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DISH Network Unveils Movie Streaming Service
New submitter therealobsideus tips news that DISH Network has seized upon the uncertainty surrounding Netflix by taking the opportunity to roll out a Blockbuster-branded service for streaming movies and TV shows as well as renting media through the mail. Quoting Mashable:
"The service, Dish Network with BlockBuster Movie Pass, is not a direct Netflix competitor per se. Instead, it’s a $10 monthly add-on for existing Dish Network subscribers that will offer them access to DVD and Blu-ray — as well as video game — rentals by mail, along with access to streaming movies and TV shows. It will debut on Oct. 1 and be accompanied by a big advertising campaign. In other words, this is a mashup of BlockBuster’s existing mail and online services with Dish Network’s current video-on-demand service. For Dish Network subscribers, this is a great deal. But we’re scratching our heads to find the value for everyone else. Dish does say it has plans to offer services for non-Dish Network subscribers."
I have to admit... it's nice to see more companies jumping in the ring to compete for our streaming dollars. If Dish has some good shows I'm gonna sign up. It used to be people would only sign up for one network for their TV.... and now we could potentially sign up for many different streaming networks so that's a win/win for everyone.
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So 29 bucks a month or so for DISH, plus an additional charge for streaming - with rather limited choices and even more limited choices on DVD by mail? Somehow my wallet just ain't feeling the love yet.
You either believe in rational thought or you don't
and they can split later and call the new company Cablexquix or something like that
I wouldn't be surprised if they try to use this style of 'add-on' to eventually replace cable. At the same "low" price, of course.
Good luck getting ESPN and other major providers of live programming to go along with a solely Netflix-style model.
But we’re scratching our heads to find the value for everyone else.
Could it be, just maybe, that they're trying to attract new customers as well as please their existing ones? It sounds like a pretty good deal to me personally, if there were a decent ISP in the area that wasn't ludicrously expensive to buy without buying cable service as well I'd be all over it.
Honestly, I've got enough bad associations with the Blockbuster name that it would turn me away from a new product, whatever the features or terms. I can't be the only one, am I?
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But we’re scratching our heads to find the value for everyone else.
Dish is hoping to grab some new customers by offering more value to their network. Is that really a head-scratcher?
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
well you can get a Canada dish and pick the theme packs that you want and pay less + be able to buy the box and pay no rent or mirroring fees.
They will have thousands of titles available for streaming straight to your TV or PC. However, those title will not be all free with the subscription. Many times you will still pay a fee per movie. I think it's a great value add but it's still not a true Netflix Competitor
According to the article, the streaming is just a rebranding of their existing video on demand service, which the last time I looked had an extremely narrow list of recent movies available for $7.99 per viewing. (I am a current Dish subscriber)
That can't be right. Who would pay an extra $10/month to pay the same per view charge they currently pay for the same content? It can't be all you can view streaming like netflix, because that would kill their existing VOD service profits. I guess the article is crap and we need to wait until the official announcement to get the facts.
I have no desire to pay 40 dollars a month, plus a 10 dollar addon when my Netflix/Hulu/Amazon combinations costs about 24 a month. I also have no desire to place a dish on my house again and get TV services, not do I think an online service that only works with Dish receivers is truly a competitor in the streaming space. Isn't DirectTV's on demand service already just like this without the Blockbuster name. Now, if Blockbuster offered unlimited streaming for a price through Blockbuster On Demand...that would threaten Netflix.
Dish is offering a new service to its customers, why would you assume there would be value in it for its non-customers.
Ok, there you go, they DO play on offering the service to everyone. Probably after they've seen it's profitable with just Dish subscribers.
We "cut the cord" on TV service all together a few months back. DishTV was a headache. Horrible service, horrible price creeping up, horrible DVR. Another (likely) half ass service for an additional fee isn't gonna bring me back.
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Quote: For Dish Network subscribers, this is a great deal. ... What in the world makes this a good deal, at least assuming that you don't care about the game part? I know that Netlix bashing is in and I certainly like the idea of sending NetFlix a message of customer dissatisfaction, but how is spending more for a Blockbuster branded service better than spending less for NetFlix, particularly considering that NetFlix has more distributed distribution centers that should get your media to you faster and likely has a better choice of media? Heck, even if I was a Dish subscriber I wouldn't jump to this over NetFlix, and since I'm not a Dish subscriber I could care less about when they make it available to me.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
And that's what I told my friend who is head of programming at Starz: People want to have a reasonably priced streaming service that lets them watch what they want, when they want. So if you guys on the content side keep putting the screws to Netflix then both of you will lose because people will conclude Torrents are the only way to go.
And if they're thinking that they're going to "crack down on filesharing" to prevent that then they are smoking unhealthy amounts of crack, because I have friends and acquaintances who regularly offer me thumbs and external hard drives with ungodly amounts of media on them. Go ahead, *IAA, try to sniff those packets.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
DISH Network has seized upon the uncertainty surrounding Netflix by taking the opportunity to roll out a Blockbuster-branded service for streaming movies and TV shows as well as renting media through the mail.
Why is it that people always feel the need to try to make correlations like this when they so obviously don't make any sense.
These decisions are not made and implemented in a few days. DISH bought Blockbuster's assets in April with the intent to do exactly what they are doing, and are launching the service in next week. Trying to claim it was a reaction to some decision Netflix made last week is absurd.
I couldn't find any links to the site itself in the articles but that's our boy. Enjoy!