It was a short couple of weeks ago that Best Buy announced it had partnered with Netflix to equip its in-house brand of Insignia connected Blu-Ray players with support for Netflix Instant streaming like Sony, LG, and Samsung all had done to their own players.
Now, Best Buy is following the lead of companies like TiVo, LG, and, Pioneer by partnering with Sonic Solutions to include CinemaNow streaming in more devices. The company says CinemaNow will become a standard feature in "connected consumer electronics devices sold throughout US Best Buy retail stores," and online.
CinemaNow's business model differs from Netflix Instant, in that it is not subscription-based. Rather, it offers titles in pay-per-view for $2.99-$3.99 per 24-hour viewing window, and it lets users download movies to keep for unlimited viewing on up to three devices. CinemaNow's downloadable titles cost between $9.99 and $19.99 and include movies, TV shows, and music videos. The two services can complement each other on the same device without too much redundancy, similar to the way Netflix Instant and Amazon On Demand successfully coexist on devices like the Roku set top box.
Blockbuster On Demand is powered by Roxio CinemaNow, and Sonic Solutions yesterday said that their partnership increased video-on-demand attach rates by more than 50% over other CinemaNow powered services thanks to the familiar Blockbuster brand name.
Neither Best Buy nor Sonic Solutions went into great depth about which devices will be included in the multi-year deal announced today, but Sonic Solutions is holding a conference this afternoon to go over the specifics of the agreement with Best Buy.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
