I ran across an interesting article on Wired.com regarding the Netflix decision to split off the DVD mailing division into a separate entity called Qwikster. Despite the fact that the Twitter account Qwikster currently belongs to a 'pot smoking Elmo,' the move to split may indeed be due to licensing.
Before splitting, Netflix was only able to negotiate rights and release windows for content for both the online and mail business together. Studios were able to leverage one against the other and as a result, as users no doubt noticed, the online selection was limited and lagged behind the release of the physical media.
Now, with the ability to make deals independently, both businesses should be able to offer better more timely content. As long as the split does not add another level of digital inconvenience to my days (like the Facebook changes), I applaud the cleverness.
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