Hollywood To Offer Video Downloads via MovieLink & CinemaNow
The effects of iPod, Google Video, Mark Cuban, YouTube and other video search and download on demand style schools of thought have rocked the boat enough in Hollywood for the major studios to join together and announce that they will begin selling their films via online video download.
Movielink, which is a jointly owned online video download destination site under the umbrella of Paramount, Universal, Sony, MGM, Warner Bros. and Fox, will begin offering video downloads of films the same day those films hit the DVD shelves. Lions Gate and Sony will also be selling their downloads via CinemaNow, a Movielink competitor.
While download prices will run the same as the price of a DVD, the video download profit margin for the studios is expected to be more beneficial than the DVD model.
The digital versions of the studio films will be available in a permanent download format and according to various news services Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and Best Buy are all lining up to be distributors of the film downloads. So, when will Google, Yahoo and Apple iTunes become premier distributors of the film downloads too?
