Will The Next Format War Be Competing Movie Streaming Services?
The technology for providing movies on-demand is still in its infancy, and yet the amount of interest shown by the general public has proven that there is definitely a future for this subscription-based style of content delivery. Ever since Netflix launched their Watch Instantly service, it has been used by millions of subscribers on their home computers, set top boxes like the Roku, or Xbox Live. But could there be trouble on the horizon for Netflix? Someone at The Wall Street Journal seems to think so.
Last week Martin Peers wrote an article warning that Netflix stock was poised to take a hit for a few different reasons, one of which was the fact that studios are getting wise to the possibilities of streaming content themselves. He predicts that many of them will soon be re-negotiating with Netflix for tougher terms, and a lot of them are already looking at launching subscription services of their own. Needless to say, if a handful of studios decide to go out on their own with this, it could ruin the whole model for everyone. Consumers benefit right now by paying a monthly subscription fee to get access to a large selection of titles, but if they have to choose between subscribing only to Warner Brothers or Sony or whoever, we’re going to be right back where we were two years ago with the high-definition format war.
Looking at the new On Live video game service that was just unveiled at GDC last week, it’s clear that this is the new battlefield for the future of home entertainment. A couple of years from now, when the infrastructure is fully in place to support streaming high-definition movies and games over the internet, the winner will be whoever can attract the most subscribers. Do you use the Netflix Watch Instantly service right now? Would future competition between multiple services be good or bad for the consumer?
Comments (10)
simple answer to headline.
YES.
Posted by Bob The Slob on March 31st, 2009I own a Roku box and I enjoy it quite a bit. It delivers movies instantly to your TV painlessly in good quality. I think it is the future of home entertainment( even though it saddens me because I love collecting DVDs), and I think one day they will have there entire selection avalible instantly. People will go with netflix rather then picking one studio no question in my opinion. You just get more content that way.
Posted by Drew on March 31st, 2009You don’t have to stop collecting dvd’s drew. As long as dvd sold at stores are given value/stock by the people, it’ll never be totally phased out. Look at all the different special collecter editions of Dark Knight out there. Marketing is getting more clever because they have to.
Baseball Card collecting has been around for like a century now, right? We even have wiki, espn, etc.. to see their stats&picture, but there is something about owning the cards and it eventually rewards collectors.
Look at the old school NES&SNES games, many of them are now going up in value because of how rare those games to own nowadays and yet we can dl the ROMs to any game in seconds. Materialism will never die.
I hope studios don’t get in the way of halting the progression of steaming media though. I am thinking of getting an xbox360 to steam movies and get with the times.
Posted by Pr1mal on March 31st, 2009@Janak Smith
what a spammer
Posted by Drew on March 31st, 2009On the DVDs worth collecting, I got a bunch of VHS tapes and no one is beating down my door to get those.
I do believe in ever movie, ever made, in a organized, quick catalog I can flip through from my couch on my fatass plasma, but there is the problem right now. As I’ve said before, when I buy on-demand movies from my comcast provider that are full of CGI (speedracer) that shit looks like crap. We are going to be in this limbo for years before they get full highend movies that play at the same quality of the screens. Unless the new system has quickass multi drive download function were I can buy a film and download it at high-def, blue ray quality in less than 5 to 10 minutes. That is what we want and need, plus a sweetass back-up system(proof of purchase) in case your house burns.
Posted by rus in chicago on March 31st, 2009Without even reading the article, the answer to your question is yes. This is why I have not made the switch to Blu-Ray. It’s obsolete before it even really gets going. My bet is within 2 years I’ll be able to pretty much watch anything I want in the Netflix catalog in hi-def. Why spend $15-30 on a disc that I can watch anytime I want streaming as part of my monthly plan that I’m going to have anyway?
Posted by Andrew James on April 1st, 2009OK, now that I’ve read the article, that’s interesting. Studios may not release their stuff to Netflix and instead stream it themselves? This would suck. Now I have to pay multiple studios for their services. That would = lame.
Posted by Andrew James on April 1st, 2009Apple TV….Have been rocking that for a few months now, and really enjoy renting movies that way.
Posted by James Dead on April 1st, 2009I love collecting discs and enjoy HD quality sound & picture. Streaming and DVR is of a lower quality; but the reality is that I’m one of the few videophiles around.
There are so many people out there that wonder “who listens to commentary” and they claim they “don’t see the difference” between HD & SD. These people will help usher in the streaming format.
I have to admit that even I couldn’t resist getting a movie the instant I think about it. I just hope they find a way to make HD stream fluidly at the most uncompressed mode of video and audio with options to stream the commentary version.
Posted by Ryan M. on April 1st, 2009I agree with Andrew James about not investing in Blu-ray. I haven’t bought into it either. I still watch DVDs and I stream movies through VUDU. I don’t think Blu-ray will do well in the long run as more and more people find the streaming is a viable option. There are still kinks in the system, but overall my experience with streaming through VUDU has been positive.
If studios embrace the digital format more openly it will only get better.
Posted by Ty on April 6th, 2009Leave a Reply