NetFlix Question

[Flick James]

I don't know if anybody knows the answer to this, but just in case.

I've noticed that movies seem to come and go from instant view availability. For example, Donnie Darko was in my instant queue and became unavailable a few days ago before I got around to watching it (I've never seen it). The Warriors is in my instant queue as well and will be going unavailable on 3/1. Fortunately, I watched it a couple of weeks ago.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows why movies go in and out of instant? Is it due to agreements with the owners of the rights that they can only run it instantly for so long because they still want to sell DVD's? That's the only argument I can think of, but then I think, "how many DVD's are they expect to sell of The Warriors?

Just curious if anybody knows.

[Olivia Bauer]

I'm not sure. I used to have "The Shawshank Redemption: Special Edition" on my instant queue. Now it's gone. I think it's gimmick to make you upgrade your account to get DVDs in the mail. It's an extra $1.99 /.mo to get DVDs.

[Rev. Powell]

1. Almost certainly contractual agreements.  There are a lot of possibilities here besides cannibalization of DVD sales.  Rights holders may try to squeeze NF for more money, or the other way around.  They may have agreements to sell through a competitor's service, or have their own digital delivery service.  It could even be a personal disagreement between the two sides.
2. It's possible the quality of the "digital print" may be bad and they take it off (temporarily or permanently).
3.  I have seen things disappear from my instant queue, then reappear in a few days.  I was warned the BBC programming would be ending, but the two sides came to an agreement before the deal was supposed to expire and all the BBC stuff is still available. 

It's probably not what A.J. said, because Netflix wants to push instant view---they would get out of the business of mailing out DVDs altogether if they thought they could.

[Jack]

I imagine it takes a ton of server space to make streaming available for all those movies.  They've probably got more movies than they (currently) have the hardware to make available simultaneously, so they rotate the selection.

Of course, that's a total guess  

[66Crush]

It bugs me that they never have any wrestling in the watch instantly section. Most of the WWE stuff is on two or three disc sets and you can only get one DVD through the mail at one time. Plus the only "Doctor Who" episodes you can watch instantly are the ones that have been on DVD for years, so I've already got them. But I have had good luck watching "MST3K." It's saved me a fortune, because those box sets are expensive!

[ghouck]

I imagine it takes a ton of server space to make streaming available for all those movies.  They've probably got more movies than they (currently) have the hardware to make available simultaneously, so they rotate the selection.

Of course, that's a total guess  

Seems like a reasonable guess though.

[A_Dubya]

It bugs me that they never have any wrestling in the watch instantly section. Most of the WWE stuff is on two or three disc sets and you can only get one DVD through the mail at one time.

The Big Show one was on there.

[Skull]

My guess:

Free up space for movie rotation.

[InformationGeek]

Some movies I think are only up for certian promotions at the time and are taken down whenever the promotion needs to end.  For example, last year Iron Man was available on Netflix for quite a long time until the end of December.  Since the sequel came out last year, I figured the company put up the first movie so that everyone could see it again and be prepared for when the sequel hits.  Just a guess.