The on-again off-again MovieBeam is launching in 29 markets today its over-the-air VOD service, which uses the vertical blanking interval in broadcast TV signals to deliver movies to specialized set-top boxes.
That’s right, to use MovieBeam consumers have to buy another set-top box, not exactly a popular device to begin with, and worse, they have to pony up $250 bucks (with a $50 mail-in rebate) upfront for the unit. On top of that, an initiaton fee of $30 is required, and recent releases cost $3.99, with an additional $1 thrown in for HD format films.
Do I need to say more about MovieBeam? Cisco, Intel and a group of venture capitalists plunked $48.5 million into the venture and got a majority stake for their cash from MovieBeam developer Disney, which spent $100 million on the effort in the days when “datacasting” premium TV signals was still a viable concept.
I suppose with that kind of sunk capital, it’s at least worth an effort to see if the MovieBeam service will sell. But it’s not really 1999 again and I’m wagering that when all is said and done, the sales of MovieBeam boxes will number in the single thousands.
Cynthia Brumfield at 7:15 AM|Comments(0)
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