Netflix to end iconic 'red envelope' DVD service after 25 years this week

26 September 2023 , 10:52

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Netflix DVDs are sent to subscribers in these iconic red envelopes - which became very familiar to your postie! (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Time to say a fond farewell to those iconic red envelopes - as Netflix is ending a quarter of a century of mailing DVDs to its subscribers this Friday, September 29.

The once-popular service allows customers to rent films online and have them posted to their homes for viewing. But with the rapid rise of streaming, the ageing physical format's glory days are increasingly slipping out of view.

With Netflix still reeling under strained consumer spending, rising costs and increased competition from Disney+ and Amazon Prime, the streaming pioneer has decided to post its final discs to loyal customers at the end of this week.

In a blog posted earlier this year called 'Netflix DVD - The Final Season', the company's co-chief executive Ted Sarandos hailed the famed red envelopes as 'paving the way' for the shift to streaming.

"After an incredible 25-year run, we've decided to wind down DVD.com," Mr Sarandos wrote. "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."

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He continued: "Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home - and they paved the way for the shift to streaming.

"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."

Netflix launched in 1997 as an alternative to video rental stores. In a unique move for the times, it allowed customers to rent DVDs and have them sent to their homes.

The very first posted DVD was a copy of Tim Burton’s 1988 classic horror comedy Beetlejuice, starring Micheal Keaton. Netflix quickly became a huge success and it wasn't long before traditional bricks and mortar video chains such as Blockbuster were on the ropes.

But the rise of streaming has slowly but surely eaten away at the firm's DVD side of the business. The pioneer launched its streaming service in 2007 and is now a global phenomenon with more than 232 million subscribers across the globe.

Paul Speed