AfterDawn: News

Startup ZillionTV offering paid and ad-based movies

The startup company ZillionTV has begun offering a media device and online service that it hopes will compete with much larger rivals Apple and Netflix in the online video market.

The networking device, dubbed the Z-bar, will have no HDD but will instead stream movies and TV shows on the Web. The device is very similar to that of Roku but ZillionTV will offer its own service instead of tying in Netflix or Amazon's online video services.



Interestingly, users can rent or purchase films full price or ad-supported content and even get to "choose their preferences for ads to provide more relevant content."

The service will also be an option for Internet providers and therefore there is only one upfront cost, a $50 USD activation charge.

Beginning officially in the fall, the service already has deals in place with Fox, NBC, Universal, Warner and other major content producers.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Mar 2009 22:10

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• 5 comments

• Pop_Smith

  That's pretty cool and is a smart idea considering streaming seems to be the way to go now a days.
  
  Another thing that may help this startup along is Quote:Interestingly, users can rent or purchase films full price or ad-supported content and even get to "choose their preferences for ads to provide more relevant content."If you can get free (or reduced price) movies only to have them contain an ad or two that is user-picked content that would be awesome.
  
  Initially I thought they might have problems with people recording and editing out the commercials but this seems to not be too big of an issue as the media is streamed to a DVR-style device which is hooked directly to the TV.
  
  Peace
  
  EDITED by Pop_Smith: I read some details on their site.

  4.3.2009 22:44 #1

• Lothros

  The sad part is, ISPs have already dealt the death blow to this kind of company (streaming media via interwebs) with their draconian Bandwidth cap policies.

  4.3.2009 23:51 #2

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by Lothros: The sad part is, ISPs have already dealt the death blow to this kind of company (streaming media via interwebs) with their draconian Bandwidth cap policies.While I agree that services like this are damaged by bandwidth caps if enough people are hitting or nearly hitting their bandwidth caps legally such as this service they could and will complain.
  
  Eventually the caps will be removed or heightened to a higher level if this occurs often enough, or the portion of cap-breakers is loud enough.

  5.3.2009 00:29 #3

• windsong

  This will fail.
  
  95% of the people will go back to TV since CAPS will make this retarded. Also, why should I be content with STREAMING crap to my pc when I can KEEP what I get from USenet and P2P? and all AD-FREE!
  
  I doubt Western Digital has anything to worry about.

  5.3.2009 16:19 #4

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by windsong: This will fail.
  
  95% of the people will go back to TV since CAPS will make this retarded. Also, why should I be content with STREAMING crap to my pc when I can KEEP what I get from USenet and P2P? and all AD-FREE!
  
  I doubt Western Digital has anything to worry about.Caps may play a bit of a role but this isn't a "Stream to your PC" thing. It is a top-box set (à la DVR) that you use to watch the content on your TV, although it is done (at least initally) via streaming.
  
  You could potentially hook it up to your PC but it's made to connect directly to your TV, no PC required.
  
  Another thing, it sounds like you can keep content if you are willing to pay for it or have some ads in it. I imagine it is something similar to Hulu except in a top-box-style setup.

  5.3.2009 18:27 #5