HD Disc Format War Not Over By a Long Shot

[jpcos]

Comcast On Demand PPV has a lot of day and date releases right now, and the HD is quite good. However, I do not see this as competition to HD media, which is primarily about sales of discs. Even as competition to rentals, it falls short by giving you nothing but the movie, but is it a nice option to have when you want to watch a movie without planning or without any effort other than pushing a button in your home.

[bootman]

Originally Posted by Vinyl Rules!

Can you say the word "BUNDLE?"

One of my good friends has had FIOS now for over 6 months.

For $109.95/month he gets:

1. 15 meg Internet downloads
2. About 400 regular TV channels (He pays an extra $10 for some HBO feeds)
3. Local phone service with Caller ID, Voice Mail, and several other telephone features.
4. Unlimited domestic long-distance calling.

HD channels are available, for extra cost, but he is more into audio than video, so he has not made the transition to HDTV.

And VOD, in both SD and HD are available for prices ranging from $1.99/movie to $4.99/movie.

So tell me, "bootman," how much a month are you now paying for 1,2,3 and 4 above? And what is the download speed from your ISP?

My friend lives in the Tidewater Virginia area, and Verizon customers ordering FIOS now have to wait a month or more for a hookup, so at present, Verizon cannot keep up with demand for FIOS.

And another friend who worked for GTE before they were acquired by Bell Atlantic and became Verizon tells me their FIOS sales rates are actually better in lower-income neighborhoods than in the "ritzy" neighborhoods. And he tells me Verizon is frantically working to built out their infrastructure to deliver 100 meg downloads to all their FIOS customers in less than two years. They, too, believe the silver discs will go the way of vinyl discs and they want to have the infrastructure in place to deliver the download.

And if you are Sony or Fox, do you really care who delivers the download as long as you get paid for the download? Verizon expects their VOD business to grow exponentially over the next several years, they are going to offer both SD and HD downloads, and they are planning to charge a slight premium for the video enthusiasts who will view nothing but an HD download.

So, yes, I see a huge demand for all these services at the above prices from the "Walmart crowd." But the "Wallies" will probably not pay the extra buck or so for the HD download - They will be quite happy with an SD download.

Think about it - All Verizon has to do is deliver a VOD that looks as good as a regular DVD to a "Wallie."

Yeah I know all about the bundles, but they are for a limited time.
(he is locked in a two year contract right? will it still be 109 at year two?)
The cable companies also affer 99 bundles and fast modem service.

As for how fast my service is, I can't really say since I work for one of these "ISPs".

But I have screen shots of over 20 megs at test sites.
(At work I've broken 80.)

But that is not the point.
The point was that to really see HD downloads take off, 15meg speeds are not going to really cut it.
Speeds of 50-100 megs makes more sense.

These speeds are coming this year, but it surely won't be part of a $100 bundle.
Verizon offers a 30 meg service in some areas.
I they charge $160 a month just for it plus any other services you add.

http://www22.verizon.com/content/con...and+prices.htm

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by jpcos

Comcast On Demand PPV has a lot of day and date releases right now, and the HD is quite good. However, I do not see this as competition to HD media, which is primarily about sales of discs. Even as competition to rentals, it falls short by giving you nothing but the movie, but is it a nice option to have when you want to watch a movie without planning or without any effort other than pushing a button in your home.

Right and Comcast sends out a DVD to the people who pay for it that early. At least I seem to have remembered reading an article about how cable companies would now be offering more day and date VOD but had to "send hard copies," to the customers.

So I take it the cost of these rentals is more than $5.

VOD has existed for YEARS and has done some damage to the Block Busters of the world out there, but the biggest hold back has always been the wait. Titles come out for rental far before they come out for VOD. Selling a copy with early VOD isn't an answer to the "Rental," Battle.

At some point the Studios need to tell the Video Chains "tough luck." and just release day and date VOD. Test it out in some markets and see if "income," is lowered or gained overall. The big worry is obviously piracy (it's easier to record a channel).

[bootman]

Wow a triple post!

Yes, I know all about retention.
But lost in the conversation was the speeds needed to enjoy HD downloads.
These will be premium tier speeds no matter what and not part of any economy bundle.

[deacongreg]

Vinyl Rules,


I worked for Cablevision for two years, and pretty much the same thing applies there.

[jpcos]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Right and Comcast sends out a DVD to the people who pay for it that early. At least I seem to have remembered reading an article about how cable companies would now be offering more day and date VOD but had to "send hard copies," to the customers.

So I take it the cost of these rentals is more than $5.

No DVD sent out on Comcast. They advertise it as being the same day as DVD all the time. New titles are $5.99 in HD, and catalog titles are $4.99. Just hit the remote. Right now, the newest title is The Brave One, which I think was released this past Tuesday.

Streaming HD content is here now, and what Comcast is offering will far surpass anything that can be delivered via the internet right now. It's a little pricey, but I'd rather save myself the Blockbuster B & M experience for the extra $1 when I need to see a movie tonight.