What is Digg?40 Comments
- Pimpalicious316, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18warning: the following comment has nothing to do directly with this story, but i need to get it out.
i ***** HATE the DVR/HD box that comcast provides. it is laggy and full of bugs. ever have your remote just not respond for about 4 minutes, and then suddenly 36 button commands happen at once because your frustration grew until your fingers fell off, and that's why there weren't 37 presses of the buttons? yeah, me too >:( - adnk283, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Steven Soderbergh's 'Bubble' was released in theatres and on cable simultaneously, with a DVD release days after, this past January. Its release was called the "the biggest threat to the viability of the cinema industry today" by John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. Which, of course, means it's probably a great thing for consumers.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I thought BitTorrent was providing a similar service..
- Hazardc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4you made me laugh out loud with that
a lot of new technology pisses me off in that way
even my new Krzr cell phone.. takes ***** 40+ seconds to turn on and boot up
WTF
my 1989 phone in a bag turned on went BEEP and it was DONE, go ahead and make calls - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yeah, their box sucks, but they have a new deal with Tivo, so hopefully early 2007 we'll be able to use TiVo boxes or there are rumors you will just be able to download and flash your Comcast box with TiVo software for like $10.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I'll be impressed when it's the same day as the theatre release.
- squiddity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3comcast DVRs and KRZRs are both motorola -- and motorola just butchers all their software and UIs. They put all that effort to make nicely designed phones and then put such crap software inside it...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Their regular boxes aren't any better.
I'm dumping Comcast too, since they constantly send me hate mail about bandwidth usage, and keep sending me threatening mails saying that if I don't pay NEXT month's bill they're going to cut me off. I'm seriously sick of those *****.
Die Comcast, die. - RichB214, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Text of the article:
In an attempt to bolster consumer interest in paid video on demand, Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, has introduced an experimental program to release films on demand simultaneously with their release on DVDs.
The experiment, which will run on Comcast systems in Pittsburgh and Denver, would let customers pay $4 to see a movie the same day they could buy it at a neighborhood store for about $25, or rent it for about the same price as the on-demand service.
As new methods of movie distribution proliferate, the companies that create programming continue to experiment. Now that video on demand is in 30 million homes, and the sales of DVDs have slowed, it is hardly surprising that cable companies are seeking to take advantage of their clout and that the movie studios are willing to tweak the timing of releases.
The experimental simultaneous release of DVDs and on-demand service closes a normal 30- to 45-day gap between DVD release and on-demand release. “This is a sampling mechanism for the title,” said Andrew Mellett, vice president for the video-on-demand division of Warner Digital Distribution, which is offering “Superman Returns” and other movies via Comcast. “I don’t expect it to cannibalize sales on DVD. What we are really interested in seeing is whether this increases the buy rates.”
Comcast has declined to comment on the project, although it has been advertising films’ availability in local newspapers.
The company has been the industry leader in offering free and paid video on demand, compiling a library of 8,000 movies and television episodes to lure subscribers and to distinguish itself from satellite TV.
On-demand service has been a success compared to pay-per-view, industry experts say. On-demand service lets consumers see movies when they want, while pay-per-view lets them see movies on a predetermined schedule. That lack of flexibility has hurt the pay-per-view business as video on demand has grown.
“Comcast has done really well with video on demand,” Mr. Mellett said. He added that once customers get used to free programming on demand, they will pay for the shows they really want to see.
Blockbuster, which could be hurt by the success of simultaneous release, said that the sales and rentals of DVDs represent the largest revenue stream for the studios and “we believe that they will be very cautious in introducing any new less profitable service that could be cannibalistic to the rental and retail channel.”
The experiment is a result of pressure by the cable industry to test paid video on demand so that it could get a slice of the revenues immediately after theater release. - ikrit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Exactly.
Also,
If they release them at the same time, then the only people going to the theater will be the people who really want the big screen and audiovisual quality, so the theaters will really have to improve their offerings to get people to come (both theaters near me are crap these days). Win-Win for the consumers. - angelp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@donjo - Hmmm what would most people do....pay $9.99 for Comcast's DVR box each month or pay $700-$800 for a HD TiVo plus a monthly fee?
- chiklit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm still waiting for DVDs to come out the same time they're released in the theatres. I don't rent from Blockbuster or on-demand, and I don't go to the movie theatre. So it's not like they're loosing anything from me by releasing them earlier.
- Toast1185, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Does it really cost $25 to buy a DVD? It must have been so long since I've bought one last. The movie industry, among others, really needs to shift towards a more dynamic and tiered pricing method. I can't remember the last time I ever actually watched all of those special features they load onto DVD's to justify the jacked up price.
- VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What would I do with a million dollars? Two chicks at the same time, dude.
- glinsvad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oddly, in danish "on-demand" translates to "evil man" - makes sense if you've ever tried programming this way...
- jmpelz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1one step closer to content being distributed as it becomes available. I'm sick of the big company's creating content and than sitting on it trying to maximize profits.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4It has begun. The end (of DVD's) is near.
- angelp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@grassrootz - Is it me or were they us giving all those extras with the regular releases a couple of years ago? Now we just get the movie and that's it for the same price or a dollar or two cheaper.
- balkanboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Personally, I don't care much about recording to DVD as I do about having an on-demand deal through Comcast which would allow me to rent unlimited number of movies per month for 20/month, 3 at a time or whatever, even if it has a daily limit imposed of 1 movie per day or something like that. If you think about this in Netflix terms, with the 20/month 3-movies-at-a-time you can probably see 30 movies a month on average (this assumes you watch and mail them the same day you get them, so every other day you'd get 3 new ones, at best), or probably a bit less... so if Comcast can top this with 1 movie rental per day through their set-top boxes at 20/month,for example, I'd switch in a heartbeat.
Obviously, something would have to be worked out if you skip a day without watching a movie, maybe you can only trail by at most 3 movies at a time ...
This is very doable, but how do you get the MPAA to sign off on something like this? Give them a nice cut of the pie I hope.... and everyone's happy. But times are changing, and business models need to keep up too (IMHO). - bigfkncee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1same thing happens to my cablevision dvr box....i'm on my 3rd replacement
- Kanundra, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Learn to use the Reply button
- Kanundra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Buy a Tivo, or make a MythTV box.
- RedDogPaPi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2No.?!
How do you like me now. - Steve95613, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Torrent>On Demand+DVD
- RedDogPaPi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Organization even.
And no, they are not. Comcast never commented on the whole Net-neutrality issue. That was the telco's.
Plus, Comcast never handed over your info to Big Brother like the telco's. (AT&T) - angelp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think his point was that they threatened to cut him off for not paying NEXT month's bill.
- zizzybaloobah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Um no. I'd just swap out the box -- that's one of the few joys of being a slave to Comcast.
- josegutz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This does'nt make sense since I have seen movies come out on PPV way before they have been released on DVD. So this is not impressive.
- RedDogPaPi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@skyshock21
yea, Damn them for expecting people to pay their bill. Bastardo's. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's got to be ages since I went to a movie theater. I really just don't like people that much I suppose. I also dislike buying DVDs since I rarely watch them more than once. And the On Demand thing is annoying. It's very slow navigating it (how the hell can you offer high speed Internet, but it takes forever to move to a different page of movie listings), and it seems like an overinflated price. I rent from Family Video occasionally, and they have decent specials.
Honestly, I usually watch movies in waves. I will rent/order/watch around 10-15 movies in a month, and then its 2-3 months before anything new is available anyway. I'm really tired of looking for a movie, and I have already seen anything remotely interesting. Surely something will change with this whole distribution thing. - SkyRider119, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ondemand that still the best they can do? Download while your not looking?
- grassrootz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thankfully I am seeing more and more DVD's being sold with 2 verions a jam packed special edition with 2, 3, or 4 discs that cost a preimium or the plain jain movie on 1 disc at the release price of around 14-16 bucks. Im a pretty patient person so I dont even go to the theater anymore, why when im going to buy at least 2 tickets anyways I can own the movie and watch as many times as I want on my 100" big screen at home.
- donjo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Can't you just use the HD Tivo box with the cable card slot (http://www.tivo.com/2.0.boxdetails.asp?box=series3HDDVR)?
- avolant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1you kids. always bickering...
... just... go away... - CameronHigh, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Very true. I cant wait.
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -12/+10That's right - and don't you forget it. If we didn't "demand" that countries not mess with Israel, it would be overrun with jihadists tomorrow.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Comcast suck balls, they are one of the cretinous organisations that want to destroy net-neutrality.
"Go to sleep America, you're Government will look after you...." - Elias1, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Am I the only one who thought this was already how things worked?
- gallagherFTW, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2yeah please don't start arguing about this. israel is a strong country in itself. i'm sure they can handle bombers. on a lighter note, same day as dvd release? WHAT A NOVEL IDEA! dude this is common sense, people don't wanna go to blockbuster so they just sit in their living room and click a button to buy the movie. or they can just bittorrent it 2 weeks before the movie comes out in stores.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -26/+2I like the term "on demand" for programming... Americans "demand" everything.
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