UNIVERSAL SHOWS LOVE TO U.K.’S LOVEFILM
May 30, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Amazon’s LoveFilm, which is competing against Netflix in the U.K. to provide low-cost movie rentals online, announced today (Wednesday) that it has struck an exclusive deal with Universal Pictures for dozens of films for its streaming service. The films won’t be available until at least a year after they hit theaters, but subscribers to streaming […]
WILL THE INTERNET ABSORB HOME VIDEO?
January 10, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings predicted on Monday that “the era of broadcast TV is going to evolve to click-and-watch with the Internet.” Hastings made the comment in an interview with the London Independent as Netflix launched a low-cost streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland costing just £5.99 ($9.25) per month. Amazon-owned LoveFilm, […]
NETFLIX’S U.K. PLANS UNDERMINED BY AMAZON DEAL WITH SONY
December 22, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
Netflix can’t seem to catch a break, not even overseas. On Wednesday Amazon’s LoveFilm, Netflix’s chief online rental rival in the U.K., announced that it had signed an exclusive deal with Sony for the right to stream the studio’s movies on the so-called second subscription pay-TV window. In the U.K. that means that Netflix will […]
BRITISH MUSIC RETAILER LAUNCHES VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVICE
November 24, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
HMV, Britain’s largest music and video retailer, is launching a beta version of its video-on-demand rental service today (Thursday) in the hope of offsetting slumping in-store sales. The retail chain said that it is partnering with FilmFlex, a joint venture between Sony Pictures TV and Disney that operates as a middleman — it calls itself […]
AMAZON BEEFING UP U.K. VIDEO SERVICE TO COUNTER NETFLIX
October 26, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
A day after Netflix announced that it would be rolling out its streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland, Amazon said that it was beefing up its own LoveFilm disc and streaming rental service in those countries. Members subscribing to its Amazon Prime service would also receive free movie streams. The tight competition is clearly […]
AMAZON BUYS “THE NETFLIX OF EUROPE”
January 20, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
Online retailer Amazon is buying the 58 percent stake in Lovefilm — the Netflix of much of Europe — that it doesn’t already own. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed but analysts estimated that the deal likely valued Lovefilm at $300 million. In a statement, Greg Greeley, Amazon’s vice president of European retail, said: […]