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."

Comments

Good?

[WinPimp2K]

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.

Add-on to cable

[milbournosphere]

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.

Re:Add-on to cable

[SteveFoerster]

If I can instantly watch anything I want without having to muck about with file sharing, that's good news, at least for me. I've been saying for a while I'd willingly pay more for Netflix if it had everything available by streaming. I've become accustomed to watching TV on my schedule rather than the TV's, and I don't want to go back to the bad old days.

Live programming

[tepples]

Good luck getting ESPN and other major providers of live programming to go along with a solely Netflix-style model.

What could it be!?

[MozeeToby]

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.

Duh

[TheNinjaroach]

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?

Re:Good

[MightyMartian]

We're looking at dumping satellite. We can download the movies we want, and there are quite a few shows available on the net. Some of it isn't legit, but for the amount we watch TV, it's insane to be paying the better part of $80 or $90 a month, particularly as with satellite they just pump out a lot of affiliate stations so you end up with fifteen of the same episode of House or whatever within a few hours of each other.

It's a pity Netflix sucks, it would be nice to have a decent affordable movie streaming service. I'm not going to torrents because I want to rob the entertainment industry blind, but because I want to have a decent selection of movies I can watch when I want.

Apples and Oranges

[Sponge Bath]

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.

That's the Path of Least Resistance

[Phoenix666]

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.

Re:Not "seizing" anything

[therealobsideus]

^ This. Joe Clayton, DISH Network's CEO, also stated that this was in the planning for the past 5 months that DISH Network has owned Blockbuster. The coincidence around Netflix's fall from favor recently is sheer luck, and in Joe's words, "We'll take all the luck we can get."

Re:Blockbuster? Ick.

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

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?

Nope you are not. Back when they were king of the hill they jacked us around with lots of customer-unfriendly policies. I especially remember how they tried to make people buy late DVDs and advertised the new policy as "the end of late fees."

Now that they aren't king anymore they can't get away with that kind of shit. But some of us have long memories.