Netflix and TiVo have announced a partnership to develop a movies-on-demand service, as well as efforts to secure content from Hollywood studios.
This is the first step in a multiyear process toward delivering movies digitally over the Internet. A Net video-on-demand service will give Netflix subscribers an alternate way to rent DVDs. Currently, the company delivers DVDs via the U.S. Postal Service. For TiVo, a films-on-demand service will help populate its digital video recording service with new content.
Although no release date for the service was announced, Netflix has said previously that it will have some digital distribution of films by the end of 2005. In the past, TiVo has said it’s working on a video-on-demand service, too, but both companies have said they did not expect to generate significant revenue in the short term.
In a related development, Warner Bros. has agreed to license some films to Netflix as part of a test run of the company’s upcoming movie-download service, CNET reported.
The agreement, the report said, does not yet constitute a deal from Warner Bros. to participate in a commercial video-on-demand service from Netflix, which is still in the planning phases.
For more information, visit www.netflix.com and www.tivo.com
