Blockbuster looks to TV streaming for survival
IT SEEMS THAT Blockbuster could soon be giving Apple TV a run for its money in the online film streaming market. The video company is rumoured to be developing direct streaming to be sent directly to TVs via a set top device. Blockbuster is remaining tight lipped about it, but it’s widely expected that they will confirm the announcement later this month.
The move is probably also another desperate bid by the faltering giant to compete with its more successful rival, Netflix, which has also pitched in and said that it will be coming out with a comparable device, being developed by LG Electronics, very soon indeed.
The fact that Blockbuster is finally actually dipping its toe in trepidation into the waters of online media content, shouldn’t really come as too much of a shock. In August last year, the company bought film download outfit Movielink for an undisclosed sum, and its new set top will probably be an offshoot of the service, which already allows customers to watch major studio licensed films on their computers. But Blockbuster could be taking a risk in sacrificing its core brick-and-mortar business for a slice of the online pie.
For one thing, it hardly seems as if they’re offering a new alternative to existing content-enabled devices. The company will also have to hope that its customers won’t mind shelling out for a box and then coughing up even more cash every time they want to watch a film.
But on the other hand, maybe Blockbuster doesn’t really have much choice. In January, when Apple announced that Itunes would be launching a video rental service, Blockbuster's shares dropped a whopping 17 per cent to $2.69, its lowest ever rate.
A change of strategy might be the only way to pull the company back on track, a view seemingly compounded by Blockbuster CEO, James Keyes, who hinted, back in November, that the company was in discussions with handset device producers to get films delivered to mobile phones, as well as setting up kiosks where films could be downloaded to USB devices. µ
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Ooohh, downloading DRM direct-to-home.
I'm thrilled.

Not.
offer more variety of rental films.

They're not bad, but there's so many films that have been released over the years & they haven't gotten any of them in.

There are major films worth a watch from time-to-time.....but certainly nothing that good that I wish I had a blu-ray player etc to see them on.

But I suppose in a world where anyone entertains the notion of watching a film or TV prog on a 4" screen, the idea of a good movie doesn't mean much.

Plus I think you'd need the 20meg cable broadband speeds (in this country) to ensure the streaming actually ran smoothly etc. Way more expensive all-in than rental deals.
I'm pretty sure they (the set-top boxes) will be slapped with the same new restriction being placed on DVRs starting April 15th. Following a dictate by the movie industry, Pay Per View movies stored on DVRs - once playback is started - will only be watchable for 24 hours and will be automatically deleted after that time. For many, Blockbuster, Netflix, et al. were going to become the only alternative for getting the latest movies and not having severe time restrictions on when they can watch them.

DirecTv has already notified it's customers of this change. I predict Blockbuster's new service will be a non-event.