Netflix’s Remaining DVD Users Are About to Be Flush with Discs

Wilson Chapman
·3 min read

Netflix will officially shutter its DVD-by-mail service in September, marking the end of an era for the company (and frankly, for the entertainment industry as a whole). To close out the very business that the streaming giant was founded on, Netflix is mailing up to 10 discs apiece to its last-remaining DVD users.

Netflix emailed users of its DVD.com service with the unusual offer this week. Those who opt in should wait by their mailboxes starting September 29, the final day the company will ship out discs. It’s not for keeps; returns are due October 27.

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“Let’s have some fun for our finale!” the email (obtained by IndieWire) reads. “You won’t know if any extra envelopes are headed your way until they arrive in your mailbox!”

The email encourages subscribers to “review your queue and move your must-watch movies to the top.”

“We wish you happy viewing and truly thank you for being part of our final season. Enjoy each and every red envelope,” the email ends.

Eligible customers can activate the promotion by clicking on a link in the email. As a disclaimer, Netflix noted that the offer is subject to “limited quantity” and “while supplies last.”

Netflix first announced the end of its DVD-mailing service this April, following years of subscriber decline and shrinking revenue. In a letter signed by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the decision was attributed to dwindling demand.

“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,” Sarandos said in the letter. “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.”

Netflix, established by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, launched in March 1998 as an online DVD rental site with approximately 900 titles; it grew to 6.3 million subscribers by 2006. In 2007, the company introduced its streaming website for video-on-demand, which quickly overshadowed its physical-media business. In 2012, the company acquired the domain DVD.com, which it used to operate its disc-shipping service; the Netflix name stayed with streaming.

Revenue from home rentals has steadily declined ever since. And in 2022, the company’s DVD service generated just $145.7 million in revenue, or half of 1 percent of Netflix’s overall revenue. It had roughly 1.1 to 1.3 million subscribers.

Netflix announced their decision to axe DVD.com the same day it reported first-quarter 2023 earnings, in which the company posted nearly $8.2 billion in revenue. Netflix ended June with another $8.2 billion in revenue and 238.39 global streaming subscribers.

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