AOL announced this morning it had signed deals with most of the major studios to sell movies for $9.99 to $19.99. The deal is significant because of its breadth, flexibility, and cheapness. AOL will offer 20th Century Fox, NBC Universal, Sony, and Warner Bros. Movies can be transferred to other PCs and compatible portable devices. Fox and Sony television content will also be available.
This is a big score for AOL; the competition doesn’t have it nearly as good. Studio-supported Movielink and CinemaNow do have a lot of variety but new movies will set you back at least $20. They’ve announced plans to allow DVD burning but only with select studios. Guba just made a splash by offering videos for $9.99 on the day they come out on DVD and half that for the old stuff. But it only has deals with Warner Bros. and Sony. Amazon and Apple haven’t even crossed the starting line. Here’s hoping they cut pricing deals that are more in the Guba range than the AOL one.
In March, AOL launched streaming video of old TV series, a deal that seemed like a breakthrough at the time. Nowadays who doesn’t sell studio content online? AOL had previously had a partnership with Movielink; it’s not clear what has happened to that.
Update: Movielink called in to say that their pricing and raw deal with the studios is the same as AOL’s. In addition, the two companies’ partnership is “alive and well.” Tomorrow Movielink is going to do a promotion where movie downloads are $9.99. I’m going to have to get Windows so I can be more knowledgeable about products that don’t offer anything for Mac users!
5 comments so far
10:05 AM PT
Two fatal attributes: Windows-only & no rentals.
Market remains wide open for Apple.
11:16 AM PT
Even at $9.99 and $19.99, if these downloads offered all the goodies that a dvd would at DVD picture quality, that’s a bargain when you consider the convenience factor.
I’d prefer a $20 a month, unlimited rental package.
3:01 PM PT
“Amazon and Apple haven’t even crossed the starting line.”
Your guest writers are getting really weak, Om. Really weak.
Amazon and Apple have crossed the starting line, they just haven’t announced anything. It’s known that Apple has several deals already lined up. All AOL did was quietly launch a service prematurely with zero advertising.
When Apple’s ready, they will LAP AOL with hardware, the service, a big announcement, and advertising. And most people will not even know that AOL has a service.
10:10 PM PT
How have Amazon and Apple have crossed the starting line - they are yet to offer a service, or downloads, which are rumored. If you did point out that Guba is out of the gates, perhaps you had a point, TF.
I think what happens in the market remains to be seen. I think Apple is going to do well, and will make money off the hardware and perhaps from the downloads as well. In the Windows world it is going to get very competitive.
We wrote that earlier this week, when Guba announced its price cuts. No I don’t buy Amazon is going to win just because they are Amazon. They were supposed to dominate the music download business - well we all know how that has turned out.
3:20 PM PT
Om, who says the line starts with opening a store? Obviously I DID have a point because you responded. Get a clue. Don’t get pissy when someone makes a point and you acknowledge it. You just sound pissy.
AOL has essentially just joined MovieLink and CinemaNow… i.e. floundering. They haven’t gotten anything special. I stand by my statements, and no, they are not rumor.
Why would I have to point out Guba? The author mentions Guba and didn’t refer to Guba in the statement I am challenging. Duh.
And why do I care about your opinion of Amazon? I barely mentioned them and don’t care what you think of them.
Hell, the story still requires an “update” because the author failed to check whether or not the deal was actually better.
My thesis: it’s absurd to claim AOL just got a big jump on the competition. It’s absurd to think their situation is better than the already floundering existing competition. It is absurd to claim that Amazon and Apple haven’t begun just because they haven’t announced anything or opened a service. That is all. Simple and pretty much undeniable.
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