Internet services already providing video on demand
By Jefferson Graham
USA Today
For years, computer and cable TV prognosticators have talked about a day when video stores would be obsolete and the latest movie would be available at the click of a mouse or remote control.
Video on demand, they said, would mean no longer having to drive to the video store and accepting second choice when everything else was checked out. No more having to remember to rewind the tape and get it back on time, either.
Many Web surfers may be surprised to discover that video on demand has quietly become a reality.
CinemaNow (www.cinemanow.com) started streaming independent films both for free and for a fee in November, and if you like old movies, Intertainer (www.intertainer.com) offers classics such as 1963's "Charade" as well as episodes of the "Beverly Hillbillies" TV show.
Sony Pictures Entertainment will launch an on-demand movie service, Moviefly (www.moviefly.com), this spring. Others, including Disney and 20th Century Fox, are examining the possibilities.
"We regard the Internet as a significant new medium,'' Sony Pictures Vice President Don Levy said.
"And we see that consumers will increasingly turn to the Net to access entertainment media.''
Video on demand aims to replace the $1.5 billion pay-per-view cable and satellite business, originally seen by Hollywood as a savior where films would someday make their debuts.
But pay-per-view never took off as envisioned. Poor marketing, slim selections and haphazard start times contributed to consumer indifference.
Recent post-video, prepay cable films are available via video on demand on both PC and cable TV, depending on where you live.
Cable subscribers in six cities, including Seattle, Tampa, Fla., and Portland, Maine, can now get video on demand on their TV sets, through separate programs from Blockbuster Video and AOL Time Warner's Road Runner high-speed service.
In Cincinnati, Intertainer is working with digital subscriber line (DSL) provider ZoomTown to provide delivery of video to PCs.
Intertainer, which is owned by Microsoft, Sony and NBC, among others, plans to expand to eight cities in April and to the top 30 markets by the end of the year.
Unlike Blockbuster and Road Runner, which require a separate TV set-top, Intertainer subscribers simply register and fill out a Web-based credit-card form to watch such films as "Gladiator" or Woody Allen's "Small Time Crooks" ($3.99 each) on their PC screens.
Unlike pay-per-view, with video-on-demand films you can rewind, fast-forward and pause, plus movies start as soon as you pay for them. Most give you 24 hours to watch, so you can stop viewing and resume later.
But with video on demand, you won't find as broad a selection as in a video store.
Blockbuster has deals only with MGM, Universal and independents, while Road Runner has access to movies from sister company Warner Bros. and DreamWorks.
Intertainer has movies from DreamWorks, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Columbia/TriStar.
