Netflix Holds Tight With DVD.com Purchase

With a purchase of the ubiquitous domain name DVD.com, Netflix has this week proven that they'll not be letting go of their DVD-centric business model any time soon. This comes after talk this week that Netflix will continue to set up a wall between DVD and streaming content users, and the company's expansion of their streaming-only library with the original series Hemlock Grove. The company also recently upgraded their iPad application for streaming media with "Retina quality" graphics, but this week will continue their drive with an announcement of the purchase of DVD.com.

This domain name, DVD.com, currently redirects users to Netflix.com or wherever they were last logged in – for example when I head to the domain name now, I'm taken to my own home screen with streaming content. Netflix will continue to offer listings of both shippable DVD content and streaming content in normal web browsers, but places such as the iPad and the Wii will keep with the streaming-only library. Netflix maintains that they are dedicated both streaming and physical unit audiences, and will not be abandoning either one in the near future.

For those of you out there in non-Netflix land, this means that opponents such as Hulu will continue to have to fight two lines of fire with one. Will this eventually lead to Hulu working with physical disks? We're making an educated guess as no, absolutely not. Though picking up physical disks now as a service might seem like walking backwards for a newer company, Netflix continuation of such a service will continue to be seen as a legacy they're best to keep.

[via TechCrunch]