ROGERS JAFFARIAN
PRIDE STAFF WRITER

The Starz will go dim for Netflix after Feb. 28, 2012. Starz Entertainment, owned by Liberty Mutual, asked Netflix for the moon: a rumored $100 million annual service fee for access to Starz library consisting of Sony Pictures and Walt Disney owned movies. As Netflix loses a video download application provider, they further distance themselves from American audiences already angered by Netflix’s recent price changes.

A Netflix phone representative who gave only his first name, Alex, is proud of their longest Netflix member. “He has been renting with us for 144 months,” Alex said. “Long-time DVD renters who never signed up for instant streaming have received a reduction in price from $9.99 to $7.99.” Over the summer, Netflix split its DVD rental and online streaming services into separate packages, instead of its usual $9.99 monthly fee for both services. It now costs $7.99 for each: a $5.99 increase totaling $15.98 a month for both rentals and streaming. With this decision, Netflix took the chocolate chips out of the ice cream—insisting their most loyal customers take deeper scoops into their wallets or be satisfied with plain vanilla. Netflix’s corporate gladiators hoard the large bowls while doling out meager servings to their customers.

We shouldn’t take our eye off the Lion in the coliseum, Cable TV. Many viewers who once enjoyed their multi-media Netflix world concluded that they needed less Cable TV in their lives. With Netflix losing its Starz contract, cable is ready to reclaim the viewers who have grown disgruntled with Netflix’s reduced services and video selection. When asked if Starz’s contracts with Disney and Sony could potentially run out, Reza, a Starz customer service agent, said, “Starz has rental agreements with Disney and Sony that borrow copyrights.” When asked who Starz’s greatest competitor was, Reza answered, “HBO is our greatest competitor.”

Netflix left the freezer door open; its customers are melting away. Analysts predict Netflix will increase its earnings per share by 48%, but shares went down 25% this summer. The corporate movie media gladiators can fling digital movie files at each other, but for my viewing pleasure, I’d like chocolate chip ice cream.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com