Netflix Could Gain From Loss Of Sat. Mail Delivery

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Netflix won't miss Saturday mail delivery, even though the weekend service helped keep the company's DVD-by-mail subscribers happy.

The U.S. Postal Service's planned shift to reduce home delivery to five days a week instead of six might even make Netflix Inc. slightly more profitable by lowering the costs for sending out its familiar red envelopes with DVDs. That's because subscribers may be able to watch fewer DVDs for the same monthly price.

It might have been different if Saturday mail service had been eliminated three years ago, when idea was first broached.

Back then, mailing DVDs was still Netflix's main business. But Netflix's DVD subscribers have shrunk from a 2011 peak of 24. 6 million to 8.2 million as more people pay to watch video streamed over the Internet.