I like the idea and would use the service if I had a faster internet connection. Will you use this service?
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2007-02-06-walmart-downloads_x.htm
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Hollywood's love affair with DVDs will face its biggest test beginning Tuesday as Wal-Mart unveils a movie and TV-show download service with participation by all major studios.
The retailer that accounts for 40% of all U.S. DVD sales will offer about 3,000 movies and TV shows to buy and download, including such hits as Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Paramount's Mission: Impossible III, Sony's The Da Vinci Code and Warner Bros.' Superman Returns.
New releases will be available at www.walmart.com/videodownloads on the same day they come out on DVD and will cost up to $19.88. Older films will go for up to $9.88.
TV episodes will be $1.96 the day after they air. Networks on board include Fox, CW and Viacom's MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Logo and VH1.
"We think the disc business will remain quite healthy," says Kevin Swint, Wal-Mart's divisional merchandise manager for digital media. "But we know from our experience in music that digital delivery will come to complement the physical business."
Although download and DVD prices are similar, "In the end, consumers will determine pricing," he says.
Using a high-speed connection, it will take about 45 minutes to download a typical movie with what Wal-Mart calls "near-DVD" video and audio but none of the added features typically found on DVDs.
Wal-Mart downloads can go to a PC with Windows XP or Vista and Internet Explorer and to some portable devices using Microsoft's digital rights system. They won't work with Macintosh or Linux-based computers or with iPods. The downloads can be backed up as many as three times, including to a DVD, but the backup DVD won't play in a conventional DVD player.
While studios have been wary of Wal-Mart's interest in downloads, they've hesitated to approach other potential partners for fear Wal-Mart would retaliate by carrying fewer of their older or non-hit DVDs. Videos, primarily DVDs, account for about half of the revenue for most feature films, and DVDs' profit margins are up to 70%.
Wal-Mart is "the 800-pound gorilla in the room," Bernstein Research analyst Michael Nathanson wrote in December. "Most studios do not want to anger this giant."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2007-02-06-walmart-downloads_x.htm
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Hollywood's love affair with DVDs will face its biggest test beginning Tuesday as Wal-Mart unveils a movie and TV-show download service with participation by all major studios.
The retailer that accounts for 40% of all U.S. DVD sales will offer about 3,000 movies and TV shows to buy and download, including such hits as Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Paramount's Mission: Impossible III, Sony's The Da Vinci Code and Warner Bros.' Superman Returns.
New releases will be available at www.walmart.com/videodownloads on the same day they come out on DVD and will cost up to $19.88. Older films will go for up to $9.88.
TV episodes will be $1.96 the day after they air. Networks on board include Fox, CW and Viacom's MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Logo and VH1.
"We think the disc business will remain quite healthy," says Kevin Swint, Wal-Mart's divisional merchandise manager for digital media. "But we know from our experience in music that digital delivery will come to complement the physical business."
Although download and DVD prices are similar, "In the end, consumers will determine pricing," he says.
Using a high-speed connection, it will take about 45 minutes to download a typical movie with what Wal-Mart calls "near-DVD" video and audio but none of the added features typically found on DVDs.
Wal-Mart downloads can go to a PC with Windows XP or Vista and Internet Explorer and to some portable devices using Microsoft's digital rights system. They won't work with Macintosh or Linux-based computers or with iPods. The downloads can be backed up as many as three times, including to a DVD, but the backup DVD won't play in a conventional DVD player.
While studios have been wary of Wal-Mart's interest in downloads, they've hesitated to approach other potential partners for fear Wal-Mart would retaliate by carrying fewer of their older or non-hit DVDs. Videos, primarily DVDs, account for about half of the revenue for most feature films, and DVDs' profit margins are up to 70%.
Wal-Mart is "the 800-pound gorilla in the room," Bernstein Research analyst Michael Nathanson wrote in December. "Most studios do not want to anger this giant."
