Vongo Movie Download Service from Starz, Sony & Microsoft

It's getting pretty crowded in the Internet movie download business these days (iTunes, Cinemanow, Movielink, etc.), but Starz has teamed up with Sony & Microsoft to launch an interesting new service called Vongo (press release).

For $9.99 per month you get access to 1,000 movies, and they also have a $3.99 pay-per-view option (there is a six month delay after theatrical release for some content). You can start watching a movie 30 seconds after selecting the movie, watch it on up to 3 computers (including a laptop), and even transfer it to a portable device like a PlayStation Portable. You can watch a movie as many times as you want (they talk about "collecting" movies), as long as Vongo "owns the rights to the movie." It only works on Windows right now, but they are working on a Mac version.

They compare Vongo with Blockbuster ("no driving") and Netflix in this video, and take a jab at Netflix: "no waiting for days or weeks for a movie to arrive from your Netflix queue, which is a fancy British way of saying line."

This is the first serious threat to Netflix -- when will we hear more about the Netflix Player?!?!

via Cinematical

Comments

[Tim]

In his interview with Charlie Rose, Reed Hastings stated that movies-by-download is coming, but it will take more time than people think before it really takes off. I think he's right for the simple reason that most people watch movies on a dvd player rather than on their PC. Until TV's become as connected to the net as PC's, movies-by-download won't be a significant part of the market and Netflix doesn't need to worry.

Of course, Hastings knows it's coming eventually, so I think they'll be ready.

[Ben Jeremy]

$10/mo is reasonable, actually, but I didn't see a whole lot on how they will compete with the sheer volume of, say, Netflix's library of 50,000+ unique titles. One of the main reasons I like Netflix is because they have stuff I can't get at the corner store... sorry, but I'm just not interested in "Hitch" or "The Incredibles" - I can rent those for buffet pricing at my local Blockbuster, without the hassle of being tethered to my PC's monitor.

Availablity is nice, of course, but this service needs one more "tweak" (besides volume of selection) - a networked device to send the movie to a TV, ala SunRocket's "Gizmo" that connects it's VoIP painlessly to your normal phones. Offer that for free as part of a one year contract int he service, and you might have a winner.

If Bongo (or any other fledgling download service) can deliver something like that, they also have the advantage of including Macrovision (yeah, I know we consumers hate it) to protect the content. GIVING IT AWAY will cost more up front, but it also gives the service a permanent "foot in the door", so to speak. It would make consumers less likely to try another service for several reasons, including a perceived "obligation" for getting the free equipment (even if it is proprietary) and also because it provides a convenient delivery method for the consumer.

[Ben Jeremy]

I didn't read Tim's comment before my long post... good to hear somebody in the industry is thinking about this.

It seems obvious, based on similar business models in other internet-based businesses; Google is even doing an end-around run and considering delivering "Google boxes" to improve penetration for its search engine. he problem with most media industry people, is they are too short-sighted to consider the strategic benefits of such models. Likely they would rather charge $$$ for such a device, or ignore it completely with the idea that there service is targeted at PCs, laptops and specialized portable players alone. This is the fallacy that keeps digital audio DRM out of the mainstream, no matter how desperately the industry tries to push it (laughable that they feel we'll buy a DRM-only player, when an MP3 capable player costs the same or less and plays a LOT more material).

Again, the blinders seem to be steadfastly applied to media industry giants. Maybe NetFlix, which has already blasted away at antiquated notions about what consumers want, can break that trend, but probably not.

We consumers don't want to spend more money on our home's "media infrastructure" just to watch movies from a download service. We want to watch movies on our big screen TVs and home theater sound systems... On the rare occasions I might have a 2 hour layover in an airport, or have the kids on a cross-country trip, SURE, a movie on a laptop might be a cool idea, but otherwise, I'm only catching dribs and drabs of a full movie, and a portable player is even worse, with it's small screen. For those players, content should be free, not costing me real money (Heck, my new Sprint phone plan had unlimited PowerVision included for phones that supported multimedia web access).

The challenge seems to be to convince these execs that their vision of reality, apparently a world where consumers happily hand over all of their cash in exchange for negligible services, is just a bizarre fantasy. Delivering useful, practical services is what it will take to become the market leader (and profit maker)

[Laddy]

Did I miss it? I didn't see any indication what the video quality would be or the resolution. How many will pay to watch a quarter screen window on a PC monitor?

[Mr. Nethead]

That service looks remarkably similar to Starz Ticket on Real. (http://starz.real.com) I used to be a subscriber, but I'm hard of hearing and they didn't have captions. (Which annoyed me because Real Player supports captions.)

Actually, I'm not going to be able to use any movie download service, Netflix or other, unless they allow captions for those of us who have difficulty hearing.

Otherwise, most of the movies they offered were the same movies they played on the Starz TV channels. There were always a few "hit movies" and then a bunch of older or lesser known films. It was a pretty good value for the money though.

[CJ]

Reed Hastings is right - movie PC type download is way out there in future.

Until a set-top box sits on the TV. with seamless wireless connection to a broadband internet connection, and has simple on-screen TV instructions, the average Joe won't be interested. Gee, this sort-of sounds like the existing cable movies on demand, which aren't exactly taking off right now. So maybe the old DVD movie container will be around forever.

Personally, I used to watch DVDs on my PC which had a 21" CRT screen and played non-interlaced (progressive scan) from about 1999 to 2002. Then DVD player prices radically dropped, I set up two entertainment systems, and now only watch movies on my laptop (I keep several on the hard drive) when flying, taking train, etc.

[PlungeBob]

Laddy's comments are apropriate.

What resolutions are we talking about?

Are these film compressed, a la DivX ?

I agree with the sentiment that this industry is just getting
started. The current players are going to define what is possible
for the later, more successful, efforts.

I cannot wait to see the doom9 article on how to clean and rip
one of these downloaded films. Ah, the gnashing of teeth!

[OleD]

Predictions that developments are "way out in the future" are generally wrong when it comes to the net. Net development, broadband retail usage and entertainment usage has developed significanty faster than most predictions.

Anyway since it is obvious NOT out in the future but now.

As far as Mike's question on netflix player the answer is "never."

"Of course, Hastings knows it's coming eventually, so I think they'll be ready."

Er completely wrong, on what basis? They are not a rights holder or a software developer. They have no shot at all at playin in this -- whihc is why hastings is in denial.

"Until a set-top box sits on the TV. with seamless wireless connection to a broadband internet connection, and has simple on-screen TV instructions, the average Joe won't be interested."

Lol. Hav you heard heard of TIVO, which caught the cable providers with their pants down and siphoned off billions?

Broadband connections are already very common. Probably 50% or more and gowing of Netflix uers are at 3mps or more (1.5mps is plenty for full resoution movies at 1/10 the average time it takes Netflix to get to you).

The set to box would probably cost about $30 to $40 manufacture.

As far as doom9 and how to "clean and rip" this is already ubiquitous on DVDs, there is no stopping it, yet people still rent DVDs when they are all out their on p2p so this will be no different.

[anon]

Has someone 'browsed' vongo's collection and compared it to blockbuster/netflix/or even hbo? do they have tv shows or just movies...

[Movie Downloads]

The Vongo service might work for some people, but another great way to get DVD-quality movies with much fewer strings attached and restructions is the EZTakes Movie Download service (see www.eztakes.com). You can download DVD movies and easily burn an unlimited number of DVDs (for personal use) that can play on standard DVD players in your living room. EZTakes prices usually run at about 50% of retail.

[tainted]

This seems interesting, so I figured I'd take a look and see what exactly they are saying about a Mac version (my Mini is the system hooked up to my HDTV, making it the only plausible system to watch films on). Unfortunately, they've already lost my interest:

"OS Failure! You need a PC to view this site. Vongo has determined that you do not meet system platform requirements."

All they provide is a box to enter your email address and be notified when a Mac version is ready.

Any company that doesn't let you even view their website unless you have the proper system to run their program needs to come into the 21st century.

[pixles]

The hype about Starz's- Vongo may fizz out with more clients like myself. When Vongo changes my 30 day Toshiba free trial of Vongo to a 14 day trial and combines my monthly subscripion with an unsolicitated pay per view deal- I am out of there faster than you can download a movie.I am supose to get an email confirming that I canceled my account but I can't find it , so must I cancel my credit card ?
Getting rid of Vongo on a new Toshiba laptop is enough of an ordeal in itself
without being subjected to all the other issues associated with my account.
The prescribed cure for my problem is NETFLIX and it does the job.

[DeannaSWEET]

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