Blockbuster streams to Samsung
Hard to get too excited about the link-up of Blockbuster and Samsung — a couple of second-stringers when it comes to quality — but now we have OnDemand movies streaming through the hardware maker’s machines.
New Samsung HDTVs, home theater systems and Blu-ray players will be incorporating the OnDemand digital delivery service, a rival to various VOD schemes and Netflix’s Watch Instantly.
The “select” Samsung hardware will be showing up at retailers in the fall. In addition, current owners of “select” 2009 Samsung Blu-ray players and home theater systems, as well as Samsung LCD and Plasma HDTVs Series 650 and above, and LED HDTVs Series 7000 and above, get the OnDemand after firmware updates. The machines would have to be connected to the Internet.
Blockbuster OnDemand will have “preferred positioning on the Blu-ray interfaces,” the companies said. Meaning who shell out out for the hardware and don’t care for the service get to look at what amounts to an ad for Blockbuster as they boot up.
Blockbuster’s streaming media service comes into “millions” of new homes under the deal. Those potential viewers will be freed of the need for the existing OnDemand set-top box.
Blockbuster differs from Netflix’s largely catalog-driven Watch Instantly by offering current films and TV shows at the going rate. The Blockbuster service also offers an on-screen interface that doesn’t call for queue management via PC.
Watch Instantly requires a pain-in-the-rear double queue for those who want to watch a movie that streams in via PC and then to a digital device such as the Xbox 360.
Access to the Blockbuster streaming service is free; they company gets paid by the rental. Watch Instantly comes at no extra charge with a Netflix subscription.
Blockbuster chieftain Jim Keyes vows “the newest hit movies and high definition Blu-ray product” — say what? — the latter a major head-scratcher.
As part of the deal, of course, Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar stores and web site will sell Samsung’s products. The rental dinosaur also made an OnDemand deal with TiVo.
Netflix’s streaming partners include Samsung, Tivo, Sony, LG and Microsoft via its Xbox 360.
I’m underwhelmed by Netflix’s Watch Instantly, and more than dubious that Blockbuster will be the one to make this type of direct digital delivery work. The presence of Samsung America in the chain is even more troubling, considering that company’s problematic machines and its Nixonian customer service.
But you never know.
Meanwhile, the CBS network has joined the other On Demand, from Comcast cable. The service, staggering about in some sort of beta, aims to give cable subscribers access to digital video content without additional fees. The handle is “TV Everywhere,” meaning the subs can get programming by streaming and downloading to a variety of digital devices, such as computers and mobile phones.
The test universe is something like 5,000 Comcast homes. The meta plan is to divert those viewers from Hulu and similar online services that give away their ad-supported content.
TV Everywhere driver Time Warner threw HBO content into the mix a few days ago. Starz! is aboard as well, for what it’s worth.
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Netflix combos with LG for vid streams
Netflix continues to stream ahead into VOD, announcing a partnership with electronics maker LG Electronics that’ll route movies directly onto TVs.
Netflix chieftain Reed Hastings told the New York Times that he envisioned the rental company as a movie channel streaming into various electronic devices:
“We want to be integrated on every Internet-connected device, game system, high-definition DVD player and dedicated Internet set-top box. Eventually, as TVs have wireless connectivity built into them, we’ll integrate right into the television.”
The Wall Street Journal said the product initially would flow through an LG set-top box that might also be able to play discs in the dueling high-definition formats. LG already makes a combo high-definition player 
The Journal also said a video game partner was in the mix for Netflix.
Netflix’s 7 million customers already have access to free streaming movies on PC via the mail-rental pioneer’s Web site. This built-in audience also would get movies free via the Netflix-LG service, easing consumer reluctance to pay money for an additional set-top box in a 1,000-plus channel world.
Apple and 20th Century Fox will unveil their online movie rental partnership in a few days, at CES. Fox movies and TV shows will be available on iTunes. Other studios’ fare may be part of that mix.
Apple already has a set-top movie streaming device, the commercially disappointing Apple TV.
Silicoln Valley Insider asks 5 Questions About LG’s Netflix Movie Devices.
MovieBeam dies after prolonged irrelevance
The ill-fated MovieBeam distribution system has faded to black.
MovieBeam, created by Disney and then spun off, sent movies wirelessly into its set-top boxes, which customers had to buy. They didn’t.
Movie Gallery, the troubled Alabama-based video rental company, bought the service in March but ended up seeking Chapter 11 protection a few months back.
“Movie Gallery today confirmed that its MovieBeam service will be discontinued effective Dec. 15,” a company spokesperson told Home Media magazine.
“The decision to discontinue the service was made in light of the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance its financial performance.”
Some movies were released to MovieBeam as they were released on DVD. A hundred movies were available at a time, with churn of about 10 titles a week. Movie viewings cost about $2 a pop, more for HD.
In recent years, competition came from Amazon’s Unbox, Netflix’s VOD service and the iTunes Store, none of which required an outdated wireless thingy.
Sponsored link:
Next-day ‘Heroes’ going to Netflix VOD
Netflix has grabbed exclusive streaming VOD rights to NBC’s superhero hit “Heroes.”
Customers of the online rental pioneer will be able to watch the show the day after the network’s broadcast.
NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution also cut deals with G4 and Mojo as the off-network cable sources for “Heroes.”Netflix’s online video service also offers prior season episodes of NBC series such as “30 Rock” and “The Office.”
“This deal reflects the changing landscape of the entertainment marketplace and our objective of finding new buyers that complement our traditional customers,” says the marketing-ready quote from Frances Manfredi, a major suit at NBC Uni TV’s output unit.A phased rollout of Netflix’s “instant watching” feature began in January and had hit 10 million views by late summer.
NBC Universal and Netflix teamed up on an exclusive “Heroes” DVD early in the year. It featured a newly produced recap of the first 11 episodes, along with some promotional throwaways.”
Brit broadcasters colonize video site
The trinity of British broadcasting — the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV — said Tuesday that their collaborative online video site is becoming reality, set to debut in 2008.
The partners said Kangaroo (the working title) “will work independently as an aggregator of both joint venture partners and third-party content.
“The video-on-demand service will offer downloads and streaming videos served up for free or as sales and rentals.
The broadcasters currently have their own online video schemes, such as the BBC’s catch-up iPlayer. The content offered on that player — still in beta — somehow will be linked into Kangaroo.
No mention of what limits there would be, if any, on foreign users. The iPlayer stubbornly refuses to work for non-U.K. visitors, probably due to that weird TV license all the royal subjects pay. So this may not bring the States “Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work” ahead of BBC America’s schedule. Sigh.
Here’s how the thing’s supposed to work with regard to the existing U.K. online video services:
The new service will complement BBC iPlayer, the free catch-up TV service offering hundreds of programmes a week from the last seven days. BBC iPlayer content will be listed within the new service. ITV.com will continue to feature a 30 day catch up facility alongside simulcasts of ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 and a wealth of news, clips, stills, exclusive content and interactivity across and around ITV programming. Channel 4’s website will host a catch-up service including accompanying comprehensive programme information and clips, whilst 4oD will evolve into the new service.
Whilst we absorb that, here are your canned and imported quotes:
- “The joint service venture has the potential to become an important shop window for U.K. broadcaster content and a free destination for viewers,” said Michael Grade, the executive chairman of ITV.
- “The new service will contain some of the very best of the U.K.’s content for consumers to view in one place, which will be both easy to use and great fun,”said John Smith, CEO of BBC Worldwide.
- “We believe this deal will lead to a major step change in the on-demand services offered by UK broadcasters and is good news for independents and the creative community, for advertisers and, above all, for viewers,” said Andy Duncan, Channel 4’s CEO.
