Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Netflix have just launched here in the UK, but with a selection of programming that I really can't imagine is going to attract too many people.
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That's how most video services launch.
XBOX Live video started with a bunch of old films and the bulk of (whoo-dee-doo!) Lionsgate and STARZ movies. Took them a few months to add better quality content and a year or so to get the big studios onboard. The turning point came when they got Disney to sign up. After that the other studios came on board. (Except Sony. I wonder why.
) Now it is about as good as anything out there and MS is confident enough to open XBOX up to Vudu, Cinema Now, and other direct competitors. Helps to have an installed base north of 60 million, of course.
Hulu likewise launched with nothing worthwile, movie-wise. What got them on the map was the TV shows--the retroactive DVR aspect--and now they're starting to add movies and original content. Netflix is also doing original content; enough to tick off HBO, too.
Essentially Netflix and Hulu, and probably others, are becoming full-blown programming networks, not just distributors like the CableCos.
(Reminds me of Microsoft's aborted internet programming effort in the early days of MSN. A decade too early that one.)