Netflix to shut down US DVD mail service

Netflix to shut down US DVD mail service

Netflix will shut down its DVD-by-mail rental service in September, ending the streaming giant’s original business model.

At the time of writing, Netflix’s DVD service still delivers films and TV shows in red-and-white envelopes, but plans to mail its final discs on 29 September in the United States.

“Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming,” said Netflix in a statement on their website.

“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.”

Netflix ended March with 232.5 million worldwide subscribers to its video streaming service, but stopped disclosing how many people still use DVD-by-mail delivery years ago. The DVD service generated $145.7 million USD in revenue in 2022, which translated into somewhere between 1.1 million and 1.3 million subscribers.

The growth of Netflix’s video streaming service has been slowing down over the past year, prompting management to put more emphasis on boosting profits. That focus may have also contributed to the decision to close the DVD rental service, once the company’s biggest source of revenue.

Shortly before Netflix broke it off from video streaming in 2011, the DVD-by-mail service boasted more than 16 million subscribers. That number has steadily dwindled and the service’s eventual demise became apparent.

Netflix first launched the Australian version of their streaming service on 24 March 2015

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