NEW ONLINE RENTAL SERVICE HIT BY MPAA LAWSUIT

The motion picture industry has acted quickly to shut down a new movie rental service called Zediva, which was launched last month. Here’s how it works: A customer pays a fee to rent a DVD player and a movie, and Zediva then plays the movie for the customer. While playing it to one customer, the [...]

EXHIBITORS OUTRAGED BY STUDIOS’ VOD PLANS

Like yelling fire in a crowded theater, four movie studios set off panic among exhibitors attending the convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners with word, first reported by Daily Variety, that they plan to launch a premium video-on-demand program called Home Premiere that will allow subscribers to the DirecTV satellite service to watch [...]

SONY MAY ALSO RENT FILMS VIA FACEBOOK

On the heels of Warner Bros.’ announcement this week that it plans to rent films via Facebook, a Sony Films executive has indicated that his studio may do the same. Today’s (Thursday) Hollywood Reporter quoted Sony Home Entertainment executive John Calkins as telling an industry conference in New York: “Our view is that Facebook certainly [...]

FILM TO DEBUT IN THEATERS AND VOD ON SAME DAY

Satellite service DISH Network said Tuesday that it will make The Resident, starring Hillary Swank, available on so-called premium video-on-demand on Friday, the same day that it debuts in movie theaters. Although some studios have discussed the possibility of releasing films on VOD while they are still in theaters, none has suggested a willingness to [...]

MOST PIRATED TV SHOWS OF 2010 NAMED

Current U.S. television shows are being downloaded tens of millions of times via BitTorrent sites, mostly by people outside the U.S., according to the website TorrentFreak.com, which tracks BitTorrent activity. The website said Thursday that Lost was the most-pirated title of the year with 5.94 million downloads for a single episode, followed by Heroes with [...]

VIDEO ON DEMAND FOR BILLIONAIRES?

During a week when “tax cuts for the rich” has been receiving considerable media attention, a proposal has been unveiled that would allow the rich to view movies on their home theaters beginning the same day that they open in theaters. Today’s (Wednesday) Wall Street Journal says the service, from Prima Cinema Inc., would require [...]

U.K. MOVIE TO DEBUT IN THEATERS AND ON VOD SAME DAY

For the first time in the U.K., a movie will be debuting in theaters and via video-on-demand (VOD) simultaneously. The Iraq war-themed In Our Name, which was backed by the BBC, is due to open Friday in the arthouse chain Curzon Theaters and can be viewed the same day via Curzon on Demand on television [...]

BBC PROGRAMS COMING TO THE U.S. — VIA THE IPAD

The BBC is about to launch a global version of its iPlayer service exclusively for iPad owners on a subscription basis, published reports said today (Thursday). Free advertising-supported programming will also reportedly be available, presumably via the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. The iPlayer is the BBC video-on-demand service that permits British users to access [...]

STUDY: INTERNET TV VIEWING NOT AFFECTING REGULAR TV VIEWING

People who have connected their TV sets to the Internet to watch streaming or downloaded shows are not dropping their cable or satellite connections, according to a new study by Nielsen Research for the Cable & Telecommunications Assn. for Marketing (CTAM). According to the study, titled “Life Is a Stream: Understanding Consumers’ Viewership of TV [...]

EXHIBITORS ANGERED OVER WARNERS’ VOD PLANS

Warner Bros. and the Walt Disney Co. are developing plans to offer some movies via video-on-demand while they are still playing in theaters, Daily Variety reported today (Thursday). It cited comments by Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes during an earnings call on Wednesday that it will launch the premium VOD service by next summer, charging [...]

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