Blockbuster's push into the living continues with a new alliance announced yesterday with Samsung, the world's largest supplier of flat-panel TVs. This fall, owners of Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems will have access to Blockbuster's ONDemand service. The service allows you to stream movies over a high-speed Internet connection straight to your living room, similar to services provided by Netflix. Blockbuster ONDemand movies typically cost between $1.99 and 3.99 for a 24-hour rental period, but the service also offers 25 rentals for a flat fee of $99.
Blockbuster Muscling out Netflix?
As part of the new agreement between Samsung and Blockbuster, the movie rental company will be given "preferred positioning" on Samsung's Blu-ray players. Netflix streaming is also available from Samsung, so presumably your most obvious and easily accessible option on Samsung devices will be Blockbuster, not Netflix.
This is the third major announcement for Blockbuster's ONDemand service in recent months. Blockbuster announced its own set-top box, the MediaPoint player in November 2008 to compete directly with Netflix's Roku device. In January, Blockbuster partnered with Sonic Systems to "make digital content available on a wider range of electronic devices." Then in March, Blockbuster ONDemand followed Netflix onto Tivo devices.
Already have a Samsung Device?
If you already own a Samsung device you might be able to take advantage of the new service. Owners of select 2009 Blu-ray players and home theater systems will be able to get Blockbuster ONDemand through a firmware upgrade later this year. The announcement does not specify which devices will receive the upgrade.
Owners of Samsung HDTV series 7000 and above, and Samsung LCD or HDTV series 650 and up, will be able to download a Blockbuster ONDemand widget this fall.
The battle continues for video rental dominance between a wide range of players including Amazon, Apple, Blockbuster and Netflix. A rumor recently circulated that Amazon might purchase Netflix; if true, the move would create a tough, new competitor with the potential to significantly alter today's highly competitive online movie rental business.
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