I’m curious if you could have done any kind of research — or even a select-market rollout — that could have anticipated this?

I don’t know of any Internet service that opens on a regional basis. Our focus-group work concentrated on trying to understand consumers’ perspectives on names other than Netflix.

Image Credit... Winni Wintermeyer for The New York Times

The company’s stock has fallen from more than $300 in July to under $120. More than $9 billion of market capitalization has disappeared. For the benefit of shareholders, have you considered stepping down?

No, not for a second. I founded Netflix. I’ve built it steadily over 12 years now, first with DVD becoming profitable in 2002, a head-to-head ferocious battle with Blockbuster and evolving the company toward streaming. This is the first time there have been material missteps. If you look at the cumulative track record, it’s extremely positive.

When your agreement to stream Starz content ends in March, you’ll lose your ability to show Disney movies like “Toy Story 3.” You’ve played down the effect this will have on the service, but can you name a movie that my kids will enjoy as much?

We can give you hundreds of titles that we’ve been adding over the last couple of months, both animated big movies and Japanese anime and lots of Nickelodeon content as examples. And of course, DreamWorks is coming online in 2013.

But can you name just one that will cushion the blow of losing Buzz Lightyear?

I watch mostly independent films. I’m not in that particular demo. I’ll send you a list.

Because of your incredible growth and the fact that you’re now producing original content like the series “House of Cards,” Starz and Showtime seem to view you as a competitor. Your hope is to eventually put places like HBO out of business, right?

We’re not trying to put HBO out of business. I’m an HBO subscriber, and I watch a bunch of great shows on HBO. We did compete with HBO for “House of Cards.” We do compete for viewers’ time, for dollars and content, but they’re larger and certainly the incumbent.