TiVo users have known that Blockbuster On Demand was coming to TiVo for a while, but the service just went live. So, does it have the goods to put up a fight against Netflix or Amazon On Demand that have been streaming content on TiVos for months already? Nope, not at all.
My main issue with the Blockbuster On Demand on TiVo is that it doesn’t offer any titles in high definition. That’s a problem for a lot of folks including me. But besides that, there are only 652 titles available right now, which pales in comparison to Netflix’s 17,000 streaming library.
Sure, I know that Netflix is a subscription service that requires a monthly plan, but even the $4.99 per month plan will get you all you can watch streaming content. Compare that at the $2.99 or $3.99 rental price per title of Blockbuster and tell which is the better deal. There are a few free movies on Blockbuster right now, but they seem like D-run flicks.
At least the interface seems sufficient. It’s about the same thing as Amazon On Demand actually. It’s nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
The Blockbuster On Demand set-top box was a great first step, but a lot of people do not want another box to clutter up their AV rack, but simply an app that works with devices they already own. Hopefully soon more content will be available as well as HD streaming. Digital delivery is the future and this service shows that at least Blockbuster has seen the light.
I’ve been happy to see them getting their feet wet in this area, but they are moving at what seems like a glacial pace. The value is also absolutely terrible, none of the free titles are worthwhile, most are just DVD extra fodder. If bundling this into their subscription service isn’t something they are working toward and soon they deserve to go under.
A comparison to the Amazon service would be more apt since Blockbuster and Netflix are working different areas of the rental market, with Netflix focusing on older titles and Blockbuster on newer ones.
Also, the lack of HD content may be a meaningful distinction for you, but I wonder just how many Tivo users care about downloading HD content? That may be an issue in the future, but does it really matter now for most people?
I have NetFlix streaming to my Samsung Blu Ray and the issue I have with NetFlix is on Friday and Saturday nights you may experience some fairly long waits to get your selection. Also, the “watch now” streaming library for NetFlix is pretty cheesy – very few “blockbusters” are available and no new releases that would be worth watching.
However, I am happy with NetFlix overall, and see Blockbuster as a pay preview option to enhance the movie watching selection/void NetFlix currently does not fill.
>> I’ve been happy to see them getting their feet wet in this area, but they are moving at what seems like a glacial pace.
Does anything change, they were slow to DVD, slow to Blu-Ray, slow to movie subscriptions and by mail movie rentals. There price value ratio is not very good, but its understandable by the size of those monster stores. In this economy, their bad pricing value, too much company debt, and RedBox on their back, well this is one Dinosaur that is about to become instinct. I even invested in this stock, but I knew from the start it was a gamble, but at less then .60 a share it was hard not to buy some stock :)
Companies who are moving fast and listening to what their customers want or would desire (NetFlix, Amazon, Tivo) these will be the companies that succeed. If Blockbuster can shake up their management and slim down to become agile they might be able to pull it off. But I think they have too much debt and too much overhead to make this happen in a tougher then tough economy, but good luck BB.
And no HD content, well that is just a sad joke considering this is the age of HDTV with everyone and their Widescreen LCDs. What was BB thinking anyways?????