While some industry pundits debate the viability of installing yet another set top box on the television, others are discussing what could be a groundbreaking business model for the future of movie watching: subscription-based streaming video.
The debate comes in light of Netflix’s announcement earlier this week. In partnership with Roku, a digital media-streaming company, Netflix on Tuesday announced The Netflix Player by Roku.
The device allows Netflix subscribers to instantly stream the movie-rental service’s library of 10,000 movies and TV episodes directly to their TVs. The player is available for purchase for $99.99 at Roku’s Web site. Netflix has unlimited rental plays starting at $8.99 a month.
“The price point is where it needs to be. It needs to be below $100 or even free for the service to work. The fact that Netflix was able to get the price down so low is a dramatic improvement over the competing boxes,” said Mike Greeson, CEO of The Diffusion Group. “Apple TV and Vudu are more expensive, but those are storage-enabled boxes and they are downloads only. Netflix is streaming.”
Streaming Differentiators
The player is about the size of a paperback book and is designed to integrate into any home-entertainment system. According to Netflix, all it takes is connecting the player to a TV and to the Internet. For homes with wireless Internet connectivity, the player is Wi-Fi enabled.
Here’s how it works: From the Netflix Web site, members add movies and TV episodes to their instant queues, and those choices are then displayed on the TV and available to watch instantly.
With the player’s accompanying remote control, members can browse and make selections on the TV screen and also read synopses and rate movies. Viewers also have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream. Netflix’s goal was to develop a user interface that creates…