Netflix to end its DVD rental service this year as it rolls out password sharing crackdown

Netflix will end its DVD rental service after 25 years, the company’s co-chief executive Ted Sarandos has announced.

On September 29 the final discs will be shipped due to struggling growth, Mr Sarandos said.

The company began by mailing DVDs of TV series and films to its subscribers as an alternative to video rental stores when it launched in 1997.

Its shift into streaming in 2007 upended the market and helped spark a revolution in how viewers consumed visual media at home.

In a blog post titled “Netflix DVD – The Final Season”, Mr Sarandos hailed the “iconic red envelopes” as having “paved the way” for the shift to streaming..

He wrote: "Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult.

“Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming.

“We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come.

“To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you.”

Last year, Netflix announced a cheaper advert-supported subscription tier and began its highly anticipated global crackdown on subscribers sharing passwords with those outside of their household

The decision came as it admitted it had lost subscribers amid stiffer competition and rising inflation that has pressured household budgets.

Since, subscriber growth has improved, offering an early sign that the cheaper option is helping to attract subscribers in the face of competition from services such as Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.

The streaming giant implemented stricter rules for users in a scheme trialed in South and Central America.

In February this was rolled out in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain and it is expected these rules will come into force in other countries around the world later this year.

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