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Unforunatly when it comes movie and music distribution Australia over the internet Australia is seen as being at the arse end of the world and a nation that grew monsters like Kazaa a web site that facilitated the illegal distribution of content. Another big problem is slow broadband speeds.
Right round the world big brands like Microsoft are rolling out music and IPTV content sites but not in Australia. 18 months ago Microsoft said they would role out a “massive” music content site in partnership with Sanity but that fizzled into total silence and no site.
Apple is currently cutting content deals with content distributors and Hollywood movie houses for their Apple TV offering and it is expected that they will announce new services when they role out the first of their own shops in Sydney later this year
For many IT Companies the threat online could well come from a corner store favourite Blockbuster who have been renting tape and DVD’s for decades in Australia. According to Reuters the home video giant is currently developing a set-top device for streaming films directly to TV sets and is expected to announce the offering sometime this month in the USA.
The big advantage that Blockbuster have over most other contenders is that they own databases of consumers who currently rent movie content. Their brand is also linked with content distribution. One option for Blockbuster is that they adopt a similar policy to the telecommunication carriers in that they either charge a low fee for the set top box or give it away based on X amount of movie pull downs in the same way that the carriers sell phones based on monthly service fees.
Blockbuster declined comment, but a spokeswoman for the company said: “We’re talking to numerous companies and vendors about products, services, alliances and initiatives that can help us achieve our mission to transform Blockbuster into a company that provides access to media content across multiple channels — from our stores, by mail, through kiosks, through downloading, through portable content-enabled devices — so it’s not surprising that there are rumors out there.”
According to Reuters the device would join a growing roster of devices that aim to bring broadband video to the living room, including Apple TV, which hasn’t quite seen sales match the hype surrounding the product. Blockbuster rival Netflix also has indicated that it will compete in this market with a similar device being created with LG Electronics.
Delivering movies to TV might be the most audacious attempt yet that Blockbuster is making to reinvent its brand as digital delivery weakens the viability of its retail footprint. But by offering a home-based alternative to its stores, Blockbuster risks cannibalising its core brick-and-mortar business in the hope that its brand will be a force online.
For the rest of the story see REUTERS
The device is believed to be a stand-alone product akin to Apple TV as opposed to embedding a Blockbuster-branded service in such existing devices as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or TiVo. While going it alone could give it a distinctive positioning in the crowded “over-the-top TV” marketplace, that won’t come without significant investment in marketing and manufacturing, though the latter cost might be shared with a consumer electronics company that has yet to disclose its participation.
