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Netflix thinks inside the box

post #1 of 24
6/20/06 at 12:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Netflix VP of original programming Eric Besner revealed on Friday some of the online rental service's thinking on the movie download biz, saying Netflix is planning to introduce a proprietary set-top box with an Internet connection that can download movies overnight.

Speaking at an Independent Film & Television Alliance production conference in Beverly Hills, Besner said the business model is still being worked out, but the download service likely would be offered in return for the subscription fee members pay for conventional DVD rentals.

Service could launch as early as this year.

Users would add movies they want to watch to their rental queue online as they do now, and those movies would then be downloaded to the boxes overnight rather than shipped through the mail.
He said the set-top box is just one of the Internet plans Netflix is working on.

Entertainment Studios chairman-CEO Byron Allen keynoted the half-day conference, telling indie producers that the shift to digital distribution is giving producers the upper hand for the first time because of the need for content and the ability to connect directly and immediately with viewers.
"This tool of broadband is unlike anything ever before," said Allen, who has created broadband channels for all of the TV shows he advertises on TV to drive traffic.

Larry Gerbrandt, senior VP and general manager of Nielsen Analytics, said during a panel that iTunes downloads of ABC TV shows have so far added to the audience for those shows rather than stealing viewers away.
On a separate panel, Disney senior VP-general manager of pay TV Dan Cohen said the company clocked 11 million streams in May of the four ABC shows it put online for free as part of a two-month experiment.

Users had to watch short commercials while viewing the ABC shows, but they also could pause and rewind through episodes, something that could give digital a bigger advantage in the coming years from an advertising perspective, Gerbrandt said.


http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryId=18&cs=1
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post #2 of 24
6/20/06 at 12:17pm
Dumb.
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post #3 of 24
6/20/06 at 12:23pm
All I want to know is that "Entertainment Studios chairman-CEO Byron Allen" is the same Byron Allen from "Real People".
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post #4 of 24
6/20/06 at 1:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martianman
All I want to know is that "Entertainment Studios chairman-CEO Byron Allen" is the same Byron Allen from "Real People".
Because he happens to be the world's most compelling interviewer?
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post #5 of 24
6/20/06 at 1:07pm
Dumb? This is the inevitable next step. Of course Netflix is moving to a digital download format. In 10 years, I doubt DVD's (or CD's) will even exist.
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post #6 of 24
6/20/06 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Z-Man
Dumb? This is the inevitable next step. Of course Netflix is moving to a digital download format. In 10 years, I doubt DVD's (or CD's) will even exist.
And Hollywood will collapse, and cinemas will no longer be able to stay open. Oh, and we'll all have flying cars, and pollution will be no more, and I'll have a device that creates a three foot beam of light that can cut through anything.
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post #7 of 24
6/20/06 at 1:32pm
so whatever happened to the rumors of netflix and tivo gang banging our living rooms? the brief spurts of juicy downloads that came onto our box actually have good picture quality. I really don't want to throw in another box in with the other components in our HT.
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post #8 of 24
6/20/06 at 1:41pm
I bet if this goes over well they'll impliment it into the TiVo boxes. The Netflix boxes will be for those sans TiVo.
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post #9 of 24
6/20/06 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by g-dude
And Hollywood will collapse, and cinemas will no longer be able to stay open. Oh, and we'll all have flying cars, and pollution will be no more, and I'll have a device that creates a three foot beam of light that can cut through anything.
What the fuck are you talking about? This is not some way-out prediction of the future. People are already moving away from CD's, towards itunes and emusic. There's no reason to believe that the same trend isn't going to happen with films. I don't see how that has anything to do with Hollywood collapsing (they still have to make the films, regardless of how we consume them), and I'm not even sure it will have a huge effect on cinemas (it would have more of an effect on video rental stores).

Furthermore, the evidence to back up this conclusion IS IN THE FIRST POST OF THIS THREAD. The article doesn't say "Uri Gellar predicts Netflix will move to downloadable movies," it says "Netflix IS moving to downloadable movies."
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post #10 of 24
6/20/06 at 3:28pm
I don't understand how this is a dumb or far-fetched idea. It makes perfect sense, and is in every way better than managing warehouses full of plastic discs that have to navigate through the USPS.
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post #11 of 24
6/20/06 at 3:35pm
Especially considering the cinema industry is trying to work out a system where the films are downloaded from a central server to the theater.
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post #12 of 24
6/20/06 at 3:49pm
I'm just curious in asking: What would be the difference in this, and the on-demand service that Comast and other such cable companies already have? Is on-demand not working out? With this new netflix service, would you have access to all titles now available through mail service?
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post #13 of 24
6/20/06 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by juan23
I'm just curious in asking: What would be the difference in this, and the on-demand service that Comast and other such cable companies already have? Is on-demand not working out? With this new netflix service, would you have access to all titles now available through mail service?
On-demand offers a select number of titles on a pay-per-view basis. I assume the Netflix box would be more like a virtual video store with a flat monthly fee.
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post #14 of 24
6/20/06 at 4:30pm
Are they going to pony up for the broadband connection, including installation and maintenance, as well? Because paying their monthly fees on top of the ISP's fees means the service has doubled or tripled in cost.

It also means I can't rent a movie then watch it where I please.

It also means yet another component attached to my television, somehow, somewhere. If it's not component video, I'm not interested. If it is, how does it squeeze around my DVD player's component video signal? If they expect me to run video through a piece of shit switchbox or convert it to RF, to hell with them.

This idea is to their benefit, not mine. I don't like it.
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post #15 of 24
6/20/06 at 5:45pm
Would this be the end of the special features? Would the resolution still be 480*720 or more of an ipod spec? (240*360 I think....don't know for sure)
What about HD?
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post #16 of 24
6/20/06 at 6:07pm
Apple is doing the same thing for the ipod.

http://joblo.com/index.php?id=11771

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...d&display=ipod
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post #17 of 24
6/20/06 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Brigden
Especially considering the cinema industry is trying to work out a system where the films are downloaded from a central server to the theater.
That's been happening for a while now with most DLP cinemas. Just not on a large scale yet.
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post #18 of 24
6/20/06 at 6:24pm
10-20 bucks for lo rez , special featureless download. Um yeah thats gonna tank. Now if apple could sell their minimacs already configured for high res video playback I could see it working. It'd still be cheaper than a new bluray player.
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post #19 of 24
6/21/06 at 5:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by inthemind.com
10-20 bucks for lo rez , special featureless download. Um yeah thats gonna tank.
The video ipod is already a hit. This is the natural next step, so I doubt it will tank.

High school and college kids, and people always on the go will eat them up. Steve Jobs is a genius.
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post #20 of 24
6/21/06 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Z-Man
In 10 years, I doubt DVD's (or CD's) will even exist.
This statement always puzzles me. If you mean to say that the optical media format will become obsolete, I would disagree.
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post #21 of 24
6/21/06 at 5:55pm
Unless you can get it at full dvd resolution with an accompanied ipod lower res version, i just don't see people paying what they would for a dvd on something inferior. Time will tell...although I guess people are already paying for tv shows that initially are free. Damn.
Allright, how about an itunes/imovies upgrade that will allow users to import/rip their dvd collection and catalog it so they can play it off a minimac set top box?
This would compete with Netflix's set top box. (trying to get back on topic
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post #22 of 24
6/21/06 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pop Zeus
This statement always puzzles me. If you mean to say that the optical media format will become obsolete, I would disagree.
Actually, yeah, I think DVD or next-gen DVD or whatever will exist, but only cinephile collectors will bother with them. Most people will have a monthly subscription service where they can watch any movie at any time, downloaded from the net to their TV. Or any TV show that's already aired. I don't think most people will want a bunch of discs cluttering their pads if they don't need them.
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post #23 of 24
6/21/06 at 6:20pm
People will still be using CDs/DVDs to store their own stuff.
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post #24 of 24
6/21/06 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colt45
The video ipod is already a hit. This is the natural next step, so I doubt it will tank.

High school and college kids, and people always on the go will eat them up. Steve Jobs is a genius.
I understand this type of thing is coming on, but agree with those here who have doubts.

Having a little lo rez movie on the computer or on an ipod type of deal seems contrary to the trend of plasma tv's and booming speakers for the optimum viewing experience.

Jobs is a genius, and yeah it will sell. But only because of our constant and increasinglly scary desire to be entertained around the clock, wherever we are.

"Hey look at me, I'm a college student going from class to class, and it's a 5 minute walk so I better watch a few minutes of "Everything Is Illuminated" to pass the time."
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