Trouble for Tivo and NetFlix Partnership?

lucabrasi999 writes "Well, things may not not be as good for the potential joining up of Netflix and Tivo as once thought. Herb Greenberg, of CBS Marketwatch has a commentary which hints that this deal may not be as great as it once appeared. Why? In short, distribution rights. It appears that Netflix may not legally distribute all of the movies in it's library via Tivo. As a side note, Netflix may also be feeling some economic pressure. It now forces all cancellations occur by phone, making it more difficult to cancel because of a long hold time."

Comments

Hmm.

[stratjakt]

Not really all that interested in NetFlix or TiVo.

Or iTunes.

You all talk a good game about how much you hate the MPAA and RIAA, but when it comes right down to it, you're the ones lining up around the block for "innovative" new ways to give them some more money, aren't you?

How much money have you given Apple and the RIAA for songs you already bought on CD, tape or LP?

Suckas. Over the air radio and TV is still freeee as in look at all the money I didn't spend today.

Re:Hmm.

[garcia]

Suckas. Over the air radio and TV is still freeee as in look at all the money I didn't spend today.

You are watching ads like a motherfucker. I consider that a shackle myself. You are also watching 8 channels (that's as many as I could get w/the fucking rabbit ears I had for a year and a half before I went w/DirecTV) of snow/infomercials. Hell, two of the eight stations were shopping channels and one was a relgious network. Mmmm, five channels of snow.

Fox and UPN were the only two channels to really come in. They are worth it for ME as I like the shows they carry.

Tivo makes TV really fucking enjoyable. I'm up to 15 seaons passes. I don't even think about watching Live TV anymore unless my Tivo'd shit is all my fiance's stuff and then I am more likely to surf the net or do something outside.

I won't even get into OTA Radio and what you put up w/RIAA bullshit there.

Re:Hmm.

[stratjakt]

That's $5 more than I gave 'em.

Your 5 bucks will pay for what, about enough envelopes, letters, and stamps to send out about 10 more extortion threats?

And they can keep their advertising revenue stream, I wont begrudge them that. They may have my eyes and ears, but they don't have my dollars. They don't have my attention, either.

Radio isn't as bad as you think. There are still long commercial free blocks of music. Music is just background noise to me anyways, all the copyright tantrums and handwringing have killed the artform for me.

And all that "overlayed crap" I see is on cable channels, not the free-to-air ones. Isn't it odd that you pay a monthly fee, get the same amount of regular commercials on channels you pay extra for (like HBO), and ON TOP of that, they pop little ads up over the content you payed for?

All the local air stations around here do is pop the station logo up once every hour, or however often they're required by law to do a station ID.

Other Services

[Rubberpants.net]

I've heard good things about NetFlix in general. Does anyone have experiance with any of the other "dvd by mail" clones, like Blockbuster, etc?

Bummer for Netflix...

[jmcmunn]

I had Netflix for a few months earlier this year, I loved the service, and when I decided to cancel for financial reasons, it was very easy. I just hopped online, and clicked a link. Then they told me I had 7 days to return my three movies, and we were done.

For this exact reason, I planned on signing up again in the near future. But if they are going down the road of AOL, where you can only cancel by phone, after long waits and pushy sales reps, I may just go try Blockbuster Online instead, and see how it fares.

Distribution Rights?

[bludstone]

Boy, I sure am glad that copyright laws have so encouraged the creation of this wonderful science.

Oh wait...

Nevermind :(

Where did the phone rule come from

[lightdarkness]

Right from netflix website... Can I cancel anytime?
Absolutely. You can easily cancel your membership anytime, online, 24 hours a day. There are no cancellation fees. To avoid being charged after your trial, simply cancel your account before the trial ends. No clue what that guy is talking about...

Re:Uniform Consumer Code

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a simpler way; Update your credit card to the wrong expiration date.. Lack of ability to charge your card will cause them to cancel automatically. :-)

Problem with Tivo and Netflix

[hipsterdufus]

1) Only s-video video output
2) Only stereo audio output

I rent movies because I can view them using the DVI output of my DVD player and the optical audio output to the 5.1 reciever. The Tivo is not quality audio or video capable, so I'd never use this service in the first place.

Re:I was kind of wondering...

[dasmegabyte]

If I remember correctly, rental houses pay a great deal more for their stock than you, the home viewer. And they're guaranteed to buy a certain high number of new releases at this higher price thanks to the ever-so-popular "In stock Guarantee" they offer their client. Even considering that these video rental houses sell their overstock cheaper than new movies to customers, the film production companies are still making out very well.

"P2P" could be very lucrative for the publishing houses if they get their deals right. Some will hold out, sure...but this is not that different from the VOD services offered by cable companies, and those have proven to be very profitable.

Re:Netflix novelty runs out quick

[MBCook]

That would be true, to a degree. After a while I cut my service down to the lowest level because I stop watching so many movies. I can't watch a movie or two every day.

Then I realized the great thing about NetFlix. TV. I am currently watching ALL of Stargate SG-1 (episode 19, on disc 5 of season 3 is playing right now, "Crystal Skull"). I've already watched ALL of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, and various other random things. I got to see The Singing Detective (the miniseries from England, not the recent movie) and other things. You can watch old TV shows without having to pay $50 per season (or whatever that price is). And because it's TV, they are all in 30 or 60 minute chunks (actually 23 and 45 or so, but you get the point). So I can catch up (or just see) shows, from the begining, IN ORDER (if that matters). It's fantastic.

After discovering this, I moved my service back up to the normal level. With a NetFlix warehouse in the large city that's only 30 miles away, I get great service. A disc goes out on Monday, they get it Tuesday and ship me a new one, I get it Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. So because I'm always cross-shipping, I am always getting new ones in the mail and almost always have something to watch.

I also especially like my queue. I can add movies before they are released, and as they are they are automatically put at the end of my queue. That way I can add things that I hear about or what to see that I would ordinarily forget about and there they are!

If you only want to rent a handful of big name movies, NetFlix isn't for you. If you want to watch TV series, obscure movies and miniseries, and other great stuff, NetFlix is a godsend.

Re:Cancelation times

[gphinch]

Have you ever called Tivo tech support? I had 2 units (original and the first replacement) go bad on me, and the first time I was on hold for an hour and a half before I got a hold of someone and the second time for an hour.

Re:Netflix is getting slow...

[linuxlover]

Damn right!
<p>
I have learned this lesson the hard way when I answered couple of 'survey' emails. I thought, 'Gee they really care about when I get the movie'. When ever I said I received them on the right date, then my movies will take 1 day extra to arrive.
<p>
I waited till the next survey and answered 'came a day late'. Movies have been prompt ever since. And I never bothered with the survey again.