We've been hearing about Netflix's plans to deliver movies via the web for quite a while now, and it turns out they might be doing it through a proprietary set-top box before the end of this year. During a panel discussion at an Independent Film & Television Alliance meeting, Netflix's VP of original programming, Eric Besner, reportedly revealed plans for a device that will enable customers to add movies to their queue and download them overnight, presumably to an internal hard drive. An official statement from the movie rental powerhouse to the SEC suggests, among other things, that nothing has actually been decided yet, and that if the box is real, it will only be part of a much larger plan to deliver downloaded content. It looks like we'll have to wait a while for details -- like if download-and-burn will become a reality -- but a report is apparently on the way in early 2007, describing what the company has come up with after investing somewhere between five and ten million dollars in research this year alone. So sit tight and enjoy your new Vongo subscription or wait patiently for Steve Jobs to lock down the iTunes movie store and we'll give you a heads up when we have more info.
[Via
Zatz Not Funny]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gr1zz @ Jun 22nd 2006 7:28AM
This is awesome, if the quality is high enough i can tell Blueray AND HDDVD where they can stick it, this would be all i ever need. I hope its not much more than my 2-at-a-time plan.
p-diddy @ Jun 22nd 2006 8:37AM
Download and burn from Netflix? Are you high?
That would completely put them in the content industry's sights. Used as is, a rental system, Netflix is great. Download and burn, or even burning from their existing mail-based system, is copyright infringement.
That aside, I don't want another set top box. I've got a TiVo. I've got an X-Box. I intentionally got rid of my Comcast box and switched to CableCard because I had too much crap in my living room. I don't want another freaking box. Queued downloading would be great. Awesome in fact. But integrate it with something else. Make it a VoD channel, or put it in a TiVo. Just don't give me another silver box to add to my collection.
-p-
StevenA @ Jun 22nd 2006 9:04AM
What's with this downloading overnight business? If I decide I want to rent a movie, I want it NOW, not tomorrow. Figure out a way to give me instant streaming video on demand and I'll be interested (yea, I know, bandwidth issues, etc.). Otherwise, my local video rental store will continue to get my business.
fucter @ Jun 22nd 2006 9:51AM
whoa, sign me up, netflix is already a great service at a great price.
Wonderboy @ Jun 22nd 2006 11:14AM
Is it really the end of the world to have to wait a day or two to get a desired movie on dvd in the mail? Is it the end of the world to drive to blockbuster if you HAVE to have something right away?
People need a new lesson in patience. It's not absolutely necessary to have everything right here, right now.
David F @ Jun 22nd 2006 11:25AM
Because On Demand services are clearly just a fad, huh Wonderboy? I'm sure people in the future will love to wait around for digital media to come in the mail :P
I would love this, as my current two DVD Netflix selection has sat on top of my TV for over two weeks. This would be great, but I imagine that it could be significantly more expensive as Netflix currently counts on that lag time of the mail on both ends--you could watch a lot more movies and that would cut into the bottom line.
David F @ Jun 22nd 2006 11:25AM
Because On Demand services are clearly just a fad, huh Wonderboy? I'm sure people in the future will love to wait around for digital media to come in the mail :P
I would love this, as my current two DVD Netflix selection has sat on top of my TV for over two weeks. This would be great, but I imagine that it could be significantly more expensive as Netflix currently counts on that lag time of the mail on both ends--you could watch a lot more movies and that would cut into the bottom line.
WamBam @ Jun 22nd 2006 12:15PM
Whether it happens this year, the next or ten years from now, this is the we'll be getting our movies. I love Netflix as much as anybody but certainly the prospect of downloading legal copies of movies for or purchase is something that I look forward to. Already, I love the On Demand services offered through my cable provider and while I don't mind waiting a couple days for my next Netflix mailing, to do away with having to mess with the mail service (To date: 4 of my Netflix DVD's lost) would be awesome.
judson @ Jun 22nd 2006 12:33PM
Ehh, I dunno, I was excited about this, but I don't want another box really. Maybe I'm not normal though, I watch most of my video at my computer, I'd like to, you know, download it.
Matt @ Jun 22nd 2006 1:00PM
Who needs Physical Media ,Download to Burn is a Fad and most people are not going to bother to burn a disk unless it has specialfeatures,artwork(Lightscribe?)and hardly and content protection .
Most People want a set top box in their living room that plays movies and is no hassle to operate ,does it matter how that content is delivered as long it is delivered fast with Progressive playback .
Also disk space is why Subscription services will be popular and not download to own If you want to own a piece of content get it On disk ,DATA stick or some other portable storage device .
Jeff @ Jun 22nd 2006 1:30PM
"Ehh, I dunno, I was excited about this, but I don't want another box really. Maybe I'm not normal though, I watch most of my video at my computer, I'd like to, you know, download it."
You will be able to do both. Netflix has gone on record saying the box idea was just thrown out there as an example of one of the things they're looking at. They've had a download site in the works for years now. The issue is rights.
Lots of people are hung up on what Steve Jobs is doing with iTunes video right now. But the stats I saw from iTunes video so far (30 million downloads total, including podcasts and music videos) aren't very impressive. It's Netflix that people should be watching. They've been planning for downloadable movies basically since their inception (there's a famous quote from Reed Hastings that was something like "there's a reason we didn't call the company 'DVD's by Mail'", which was an answer he gave during a quarterly conference call about just this question in something like 2002).
The thing about Netflix is that they already have a great web site, with 60,000 titles on it. All they need to do is add a "download it now!" button to their movie pages and maybe build out a special section at first so you can see a list of everything they have available for download. But it would not be that difficult for them technically.
The difficulty is just getting the studios to agree to it. And that's the same difficulty everybody's having. But if anyone's gonna penetrate that wall of lead that apparently lines every movie studio exec's brain, it's going to be Netflix.
Bobby @ Jun 22nd 2006 2:59PM
Posting about Netflix' Next Steps....
Ryan Freeman @ Jan 20th 2008 7:00PM
What about the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who do not have access to bandwidth reliable ISP's. People who have satelite internet because they have no other option will only be able to download 1 mabye 2 movies per month without breeching there Fair Access Policy and losing there connection. Dial-up will take 1 month per movie as well. I have wild blue satelite ISP and if I exceed a mere 16 GB download per 30 day cycle they cut off my connection until time allows my bandwidth limit to even out. This is only gonna be nice for people with cable.