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Lovefilm by Post will close in October and DVD fans are sad

The e-commerce giant said the rise of streaming services had contributed to its decision.
The e-commerce giant said the rise of streaming services had contributed to its decision.

Amazon’s Lovefilm by Post DVD rental service will close at the end of the October in the UK, the tech giant has said.

In a statement, Amazon said the rise of streaming services over renting DVD and Blu-Ray discs had contributed to its decision.

Many present and former users of the service quickly took to social media upon hearing the news, with many expressing their disappointment.

The service which was launched in 2004 and Amazon acquired in 2011, enabled subscribers to receive DVD discs by post, sending them back once they had watched them.

Lovefilm did introduce streaming options for some content, but the popularity of Netflix and other streaming services has led to what Amazon described as “decreasing demand” for discs.

The online section of the service was then combined with Amazon’s existing Prime Instant Video service in 2014.

However many lamented the loss of a service they saw as having no rival in terms of variety.

“We have very much enjoyed delivering the Lovefilm By Post service to our customers,” an Amazon spokesman said on the closure.

“However, over the last few years we’ve seen a decreasing demand for DVD and Blu-ray rental as customers increasingly move to streaming.

“Due to this, we will be closing the Lovefilm By Post business on 31st October 2017. We are committed to finding alternative roles for all Lovefilm employees within Amazon.”