Film fans get permanent downloads
Film fans in the UK will soon be able to legally download and keep blockbuster movies for the first time, according to film studio Universal.
King Kong and Pride and Prejudice will be among the first films available from the new service on the AOL website.
Fans will pay £19.99 for a DVD of their chosen film plus two digital copies to keep indefinitely - one for their home computer and one for a portable device.
Universal said it could "completely revolutionise" how people watch movies.
However users will not be able to burn copies of the films to DVD themselves and the files will be compatible only with PCs and Windows software.
It's an exciting time but there are still issues that have to be addressed
Arash Amel
Screen Digest
That means they cannot be viewed on Apple iPods or Macs.
Last month, another UK website, Wippit, started offering permanent downloads - but only independent movies are currently available.
Other sites offer Hollywood movies - but only allow customers to keep the digital files for a set time, from one day to a month.
Universal Pictures UK chairman Eddie Cunningham said this would be the first of many such announcements and digital films would become available in many different ways.
"I think what you're seeing here is the beginning of a revolution in terms of how we can distribute digitally and I would expect you'll see a lot more news of this type over the next few months," he said.
He said his company just wanted to get its movies out to the widest possible audience.
Consumers felt "much more comfortable" if a DVD was included in the package as well as the downloads, he said.
"The statistics said people were three times as likely to pick up on this service if the physical copy was included as part of the bundle, and that astonished us."
The service is not compatible with iPods
Arash Amel, senior analyst at industry journal Screen Digest, told the BBC News website the Universal move was "excellent" for the consumer.
"I think download-to-own is possibly one of the most exciting developments for digital movie downloads over the PC," he said.
The UK movie download market is expected to be worth £200m by 2010, he said - with 40% of that coming from permanent downloads, he said.
The fact that films can be watched on a portable device is also a "major breakthrough", he said. "This is not the norm. This is quite a major step forward."
But studios must allow fans to burn films to DVDs themselves to allow greater flexibility and let prices come down, he added.
King Kong and Pride and Prejudice will be among the first films available from the new service on the AOL website.
Fans will pay £19.99 for a DVD of their chosen film plus two digital copies to keep indefinitely - one for their home computer and one for a portable device.
Universal said it could "completely revolutionise" how people watch movies.
However users will not be able to burn copies of the films to DVD themselves and the files will be compatible only with PCs and Windows software.
It's an exciting time but there are still issues that have to be addressed
Arash Amel
Screen Digest
That means they cannot be viewed on Apple iPods or Macs.
Last month, another UK website, Wippit, started offering permanent downloads - but only independent movies are currently available.
Other sites offer Hollywood movies - but only allow customers to keep the digital files for a set time, from one day to a month.
Universal Pictures UK chairman Eddie Cunningham said this would be the first of many such announcements and digital films would become available in many different ways.
"I think what you're seeing here is the beginning of a revolution in terms of how we can distribute digitally and I would expect you'll see a lot more news of this type over the next few months," he said.
He said his company just wanted to get its movies out to the widest possible audience.
Consumers felt "much more comfortable" if a DVD was included in the package as well as the downloads, he said.
"The statistics said people were three times as likely to pick up on this service if the physical copy was included as part of the bundle, and that astonished us."
The service is not compatible with iPods
Arash Amel, senior analyst at industry journal Screen Digest, told the BBC News website the Universal move was "excellent" for the consumer.
"I think download-to-own is possibly one of the most exciting developments for digital movie downloads over the PC," he said.
The UK movie download market is expected to be worth £200m by 2010, he said - with 40% of that coming from permanent downloads, he said.
The fact that films can be watched on a portable device is also a "major breakthrough", he said. "This is not the norm. This is quite a major step forward."
But studios must allow fans to burn films to DVDs themselves to allow greater flexibility and let prices come down, he added.
posted by Movie news blog at 1:51 AM
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