Netflix Downloads Finally on Deck
Variety is the first to report on solid details of the long-expected Netflix digital download service, which “will be rolled out over the next six months.” Netflix chief Reed Hastings has previously complained that the terms attached to digital downloads were too onerous; it appears he is sick of waiting and will finally launch a hamstrung service that only works on a PC.
The service will be rental-only, with a certain number of hours of streamed content included with subscribers’ monthly fees. For instance, a $17.99 plan will be allotted 18 hours of viewing time. Rentals will not allow for transferring to other devices or burning to a CD, something competitors like CinemaNow already offer.
The launch will reportedly include just 1,000 titles, compared to 70,000 in Netflix’s physical library. The company does have most of the studios onboard: Paramount, Warner, MGM, New Line, and Lionsgate, as well as television programming from networks such as BBC Worldwide.
Netflix will possibly reward the studios based on how many times a film is streamed, says Variety.
The company’s stock doesn’t yet reflect the news, but we’ll check back tomorrow after the markets reopen following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday today.
Recent
GigaOM Network
Copyright 2001–2008 Giga Omni Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Powered by WordPress.com. Marketing consulting by ACS.
[…] Yesterday we took note of an early report from Variety about Netflix’s digital addition to its DVD rental business. Now that all the major news outlets have taken their turn, we’ve learned a few more details about the cost and logistics of the new “Watch Now” service. […]
NewTeeVee » More Details on Netflix ‘Watch Now’ on January 16th, 2007 at 11:12 am - Permalink
[…] Lets check off the players for now - Amazon, Movielink, CinemaNow, Apple and a bunch of others who I refuse to remember because a brain only has limited capacity for names that will soon be relegated to the dustbin of failed ideas. Latest to jump headfirst into a pan of boiling oil is Netflix, which is going to spend more than $40 million in order to offer a streaming video service that would allow you to watch but not burn the movies on DVD or other media. […]
GigaOM » Netflix Online: return to sender on January 16th, 2007 at 2:40 pm - Permalink
[…] The service is now in beta testing and will be available to 1.5 million broadband-ready TiVo boxes “soon.” This is a plum feature for Amazon, whose offering hadn’t exactly dazzled on its debut in September. But later entrants from Netflix and Wal-Mart, which launched Monday, have continued to lack portability features. […]
NewTeeVee » Amazon Unbox, Now Playing on TiVo on February 6th, 2007 at 10:50 pm - Permalink
[...] DVD business, is looking for a quick and cheap way to get into video on demand. Netflix, of course, started rolling out its own digital movie rental service in January, and it’s certainly not the only player in [...]
NewTeeVee » Blockbuster to Get VOD via Movielink? on February 28th, 2007 at 10:36 pm - Permalink