Netflix online service has that remote look
Netflix’s familiar red logo soon will be showing up on remote controls.
The streaming media pioneer said the direct route to its Watch Instantly service will be offered this spring on Blu-ray players made by companies such as Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba.
Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba also will place the Netflix one-click button on remote controls for some Internet-connected TVs, Netflix said Jan. 4 as the Consumer Electronics Show got under way in Los Vegas.
The agreement gives Netflix a physical presence on gear made by most of the major TV and video player manufacturers.
“No more turning on the TV, going to a home screen and searching for the Netflix icon,” exec Neil Hunt said in a statement. “With the Netflix one-click remote, it’s simply a matter of pushing the Netflix button to (watch streaming content).”
Other partners for the remote are Best Buy’s in-house Dynex brand, Haier and Memorex.
Would-be viewers must be Netflix DVD subscribers (in the U.S.), although the Watch Instantly streaming content is available to them at no extra cost.
Netflix continues to beef up its streaming movie library, but many of the offerings come from the fringe — for example, a string of Cantonese gangster movies.
Netflix has more than 16 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.
A recent survey by international bankers Credit Suisse found that 30 percent of young adults who subscribe to Netflix (ages 25-34) have dumped cable and broadcast TV.
Young Netflix subs dumping cable, pay TV
Cable companies that think they’re on top of the threat from online video should think again.
A survey by international bankers Credit Suisse found that 30 percent of young adults who subscribe to Netflix (ages 25-34) have dumped cable and broadcast TV. The news was worse for cablers in the pay TV arena, where 37 percent jettisoned their service.
Credit Suisse analysts then downgraded the entertainment sector to “underweight,” citing the revolution in online video delivery via broadband.
“Netflix’s low-cost subscription streaming service is our biggest worry (about cable) and could become ‘good enough’ for consumers with moderate income and TV usage to use as a substitute for pay TV,” Credit Suisse’s Spencer Wang wrote in a report on the entertainment industry.
Cablers have been fighting back with initiatives such as the TV Everywhere online service, free to subscribers only.
The online video industry might want to keep that champagne on ice, however. Credit Suisse found that overall, only 17 percent of Netflix subs have substituted the rental giant’s Watch Instantly service for cable TV. (And the survey was of 250 Netflix subscribers, an adequate but relatively small sample.)
“In the near term, we submit that Big Media has a small window of opportunity to control its own destiny,” the analysts said.
And Credit Suisse’s track record on Netflix leaves a good bit to be desired.
In the year that Netflix shares soared 150 percent, the bank had an “underperform” advisory on the stock — just now updated to neutral. The analysts’ target of $90 for Netflix stock had become a joke, with the price now at roughly $142. The new target for Netflix at Credit Suisse is $140 — meaning these guys still think there’s no growth ahead.
Gratuitous disclosure: I’ve owned Netflix stock throughout this surge … heh, heh.
Par, MGM, Lionsgate films stream to Netflix
Many of us are in a love-like relationship with Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming video feature.
The bugs seem mostly ironed out, and you do get a glimpse of home video’s future via its user-friendly menus and features. We’re seeing more high definition movies via the stream, which look pretty good on a big-screen.
The biggest problem, which Netflix has been scrambling to address, is its limited catalog. The hits are in short supply and everything feels, well, used.
Looks like a partial fix is on its way. Netflix just confirmed an online streaming deal with the three Hollywood studios that own the little-known pay TV channel Epix.
That brings Netflix subscribers Epix movies from Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate to Netflix, beginning Sept. 1.
You won’t be able to “watch instantly” — there’s a 90-day window after the films’ debut on premium TV and on-demand subscription services — but the move clearly means a quantum leap in Netflix’s online offerings. (Watch Instantly is three steps down the distribution channel.)
It’s not clear how many recent boxoffice hits will be flowing through the channel. Epix movies of the moment include “Iron Man,” the latest “Star Trek,” “The Cove,” “G.I. Joe” and “Crank” — almost all more than a year old.
Catalog titles include the “Godfather” trilogy, “Blood Simple,” “Star Trek” movies, “Dances With Wolves” and “Last Tango in Paris.” That the cream of the archives, however: Anyone for “976-Horror 2″?
Epix immediately becomes profitable with the deal, studio executives pointed out. Good thing, since its current distribution is approximately squat.
Netflix’s stock picked up even more speed with the news, posting a 7 percent gain on announcement day.
The deal runs for five years and is worth as much as $1 billion, the Los Angeles Times and Reuters said.
Netflix outputs its streaming content to computers, game consoles such as the Xbox 360 and to various consumer electronics devices such as Blu-ray players.
“Adding Epix to our growing library of streaming content, as the exclusive Internet-only distributor of this great content, marks the continued emergence of (Watch Instantly),” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix.
The DVD rental giant recently pacted with Warners for rights to show “Nip/Tuck,” “Veronica Mars” and various catalog TV shows.
Its month-old deal for guy-oriented Relativity Media films (“Robin Hood,” “Get Him to the Greek”) allows for streaming during the “pay TV window.” Netflix said this would mark “the first time that studio quality theatrical feature films will be streamed via subscription by Netflix instead of being broadcast by the traditional pay providers.”
Watch Instantly reels in 300 indie titles
Netflix’s streaming video service goes arthouse with the addition of 300 new indie and foreign titles, from the likes of the Criterion Collection and Kino Lorber.
Other distributors announced as part of the Watch Instantly expansion into the indie arena include Gravitas Ventures, Music Box Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Regent Releasing.
“We’ve found that a large number of members enjoy the innovative, artist-driven nature of independent film,” press-released Robert Kyncl, vice president of content acquisition for Netflix.
Much of the Watch Instantly fare that’s classified as independent fare is of mixed value, a lot of aging B-movie crap. The new indie film deals are designed to bring in higher-quality films, such as “Au Revoir Les Enfants,” “Departures,” “As It Is in Heaven” and “A Nos Amours.”
Criterion’s online video service began more than a year ago, serving up titles such as “La Strada,” “Grey Gardens,” “Monterey Pop” and “M.” It’s not clear how many of those titles will be available via Netflix, since the Tiffany DVD label charges for those films on its site.
On Criterion’s “Online Cinematheque” site, the movies go for $5, but they’re renting for $3 on Vudu, another online video service that recently cut a deal with the DVD distributor.
Pretty much everything released by the Criterion Collection is worth watching and owning, but so far the streaming movies contain only a few of the label’s greatest films.
Netflix movie stream rerouted to PS3
Netflix is streaming its Watch Instantly service away from Xbox 360 and over into the PlayStation 3 camp.
The Netflix deal with Microsoft (Xbox) simply expired.
Not much to get excited about, really. As we’ve written before, the Watch Instantly is underwhelming, a lot of average to low-grade movies that are generally available any night on free TV.
On the Xbox 360, the two-step process to get the film streaming into your game console was a clunky pain, and once there the images looked borderline crappy.
This part is getting even worse on PS3, for now. In order to get the service, PS3 users have to insert a Netflix-supplied Blu-ray disc into their players, which also have to be connected to the Internet. A software update apparently will fix this later.
Also in line for the service, apparently, are owners of Nintendo’s Wii system. Tech blogger Dan Rayburn says he’s been leaked photos of the Wii-Netflix service, which could come this year.
Meanwhile, in other lame-tech news, Apple TV has been upgraded to 3.0 software. The changes mostly allow for more features from the iTunes Store such as the LP multimedia packages. No support for outside content, such as the Netflix package.
Macworld called the Apple TV 3.0 update “a pleasant improvement that addresses some lingering interface issues while adding whole new levels of mystery about exactly what (if anything) Apple is going to do with the product.”
Update: Apparently the Apple TV 3.0 update wasn’t an entirely pleasant experience for end users. Let’s hear it directly from Apple:
There is an issue with Apple TV software version 3.0 that can possibly cause your content to disappear after a period of time. All customers running Apple TV software version 3.0 should immediately restart their Apple TV and then upgrade to Apple TV software version 3.0.1.
Yes, that’s disappearing content.
After the botched iPhone 3G update … and the iTunes update that resulted in mysteriously AWOL library MP3 … you’d think they would be more careful. Someone should make a TV ad about this.