Netflix kills plan to split off DVD rentals

NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix is abandoning its widely panned decision to separate its DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming services.

CEO Reed Hastings says in a Monday blog post that subscribers will be able to use both services under one account and one password.

Less than a month ago, Netflix Inc. said it would split the DVD rental business off onto a new website, to be called Qwikster.

Subscribers howled at the move, saying they saw Netflix as a destination for movies in general and didn’t want to manage two accounts.

Hastings says in the blog post “it is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.”

Netflix shares climbed 9 percent to $128.05 on premarket trading.