In what is being billed as a first outside of the traditional Pay TV window, Amazon-owned Lovefilm has signed a streaming deal with Disney that covers both subscription-based streaming and pay-per-view digital rentals or ‘Transactional Video on Demand’ to use the correct industry term. In other words, just in time for the Easter holidays, the DVD in the post service is getting its streaming hands on Disney.
The deal sees more than fifty films from Disney’s library become available to Lovefilm subscribers paying £5.99 a month or more at no extra cost, including Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Dead Poets Society, Armageddon, Cocktail and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. While on the pay-per-view side, recently released Disney titles, such as TRON: Legacy, Tangled and I Am Number Four, will be available.
These can be watched via Lovefilm’s browser-based player, along with supported Internet-connected DVD players and TVs, set-top boxes and the like. And let’s not forget Sony’s Playstation 3.
Of course, content such as Disney’s extensive catalogue are just the sort of deals that Lovefilm or any movie streaming service requires if it’s to resonate with consumers who aren’t going to tolerate or even be aware of the bizarre and outdated ‘release windows’ imposed by Hollywood which are designed to create artificial scarcity and protect revenue. It’s also exactly the type of deal Lovefilm needs to secure as it continues to wean itself off of its lucrative DVD in the post model.