While it was clear that Netflix streaming was popular, this news revealed just how crucial on-demand is to the future of the company. Jesse Becker, the Netflix VP of marketing, said:
"You might also wonder why we haven't introduced a new plan that includes only DVDs by mail. The fact is that Netflix members are already watching more TV episodes and movies streamed instantly over the Internet than on DVDs, and we expect that trend to continue. Creating the best user experience that we can around watching instantly is how we’re spending the vast majority of our time and resources. Because of this, we are not creating any plans that are focused solely on DVDs by mail."
To that point, Netflix has raised the prices of all of its unlimited DVD rental plans. The two most popular plans, which include one or two DVDs out at a time, increased by $1 each to $9.99, and $14.99, respectively. Rental plans including three to eight DVDs out at a time each had incremental increases, as represented in the chart.