Video-on-demand service EzyFlix.tv to launch
The Australian IPTV market is about to get a shake up with the entry of online DVD sales company EzyDVD into digital streaming with an offering that aims to combat piracy by allowing customers to share digital movies.
Next month EzyDVD’s parent company Access Digital Entertainment will launch EzyFlix.tv which will be among the first Australian IPTV services to use the UltraViolet system. UltraViolet gives customers access to a digital ‘locker’ allowing them to share purchased content with up to five people.
“We’ll be one of the first retailers to launch UltraViolet in Australia and this really distinguishes our service from every other in that when someone buys a DVD, Blu-ray and digital copy with UltraViolet rights, they can add that to their digital locker,” said Craig White, CEO of Access Digital Entertainment.
The new service, which launches in May, will be marketed through its ‘namesake’ EzyDVD and from the outset will offer access to more than 2,000 movies and TV shows.
White, who is currently in the US shoring up content deals for the service, told Encore he could not yet comment on which major studios EzyFlix.tv would be offering but said announcements would follow shortly.
“We feel confident that we will be able to have all major Hollywood studios in very quick time and will have announcements in a matter of weeks,” said White.
EzyFlix.tv’s offering will be a transactional video-on-demand and download-to-own service which, according to White, will have no subscription fees or contracts.
“We’ll have a pure on-demand pay-per-view model − no subscription, no set top box, no tie-in, no lock-in − and we’ll have a download-to-own model as well. We’re covering the best of both worlds there,” he said.
Many providers already in the space such as Foxtel, Quikflix and Fetch-TV require a contract or subscription to access their content.
Competition in the sector is likely to intensify with other companies such as cinema owner Hoyts also recently signaling that they will be entering the market with their product Hoyts Stream.
“It would be arrogant to say I’m not worried but at the same time it would be welcome competition,” said White. “There are formidable competitors in the industry today and it’s fair to expect that there will be a lot more from Hoyts and anything that Foxtel and Telstra do in the next six to 12 months.”
While competitors such as Quikflix have recently faced financial problems, White said the market was ready for more entrants and that it will take a while for the IPTV sector to stablise.
“It’s to be expected and it’s appropriate for the Australian market. It will be a long time before winners and losers are sorted out,” he said.
Nic Christensen
This story first appeared in the weekly edition of Encore available for iPad and Android tablets. Visit encore.com.au for a preview of the app or click below to download.
At the moment, the VOD market in AUstralia is virtually non-existent. Distributors are getting sales reports from some VOD platforms where their films are making $10-$50 per month. It will take another 10 years before the whole VOD market is feasible.
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Sorry Daniel your information is innacurate. The VOD market in Australia is significant, and depending on who’s data you look at 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 rental transactions in Australia is through VOD. Check out latest press releases on transactional digital market from AHEDA website.
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So Daniel, $71m+ is “virtually non-existent”?
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Just to clarify – VOD does have a great future but I in 4 rental transactions through VOD is incorrect – it sits at around 10% via AHEDAs own stats. Quote – ‘Digital sales of movies and TV shows now account for more than 10 per cent of total sales in the $1.174 billion Australian home entertainment industry.’
http://www.theage.com.au/digit.....2g9t2.html
It will take a while to hit a 50-50 equilibrium of physical-digital, but if physical distributors find a way to continue in that space, there’s no reason why they can’t be around for a long time.
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This is another non-starter, People want value for money, I’m sure anyone who is remotely interested in VOD, already has Netflix, which only costs max of $15/mth.. Now if the VOD services dont offer anything close to that as a subscription model, they can forget about it… People are not going to pay per view en-masse for tv episodes… the only thing that could work would be a subscription model, just like Netflix… Quickflix has the right idea, but needs heaps more content, to this day they only have like 650 titles to choose from in Movies, and not much in TV shows..
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Given the terrible way they’ve handled DVD/Blu-ray and now games, I wouldn’t hold my breath that they’ll do any better handling VOD…
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