Amazon Adds Instant Streaming to Some DVD Purchases

Posted 12/10/2009 at 2:56pm | by Bart Salisbury

0

Comments

Print

Amazon has come up with an interesting incentive for the holidays: buy a movie on DVD or Blu-ray and get a digital version of the same movie for free, and available instantly. Now you can buy a movie for a friend, and keep a copy for yourself!

Basically, Amazon has linked its sale of DVDs/Blu-rays with its Video On Demand service. In it you can buy for viewing, either streaming or using the PC-only Unbox Video Player, loads of movies and TV shows. (Like you can on iTunes or Netflix or iReel or Hulu or Blockbuster or...) When you purchase a select movie on DVD or Blu-ray, a standard definition version of the movie is added to your Video On Demand library. (A quick search of Amazon shows 313 titles fall under the term “select”, including The National Parks: America’s Best Idea on Blu-ray--so what are you waiting for?)

Amazon’s motivation for the promotion, which is being offered for a limited time, is unclear. Janko Roettgers, of NewTeeVee, speculates it’s an attempt to boost sagging sales of physical media. The preference for digital or streaming versions of movies appears to be cutting into profit margins. Adding a digital version could just be the incentive needed to get physical media sales back on track.

And it might also be that having a digital copy simplifies matters for people viewing ‘on the go,’ which is increasing in popularity. Engadget, for example, reports that about 10% to 12% of movies bought with a digital copy have that digital copy activated. (The figure was 20% for purchasers of The Dark Knight.) In this vein let’s not forget the increasing popularity of home streaming media networks. Could be that people are tiring of being tied down to a TV and a DVD player. Amazon might just be testing these waters.

Image Credit: Amazon