Originally published February 26 2006
MovieBeam video-on-demand service uses television airwaves
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The service will use spare television broadcast bandwidth (usually that of a local PBS station) to send movies to a hard drive in the customer's home. The required set-top box costs $199. Movies will be viewable for 24 hours after they are ordered.
The service, which uses the wireless television airwaves to send movies to a hard drive in the home, is aimed at high-volume movie renters who want to avoid the hassles of video stores.
At $199 for the set-top box required for the service, plus a set-up fee, plus $3.99 to watch a new release, it's not a cheap proposition.
But the newly independent company, now spun off from Disney, has nevertheless sparked interest from investors and big technology companies to the tune of more than $48 million in venture funding.
"Think of us as the back wall of the video store, where all the new releases are, but in a box connected to your TV," said MovieBeam Chief Executive Officer Tres Izzard.
That addresses one of the biggest complaints of today's on-demand services such as MovieLink or CinemaNow, which typically aren't able to show new releases until they've been in movie stores for weeks or even months.
Entertainment will also provide high-definition versions of some films to the service, for people with HDMI connections to their televisions.
Those are potentially big plusses, but the high price tag is still likely to be a hurdle for many customers, analysts say.
Movies are increasingly available through cable companies' on-demand services and elsewhere online, they note.
"I think it is challenging, because it is in an increasingly crowded space for distribution of movies," said Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman.
Matthew Howard of Norwest Venture Partners, a MovieBeam director, says the price tag isn't high compared with the ongoing subscription fees of older competitors like Netflix or cable company fees.
New releases will cost $3.99 to watch, while back-catalog films will cost $1.99.
Originally unveiled in late 2003, MovieBeam initially charged a monthly fee to rent equipment, and was distributed only in three small test markets.
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