Qwikster

The public outcry over Netflix's recent decision to split the company into two entertainment services must have been heard, as today Netflix has decided to abandon the two-company idea and remain one entity.

Last month, Netflix announced the company would be splitting itself; Netflix would remain for all streaming purposes, while the new Qwikster entity would serve all DVD subscription customers. The websites and all details of user accounts like entertainment queue, passwords, and billing would, inconveniently, exist on their own.

Netflix admitted that it "underestimated the appeal of the single Web site and a single service." Customers will continue to log in for both streaming and DVD subscriptions through the Netflix website. The recent price increases of $8 per month for each service remain. Qwikster may still be used as a video game rental service, though that decision is still to be determined.

Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings issued an apology for customer confusion over its new pricing structure and announced a major change to the company's DVD service. In a few weeks, DVD users will welcome to their lives Qwikster, Netflix's rebranded mail service.

The CEO wrote: "We feel we need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolve, without having to maintain compatibility with our DVD by mail service . . . streaming and DVD by mail are becoming two quite different businesses, with very different cost structures, different benefits that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently."

Netflix and Qwikster will not be integrated; each website will be completely separate from the other. As a subscriber to both services, any changes to an account will need to be made to each website. If you want to remove a movie from your DVD Qwikster queue because it was just added to Netflix's streaming service, sign in to Qwikster and make the change.

Qwikster will also have an option to upgrade to a video games option, letting customers rent games for Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3. The Qwikster website is set to go live in a few weeks. Current DVD subscribers do not have to sign up again for the Qwikster service; it will soon just show up on a billing statement as a charge from Qwikster instead of Netflix. Does Netflix's split affect your account? Do you plan to stay with either Qwikster or Netflix streaming?