Netflix’s U.S. clients see pals’ picks on Facebook

Feature is unavailable to DVD-by-mail service

3/14/2013

SAN FRANCISCO — A long-awaited coming attraction has finally arrived for Netflix’s U.S. subscribers. They will now be able to automatically see what their Facebook friends have been watching on the Internet video service, as long as they are willing to open a peephole into their viewing habits.

The sharing tool announced Wednesday is rolling out 18 months after Netflix Inc. introduced the feature to its international subscribers.

The expansion exposes the feature to a much wider audience because Netflix has 27 million Internet video subscribers in the U.S. and 6 million customers in more than 50 other countries and territories. The change won't affect the 8.2 million subscribers to Netflix’s dwindling DVD-by-mail rental service.

Netflix withheld the sharing tool in the United States to avoid breaking a 1988 law that banned the disclosure of video rental records without a customer’s written consent. After several years of lobbying, the Los Gatos, Calif., company persuaded Congress to revise the law so that subscribers could choose to activate a video-sharing feature.

President Obama signed the amended law in January, clearing the way for Netflix to offer U.S. subscribers another way to find movies and TV shows that may appeal to their tastes. In the process, Netflix hopes to deepen subscriber loyalty and generate positive buzz about the $8-a-month service as the company strives to reach its goal of reaching 90 million customers.

Investors apparently believe the new feature will increase Netflix’s popularity and, by extension, its profits. The company’s stock surged $10.25, or nearly 5.6 percent, to close at $192.36 Wednesday. The company plans to offer all its U.S. subscribers the option by the end of this week.

Once the sharing feature is activated, new rows labeled “Friends’ Favorites” and “Watched by your friends” will be displayed within a subscriber’s account. On the flip side, any subscriber who has signed up for Facebook sharing will have their movie selections displayed with the accounts of their Facebook friends unless an extra step is taken to exclude a specific movie or TV show. What subscribers are watching won’t be posted on Facebook’s social network unless they go into their setting to permit the sharing on that Web site, too.

Netflix will also devote rows to the watching lists of up for five Facebook friends that the company’s computer formulas will select, based on an analysis of common interests. Netflix eventually hopes to allow subscribers to designate the Facebook friends whose video opinions that they like the most, a Netflix official said.

In households where multiple people share the same Netflix account, the sharing option will be tied to the Facebook account of the primary subscriber.