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Word to the wise, if you're planning to attack Netflix and make a serious attempt at stealing away its streaming customers, now is the time to do it. Netflix subscribers -- the ones who haven't fled -- are an excuse away from jumping ship, and surprising as it sounds, Verizon Communications might be the one to push them over the edge (insert your own 'Can you hear me now' joke here).
Reuters is reporting that Verizon plans to launch a standalone streaming media service for watching movies and TV shows over the Web. The company is in talks with programming partners, and if all goes to plan, Verizon will roll the service out in 2012 to around 85 million U.S. homes.
Color us skeptical. People with knowledge of the plans told Reuters programming would be limited, which is the last thing streaming refugees want to hear. Still, it's intriguing, unless you're a Verizon FiOS customer, in which case there's nothing to see here. As it stands, Verizon is only planning to launch its service in markets where it doesn't offer FiOS.
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someuid
December 07, 2011 at 11:44am
Bah, whatever. Despite Netflix's stumbles, there is still a ton of content to watch for $9/month (streaming.) My cable operator hasn't hit us with a data usage cap yet so I'm not even close to jumping ship.
Verizon is just wasting their time with a 'me too' attempt at a streaming service. They're gonna have to do something extra, above and beyond NetFlix, to get my attention.
praack
December 07, 2011 at 9:58am
have to agree here- i am up to 7 (or is it 8) services- none with a good selection, all with different models- none with what netflix brought forward though- the all you can view for a flat rate for streaming and so many dvd's for so much.
the plans coming forth are all hamstrung and harken back to brick and morter VHS shop days- rent your movie for 24 hours - then re-rent it again. pay a premium for new movies etc.
what they don't see is that people who cut the cable (or like me dished the satellite) won;t go back regardless
bling581
December 07, 2011 at 10:57am
Yeah, I think there's a lot of companies out there that just don't get it and try to charge too much for streaming. Some of the stuff I've seen on Amazon costs $3-4 to rent, which is about the same price you paid at local brick and mortar video stores, which are now out of business. $1-2 per TV episode? Seriously? I've watched some TV series on Netflix that are over 200 episodes long. Do the math. Why would I pay $1 per episode? I guess it's not much if you only want to watch one or two shows, but otherwise it's ridiculous. Other cable companies have streaming packages but only available if you have a current cable subscription. Doh!
tekknyne
December 07, 2011 at 6:28am
Totally agree. I'm all for capitalism and competition and blah blah, but this is just ugly. Who wants to sign up for six streaming services just so they can get access to some reasonable and reasonably priced content?
Maybe this is the cable companies' plan all along- to mangle streaming providers and content.
xs0u1x
December 07, 2011 at 6:13am
I kind of find it infuriating that isp's and big media have basically put netflix in a bathtub and strangled it. this once great service(before all the boogeyman network traffic reports and studios pulling their media) was...well it was great. now basically companies are going to offer essentially the same service with less content and charge more for it. don't want our service to count against your data cap? pay an extra charge. I can see it already......but I think the worst part is, is that people will -still- buy this crap encouraging more draconian rules and regulations for isp's/media companies. this has got to change.....
