Blockbuster movies on demand coming to TiVo
When your one of the big guns in DVD rental services then you want a piece of the Internet video on demand sector. Blockbuster trailing behind rival Netflix is doing just that. They have revealed a deal partnering with TiVo which will see titles from the no1 rental company flying across cyberspace to TiVo digital recorder boxes.
Blockbuster’s Kevin Lewis commented:- “This relationship with TiVo is step one in getting to the places that consumers care about,”
The future plan is to roll out the service to Bluray players, TV’s, mobile phones and other portable devices.
The deal should also help Blockbuster’s effort to establish itself as a consumer electronics retailer. The chain will begin to sell TiVo DVRs beginning late this year when Blockbuster videos become available on TiVos.
The companies declined to discuss financial details, including how many of Blockbuster’s nearly 4,000 stores will sell TiVo’s. It is also not clear what movies may be available. “The studios and we are trying to figure it out,” said Lewis.
The deal comes at a very important time for the companies concerned. Blockbuster shares have nosedived by 80% over the last year, to 73 cents, as consumer interest in buying and renting DVD’s has dropped.
TiVo shares have dropped only about 22% to $6.98. But it is struggling to stop customers buying lower cost video recorders available from cable and satellite companies jumping aboard the video on demand bandwagon.
TiVo has 3.3 million subscriptions, its lowest figure since 2005. They plan to turn that around by convincing cable and satellite providers to offer the TiVo interface on other hardware recorders.
TiVo itself is making its own recorders appeal by adding Internet video, including movies from Blockbuster rivals Amazon and Netflix companies.
Virtually everyone in home entertainment is jockeying for position, with spending for online and mobile videos poised to soar to nearly $1.4 billion in 2012 from about $321 million last year, according to merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
TiVo wants to offer “a complete television experience,” says Tara Maitra, vice president of content and ad sales. Blockbuster’s movie selection will be similar to Amazon’s but different from Netflix’s, which she says “has fewer new releases.”
Lewis says Blockbuster hopes to offer “the hot new stuff, as soon as the studios allow us to sell it digitally,” typically within a month after it appears on DVD.
TiVo owners who have Blockbuster accounts will pay up to $4 to rent a movie, most with DVD-quality images. Customers will have 30 days to begin watching; once they do, they can view the video as much as they want for 24 hours. It will cost as much as $20 to buy a movie, but digital-rights software will prevent it from being copied to a DVD.
Around 3/4 million TiVo recorders are currently connected to broadband. The company expects that to soar as home networks grow.
Is Blockbuster a little late getting online though is the question. Netflix are a million miles ahead right now and the big B will always be lagging behind unless it does something drastic.
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