Netflix Appoints Anthony Wood, who Founded and led ReplayTV, As V.P. of Internet TV

    LOS GATOS, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Netflix, Inc.
 ( NFLX), the world's largest online DVD rental service, today
 announced the appointment of Anthony Wood to the newly created position of
 vice president of Internet TV, responsible for all aspects of product
 development related to the company's strategic intent to deliver movies
 directly to subscribers' televisions via the Internet.
     "I believe that Netflix is the company best positioned to lead
 Internet-delivered video," said Mr. Wood. "The company has taken the first
 step -- and an innovative one -- in offering online video to its members,
 and I'm here to work with a range of partners to get that video to the
 television, where consumers watch most of their movies."
     Mr. Wood has founded four successful companies, including ReplayTV and
 most recently Roku. He assumes his new position immediately and will report
 to the company's chief product officer, Neil Hunt.
     "Internet-delivered video is an area of clearly rich potential and we
 intend to be a leader in it," said Dr. Hunt. "The understanding, the
 expertise and the vision that Anthony possesses in this field are unmatched
 and we are extremely pleased to have him lead our Internet TV effort."
     In January, Netflix marked an important enhancement to its service with
 the introduction of a feature that allows subscribers to immediately watch
 movies and television series on Internet-connected PCs through real-time
 playback technology. As part of the introduction, the company said that
 over time it would focus on expanding its selection of instantly viewable
 content and work to bring the feature to all Internet-connected screens,
 from cell phones to PCs to plasma TVs. The appointment of Mr. Wood to lead
 the television effort underscores the company's commitment to that eventual
 step.
     Until his appointment by Netflix, Mr. Wood, 41, was CEO of Roku, a
 digital media company that manufactures and markets SoundBridge, the
 market-leading Internet radio, and BrightSign, a leading digital sign
 controller. He will remain chairman of the board of the Palo Alto,
 Calif.-based company.
     Mr. Wood is best known as the creator of the digital video recorder
 (DVR) and as the founder of ReplayTV, where he served as president and CEO
 before the company's acquisition by SONICblue in 2001. After the
 acquisition, he became senior vice president of engineering and was
 responsible for the ReplayTV and Rio product lines.
     Earlier, Mr. Wood founded and led iband Inc., an Internet software
 company acquired by Macromedia and SunRize Industries, a supplier of
 hardware and software tools for audio recording and editing. He holds a
 bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.
     About Netflix
     Netflix, Inc. ( NFLX) is the world's largest online movie rental
 service, providing more than six million subscribers access to over 75,000
 DVD titles. The company offers a variety of subscription plans, starting at
 $4.99 a month. There are no due dates, no late fees and no shipping fees.
 DVDs are delivered for free by the USPS from regional shipping centers
 located throughout the United States. Netflix can reach more than 90
 percent of its subscribers with generally one business-day delivery.
 Netflix offers personalized movie recommendations to its members and has
 more than one billion movie ratings. Netflix also allows members to share
 and recommend movies to one another through its Friends(R) feature. For
 more information, visit http://www.netflix.com.
 
 

SOURCE Netflix, Inc.