Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs

by Gina Keating

true contest with Blockbuster, which had fifty million registered users (twenty million of them active) to Netflix’s three hundred thousand, seemed ludicrous, but it was a great storyline—if only Hastings could get the rental giant to simply acknowledge a potential threat from online rental, thereby legitimizing the business in the minds of consumers, investors, and the media. Throughout the spring and summer Hastings and other executive team members took swipes at Blockbuster in interviews and advertising. “There are ten thousand movies on DVD, and we stock them all. That’s more than ten times the selection of the largest Blockbuster,” Hastings told USA Today in June 2001. “Everybody hates late fees. We never have late fees.” The contrast between the old-world giant and the agile young comer was irresistible to the media, and soon a David-and-Goliath tale emerged that Blockbuster could not ignore.