CinemaNow to offer NBC shows for download
A recurring theme in internet businesses is how to turn folks from freeloaders into customers, which I think most industries do well. The ones that lag behind are TV and Movie studios. I've long wondered why they didn't stem the tide of file trading shows by simply offering a reliable fast download for a small price. I'd much rather pay a little to grab exactly what I need without having to search or wait for it. The iTunes Music Store is a great example of this in action.
So with that in mind, I was happy to hear that CinemaNow will be offering NBC shows and movies for download at $1-3 each. They already offer tons of movies, but adding TV Shows into the mix is a welcome addition. It'll likely come in handy if I miss TiVoing something and need a way to catch it.
I love the model. I have used it repeated with iTunes. Fortunately, with internet file sharing built into my ReplayTV, I've been able to do this for years. It's nice to have another option in case I can't find the episode somewhere else, but that hasn't heppened yet.
Nonetheless, great idea!
Posted by: chris | February 04, 2005 at 11:16 AM
I had a similar idea for TV networks to start allowing downloads of shows, but in a simpler format using a Salon-style pass and bittorrent. I posted it here... http://recently.rainweb.net/hive/765/
It's a system that I think works fairly for networks and consumers.
Posted by: ~bc | February 04, 2005 at 11:54 AM
I have yet to see a price announced. I have seen a comment somewhere (Engadget?) that $1-$3 would be cool, but nothing has been announced AFAIK. Since the movies that CinemaNow offers for download are serioulsy overpriced and poorly encoded, I can't see how this will be any different. Bittorrent is still a better option, but with this announcement I expect that there's more incentive for going after TV oriented bittorrent sites.
Posted by: Adam | February 04, 2005 at 12:39 PM
It seems a lot of us have suggested something similar like I did at http://www.libraryplanet.com/2004/04/reruns
I am not sure how well it will work, but at least it is an acknowledgement that there is a market for this sort of thing.
Posted by: Michael Pate | February 04, 2005 at 12:57 PM
It's all about quality. I'm not going to pay for something that is lower quality then I can get via a torrent. I would pay a small convenience fee to get something nicely encoded and easily found and accessed these services always seems to end up being way over priced.
Posted by: Griffon | February 04, 2005 at 02:20 PM
who needs this when we have BitTorrent?
Posted by: Paul | February 05, 2005 at 04:36 AM
my mom misses shows all the time, but she's not going to find it on bittorrent. there's always a market.
Posted by: Chris | February 05, 2005 at 04:15 PM
i like your website very much
Posted by: zhang yi | April 28, 2006 at 11:54 PM