Alien Docuseries 'Encounters' Lands At Netflix From Steven Spielberg's Amblin TV, Boardwalk Pictures & Vice StudiosWhen Netflix opened its doors in 1997, its core innovation was mailing DVDs to customers based on selections they put in their online queues.
At the time, the setup posed a significant disruption to the practices of brick-and-mortar businesses like Blockbuster, which required customers to rent discs in person on a per-title basis. In addition to emphasizing the online experience, in a move perfectly timed to the rise of the DVD format and increased high-speed internet penetration, Netflix also charged subscribers a flat fee per month. They could keep a set number of discs at a given time without incurring late fees.