The Media Delivery Wars

Good morning, Gentle Reader.  I hope this communiqué finds you well.  If you have poked around here at Chicken Scratch for a few clicks of your mouse then you know that I am a bit of a movie fan – in fact, you could say cinema is one of my favorite varieties of a story delivery vehicle.  I am a BIG fan of Blu-ray but the future of media delivery is going to be streaming in HD.  Different companies have experimented with this to varying degrees of success including Comcast, Verizon, Blockbuster, and Netflix. 

Here is an excellent blog from cnet’s, Media Maverick, Mr. Greg Sandoval that addresses the multiple reasons that Neflix is feeling the sting of an ostracized public who would prefer to use Redbox than pay more for a “skimpy selection” of films.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20106678-261/netflix-feels-wrath-of-consumers-investors/?ttag=fbw.

I found it interesting that STARZ holds the rights to Sony’s and Disney’s content for internet streaming.  I also thought this was worth noting, “Starz is reportedly asking for a $300 million deal, or 10 times the $30 million agreement it penned in 2008 and Netflix doesn't want to pay.”  Is that a crazy amount of money?  Well, I suppose, by my standards but to have Netflix walk away means that content will suffer.  Now that Netflix, in a move of sage-like wisdom, has doubled their price (DVD delivery is $8.00 and streaming is $8.00 as well – 16 Bucks a month) for even less product customers have been revolting and canceling their subscriptions.  I was going to make the jump but have decided against it; choosing instead to wait until all the corporate greed gives way to a decent product in glorious 1080p.  I may have a long wait since most companies stream movies in 720p. 

What’s a boy to do?

See you at the Redbox.