Netflix Ships Billionth DVD

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Netflix has shipped its one billionth DVD. <br/><br/>It marks another milestone in the Internet rental service's evolution from a peculiar dot-com to a marquee attraction in millions

Sunday, February 25th 2007, 10:18 pm

By: News On 6

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Netflix has shipped its one billionth DVD.

It marks another milestone in the Internet rental service's evolution from a peculiar dot-com to a marquee attraction in millions of homes.

It took Netflix nearly seven and a-half years to reach the billion mark. But that's about seven months less than it took McDonald's to sell a billion hamburgers after its first restaurant opened in 1955.

Last year alone, Netflix signed up more than two million new customers. Subscribers request DVDs online, which are then delivered through the mail.

To mark the milestone, Netflix is awarding a lifetime subscription to the customer who received the billionth DVD. The company didn't identify the recipient because of privacy policies, but says the customer is from Texas.

Netflix has identified the landmark DVD. It was a copy of ``Babel,'' one of the Academy Awards' best-picture nominees.