With a Grain of Salt

Netflix DVD: We Hardly Knew Ye

Netflix Ends 'Red Envelope' DVD Service in 2023. Is it because they didn't invest in Forever stamps?"

By Isette Façìon | Posted 4/20/23 | Updated 7/16/23

Within mere months of asking, What would your Netflix show be?, on April 18, 2023, after 25 years of service, Netflix DVD announced that they will ship their last red envelope in their DVD service on September 29.

"What's a DVD," you ask? It's a second-generation compact disc, a round, flat circle with a diameter of 4.7 in and weight of 0.56 oz. It's an amazing invention in that it can store copious amounts of data without increasing in weight.¹ Oh. "What's a CD?"

How might the end of Netflix's DVD service impact those who favor tangible assets in home entertainment? A random internet poster, probably GenX, on Breaddit wrote: "That sucks."

What reason did Netflix DVD give for canceling? On their Final Season FAQ page, they say:

"After an incredible 25 year run, we've made the difficult decision to wind down at the end of September. Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the DVD business continues to shrink, that's going to become increasingly difficult."²

So the bottom line, as Seinfeld's George Costanza would blush, is "shrinkage."

"Who still watches DVD's anyway?" Sarcasts a Gen-A poster on social media. "Everything is streaming now and can be pirated for free!"

One anonymous source claiming to be with the federal government leaked some interesting information that may shed some additional light on the subject:

"In 2007, when Forever Stamps went on sale, Netflix balked at the idea of paying ahead for postage at a fixed price, when the price of a first-class stamp at the post office was 41 cents. Stamps in 2023 are now are 63 cents.⁴ Times the difference over 5.2 billion discs mailed back-and-forth over the years and you'll see how quickly the bits-o-coin adds up."³

While the above leak is intriguing, we can't verify. So we'll never know if Netflix DVD could have held on longer if they staved off the shrinking of their profits due to increasing postage costs.

We assume most subscribers to Netflix's DVD service are sad to see it end. "How am I possibly going to get through my remaining DVD queue?" Lamented one long-time subscriber who sees the dynamic queue as "the list that never ends."

And what about realizing fruition of the "Saved" queue where we hope DVDs will someday become available? No chance.

References:

DVD Technology. (April 18, 2023). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/DVD
FAQ. (April 20, 2023). DVD Neflix. https://dvd.netflix.com/Faq
Sperling, N. (April 18, 2023). Netflix Will End Its DVD Service, 5.2 Billion Discs Later. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/business/media/netflix-dvds-earnings.html
USPS. (April 20, 2023). Forever Stamp Fact Sheet. https://about.usps.com/news/fact-sheets/forever-stamp-facts.htm

Isette Facion Isette Façìon is known for her dubious writing and questionable research. ...