Amazon goes live with Roku box
Set-top player streams from 40,000-title inventory to TV
By Danny King -- Video Business, 3/3/2009
MARCH 3 | Amazon.com began streaming its digital movie and TV titles directly to television sets through Roku set-top boxes today.
The deal, which was announced in January, includes Amazon Video On Demand's inventory of 40,000 standard- and high-definition titles.
Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, started video-streaming its content with the Roku set-top box last May.
"The success of the Roku Player reflects the increasing desire of consumers to watch what they want, when they want," Mark Samuel, general manager of cable and IP STB business at Netherlands-based semiconductor maker NXP, said in a statement. NXP makes decoders for Roku's $99 box. "Amazon Video On Demand offers an immense digital library of content with instant playback."
Along with companies such as Netflix and Blockbuster, Amazon has been aggressive at trying to attract customers to its digital delivery service. Last July, Amazon, which doesn't disclose sales from its digital titles, replaced its Unbox video-download service with a video-on-demand service that allows customers to stream television and movie content in an effort to continue to build media revenue. The company also has an agreement with Sony in which owners of the TV-maker's Bravia HD sets can buy a component allowing direct-to-TV downloads.
Closely held Roku, based in Saratoga, Calif., last May reached an agreement with Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, to have Netflix's more than 12,000 digital titles available for streaming directly to TVs through Roku's set-top box.
Netflix has since reached similar video-streaming pacts for TiVo digital video recorders, Microsoft Xbox 360 videogame consoles and LG Electronics and Samsung Blu-ray players. The company expects its streaming service to double the company's subscriber base within a decade.
Meanwhile, Blockbuster late last year started selling a set-top box that plays digital downloads from Blockbuster.com directly on consumers' TV sets. The company integrated what had been known as its Movielink digital download service into Blockbuster's Web site in July, almost a year after Blockbuster bought the service from the five major studios for $6.6 million.
Amazon in January said its fourth-quarter earnings beat analysts' estimates as sales of media items such as DVDs, CDs and books rose 9%, suggesting that the world's largest Internet retailer might have been less hurt by a slumping economy during the holiday season than other retailers. The company doesn't break out sales of DVDs or digitally delivered content.
