There was a time when people could only watch movies in giant cinemas. Then came VHS and DVD and affordable big screen high-definition televisions for your home viewing pleasure. Now, if Sony Pictures Television has its way, you’ll be able to stream a movie to your cellphone anytime you want — well actually, make that anytime Sony wants.
Sony is teaming up with AT&T to offer hit movies on select cellphones, USA Today reports. You’d think that’d be great right? However, there are a few important caveats: First, the movies will only be films that have already been broadcast on television (meaning older films). Second, only the new LG Vu and Samsung Access phones will be able to obtain the movies (at least for now). Third, the movies will have periodic advertisements and yet won’t be free (Sony has not yet set a price for what will likely be an add-on subscription). Fourth, and perhaps most perplexing, the titles will be played in a loop and won’t be available on demand!
It’s one thing to know a television show is on a certain time and set aside time to watch that (if even necessary, as more and more people have digital video recorders now). It’s another to schedule your life around content on your mobile phone.
Apple, of course, is another player bringing movies to your cellphone. Its approach centers around its iTunes store — you currently cannot rent or purchase video content right to the iPhone.
There is also quite a bit of debate as to whether or not a film should actually be watched on a cellphone with a tiny screen. Director David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man) has some strong opinions on this topic.
Sony films on the select AT&T phones is scheduled to launch in May.
Also check out our piece from last month on another Hollywood movie studio, Paramount, missing the point on spreading some of its content over the Internet.
4 Comments
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Albert said:
It seems that there is a strong consumer trend towards video right now, especially with the growth of YouTube. This concept is going to be very promising. I’m curious as to how they are going to be streaming videos consistently and how it correlates to the bandwidth/signal. I know that they are also improving cell phones to have longer battery life, but I wonder if you could watch a whole movie streamed to the phone before the battery dies.
I bet that they will have a strong market for those who are traveling in NYC, especially on long commutes to and from work. Soon they’ll have widespread cell phones-to-TV connectors that allow you to stream the movie to your television from your phone as well.
Keep us updated MG. Great post.
Regards,
-Albert -
MG Siegler said:
@Albert - all good points. This will eat a lot of bandwidth and will make the phone die quicker. Commuters might like this, but the fact that it’s not on-demand will make it a lot less accessible.
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Charbarred said:
Granted it’s a strange offering, but this is what usually happens at this stage of the game.
Hopefully the future will just hold a scenario in which you are in a hotel room, you hook up your cell phone to the tv and watch whatever movie you want (through your phone).
The same happened with MP3’s, different companies, different ideas on how to provide them…Sony really lost out on that one, so at least they’re trying…
And as for watching movies on a small screen…I used to watch horribly recorded VHS on a 12″ screen without my glasses on when I was a kid, so I guess to each his own… -
MG Siegler said:
@charbarred - totally agree, this is very early stage stuff. they’ll figure it out eventually.
i never thought i would like watching a movie on my phone - then i got an iphone, and it’s actually a pretty good experience i think.
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