Archives For Netflix

More Vudu Video-On-Demand Details

Dave Zatz —  June 28, 2007 — Leave a comment

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Vudu is in town (NYC) and Gizmodo was given a briefing. Back in April I heard the Vudu video-on-demand box would land at a price point competitive with AppleTV ($300-$350). However, Giz now reports the device will be launched later this year “somewhere under $500.”

Vudu will have a few things going for it such as a large library of thousands of flicks, instant playback of content, and a rich yet simple interface. But that $400 – $500 price point (plus the cost to rent or buy movies) will be hard to overcome in a marketplace where everyone’s cable or satellite provider offers video on demand – plus multifunction devices like the Xbox 360, AppleTV, and TiVo also provide movie downloads. Additionally, HD purists (who have the motivation and disposable income needed for this device) will balk at the upscaled 480p content (without even seeing it). And the fact is, the economical Netflix snail-mail DVD rental solution is still working well for most. I may spontaneously order a flick on Xbox or TiVo, but the bulk of my movies (and TV shows) are delivered via Netflix.

In Industry, Media, Netflix
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Netflix Launching Original Short-Form Video

Dave Zatz —  June 13, 2007 — Leave a comment

nbcu.jpgNetflix continues to extend their reach by purchasing and distributing content. They’ve primarily stockpiled indie and foreign flicks, but now they’re expanding into custom short-form video via a NBC Universal deal:

“‘I Love This Movie!’” will be available for instant watching at the Netflix member Web site,” said Robert Kyncl, vice president of content acquisition at Netflix. “As part of a three-series content partnership between Netflix and NBC Universal Digital Studios, ‘I Love This Movie!’ is the first short-form content to premiere on our service and provides Netflix subscribers with unique and entertaining recommendations for classic films.”

2-3 minute I Love This Movie episodes will be distributed later this year through the Windows-only Watch Now service and via an embedded web player on the Netflix site. Given the topic and length, these don’t amount to much more than advertising… Perhaps Netflix’s partnership with NBCU will lead to more creative content going forward.

In Netflix
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Uninterested in A La Carte

Mari Silbey —  June 8, 2007 — 6 Comments

Forrester Research just released the results of a survey showing that consumers don’t care that much about a la carte channels and wouldn’t be willing to pay very much for the privilege. I might not have agreed a few years ago, but here’s why my opinion has changed:

  1. Better shows on more cable channelsforrester-survey.jpg
    ESPN and Comedy Central used to be the only networks I watched on cable, but now I regularly tune in to FX, TNT and the SciFi network at the very least.

  2. On-demand viewing
    By ordering Netflix DVDs or downloading shows from the Web, I can get access to almost any content I want. If I wanted to drop my cable subscription, I’d virtually be able to get a la carte viewing through other distribution sources. (ESPN being the big exception) Continue Reading…
In Home, Netflix, TV Shows
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Supercharge Your Summer Television Lineup

Davis Freeberg —  June 6, 2007 — 12 Comments

It used to be that once the spring TV season ended, I’d pretty much shut off my TV and take a break for the next three months. Occasionally, I might check out a rerun, but by and large, the time between the end of basketball season and the start of football was always a TV wasteland for me.

Of course that was before TiVo. Once I got a taste of time shifting, I realized that my television season never had to end. Over the years, I’ve missed a lot of good TV, but between the TV syndication agreements and TiVo’s ability to automatically record every episode, the summer has turned out to be a perfect time to catch up on shows that I’ve missed. Whether it’s been going back and watching every single Twilight Zone or catching the X-Files a decade after it aired, TiVo’s season pass functionality has supercharged my reruns in a way, that was never possible before.

Some shows are better suited for summer TiVoing, but when it comes to episodic content, there is a downside to TiVo reruns. The shows aren’t always in the order that they originally aired and it’s almost always impossible to catch the first episodes. This isn’t a big deal for sitcoms and some reality shows, but when it comes to episodic content, it leaves you confused over the storyline and can spoil earlier episodes, you haven’t seen yet.

That is where my Netflix account kicks in. If I know that I really want to see a series that tells a story, I’ll use Netflix to make sure that I get to see it in order. If I’m not sure if a show will be interesting or not, I’ll record a couple of episodes on TiVo and test drive it before committing to watching the entire series. This has improved my overall television experience because there is always at least some fresh content that I can watch.

Over the last few years, the studios have also started releasing more and more new series each summer. It’s a chance for them to try out more experimental shows or concepts. A lot of these new shows are things that I probably wouldn’t check out during the normal TV season, but with a little extra downtime, I’m willing to experiment with new programs, even if there is a good chance they won’t be back again next summer.

So far there have only been a couple of the summer premiers, that have become favorites, but if I can find two or three decent shows to start following, it would be enough to keep me busy. Here are some of the new shows, that I plan on checking out over the next couple of months.

Continue Reading…

In Netflix, TiVo, TV Shows
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iTunes Movie Rentals and Music Subscriptions?

Dave Zatz —  May 11, 2007 — Leave a comment

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Let me tell you what I won’t do. I will not purchase a digital movie, whether via Xbox 360, Amazon Unbox on TiVo, iTunes, or anything else. I’m hooked on the Netflix paradigm of unlimited rentals not to mention I have no guarantees that the movie I purchase today will work on the device I purchase tomorrow. So If I can’t have unlimited rentals, I will stoop to individual rentals. Heck, I’ll even overpay as I’ve proven with those $6 HD flicks on Moviebeam and Xbox. From where I’m sitting, Apple is leaving money on the table by not renting films and not offering a music subscription service. However… Based on some recent rumblings, including analysis of Thursday’s shareholder meeting, it looks like both still exist as possibilities.

In other Apple news, one teenage researcher believes iPods can interfere with pacemakers. Yowza! Though CrunchGear possibly puts it into perspective:

So what have we learned? It’s not that electronics produce electromagnetic frequencies capable of killing grandpa. No, the moral of the story remains the same as always: Don’t strap electronics to the chests of people with pacemakers. These are things that patients in this situation know.

In Apple, Audio, Media, Netflix, Xbox
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