The Dark Knight
Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon and now Facebook is getting in on the movies online game. Warner Bros. Digital Distribution is testing whether consumers will buy or rent movies through Facebook, offering The Dark Knight for rent to fans who “Like” the film on its official Facebook page.
To rent the film, fans click the “rent” icon on the Facebook page, and 30 Facebook credits, or $3, will be deducted from their account. They can watch the movie for a 48-hour period after purchase and comment on it, interact with friends, etc., while watching the film.
Netflix stock took a downturn based on speculation that this might become some serious competition, but unlike Netflix, Blockbuster and Amazon, among others, Facebook isn’t easily viewable on TVs, and TVs remain the preferred place to watch movies.
You tell us: What do you think of online movie services? Do you use them? How do they rate to your DVD and Blu-ray library?
Unless Facebook offers a streaming service to a TV and does it BETTER and CHEAPER than Netflix then it’s not going threaten Netflix one iota.
Yeah, I agree, Naz. But, even though I like the streaming services that can play on TV, I still like to have the DVD or Blu-ray in my hands for the movies I want to watch over and over.
FACEBOOK is trying hard to become “the internet” in a way that I think is beyond what most people prefer it to be – I certainly would not want to watch a movie through FB and I think that most people would prefer that FACEBOOK stick to doing what it does best. I’ll keep watching movies via NETFLIX and doing online social networking through FACEBOOK and I don’t care to combine the two.
I’m with you, Tom. Internet videos didn’t really start to stick until it came to the TV, with Netflix making deals to stream its online content straight to TVs via gaming consoles and other set-top boxes. Until then, long-form video like movies and TV shows weren’t catching on. Sure some people like it; there will always be a few. But I think we’re in the majority.