Last week, AOL began selling movies for download on its video portal, AOL Video. The full-length films from 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group will sell for anywhere between $9.99 to $19.99.
“Spider Man 2” is the main film featured on the “Movies on Demand” section, while “Benchwarmers,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” “Hitch,” and “Inside Man” are also among the 16 total films currently offered for download on the site.
Users can also preview the movies by clicking on the “Watch Now” buttons on each film’s “Details” page.
After download, the films can be viewed offline, on another computer, and on compatible devices.
“Our goal is to be the place that people think about when they want to find video online,” said vice president of AOL Video, Fred McIntyre.
AOL is also looking to expand the television shows it offers for ad-supported viewing or paid download, in particular with Fox Entertainment Group. AOL will make shows such as “24,” “Prison Break,” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” available to users for paid download.
In an increasingly flooded online video market, differentiation seems to be the name of the game. AOL’s “Movies on Demand” section should do a bit to differentiate its video portal, although it already has competition in Guba, and will see future competition from others, including Sony which acquired Grouper Networks last week for $65 million.
RealNetworks has been offering similar movie and television on-demand services in its Asia Pacific edition of RealPlayer since mid-August, and has had a localized form of the service focused on soccer functioning in Korea since 2004.
Sources:
http://publications.mediapost.com/
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http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/
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