A New York City councilman has written to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, urging the streaming giant to bring back its DVD-by-mail service. Frank Morano, a Republican representing Staten Island, argued that the service “filled a vital gap for seniors and technophobes” and other groups with limited broadband access.
In his letter, reported by the Staten Island Advance, Morano described the iconic red envelopes as “lifelines to cinema” for many. He claimed that ending the service “may have made sense to accountants, but to ordinary people, it felt like the curtain closed on an era that still had a full house applauding.”
Morano suggested that Netflix could relaunch the service in a “streamlined” format to serve communities that need it most. Netflix discontinued the DVD service in 2023 after 25 years, citing a shrinking business. At the time, the company said it would become increasingly difficult to maintain the service as demand declined.
The DVD service began in 1998, following a test by co-founders Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, who mailed a Patsy Cline CD to confirm it could be delivered undamaged. Over its lifetime, the service shipped more than five billion discs across the United States, the only country where it operated.
