AfterDawn: News

TiVo and Netflix to offer movie downloads

TiVo and Netflix are to team up to offer legal movie downloads over broadband connections according to NewsWeek. No details have been released about the costs of the services, or when it will officially go ahead but the partnership is expected to go public later this month. The two companies have always been close, TiVo's CEO just happens to be a Netflix board member. TiVo purchased Strangeberry in January, a startup founded by Arthur van Hoff, who is a developer of the Java Language.

Not many people have seen the Strangeberry in action but it has been described as a TV-centric router for managing all kinds of video and audio content around a home network. Netflix and TiVo are expected to face a tough fight from telecommunications giants and media pigopolists. TiVo pioneered the concert of the PVR but has not had luck making any profit yet. It has forecasted an operating loss of $41 million on revenues of $28 million in the current quarter. Netflix is an online DVD retailer and in its most recent quarter Netflix turned in a gross profit of $3.3 million on subscription revenues of $63 million.



Sources:
The Register
Reuters.com

Written by: James Delahunty @ 7 Sep 2004 7:15

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• 4 comments

• Toiletman

  If it costs anymore than $10 per movie, I'll just go and buy it from the store. Downloading songs may work, but I'm not sure about downloading movies... afterall, they're big files, and even with Cable it takes around 2 hours normally.
  
  Plus, will the average customer REALLY download movies?

  7.9.2004 12:09 #1

• neewbie

  Pay for movies? no thanks. take ages to download if with my broadband.

  8.9.2004 17:38 #2

• 2005

  well what do you want your downloading anywhere from 2-8.5 gb's of info... even at a solid 512kbps download it would still take a long time.
  

  HP Pavilion 533w
  2.0 ghz (celeron :( )
  512 mb of pc2100 ram
  ATI radeon 9200 256mb
  NEC ND 2510a (1.16)

  8.9.2004 18:32 #3

• Toiletman

  That's why I have 3MBps =D
  

  Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.

  9.9.2004 12:15 #4