Netflix’s debut in the Netherlands — its seventh European country and 41st country launch overall — comes on the heels of the company striking a pact with U.K. cable operator Virgin Media to provide access to Netflix to the MSO’s TiVo subscribers, directly through their set-top.
