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Netflix Beware: Best Buy Adds Digital Downloads With CinemaNow Deal

imageBest Buy wants a piece of the booming digital movie distribution business—and it has brokered a new deal with CinemaNow parent company Sonic Solutions to get it. Movie buffs will soon be able to download films directly from BestBuy.com, and through select devices the company sells in-store. This is the second major distribution deal CinemaNow has scored this year, since it’s supposed to power Blockbuster’s online movie service (which, coincidentally is supposed to launch this quarter).

Neither company offered up details on when the service will go live—nor which devices will have the CinemaNow download capabilities—but if it’s similar to the Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) deal, then consumers will likely be able to get movie downloads on set-top boxes, Blu-Ray players, and even phones. CinemaNow’s licensing deals also make it so that some films will be available for download on the same day they’re released on DVD.

Best Buy spokesman Justin Barber told Video Business that it was just the “first step in continuing to move into the digital movie space.” It follows the launch of Best Buy’s new digital media funding arm (to be managed by Fuse Capital—formerly Velocity). As to whether this new deal should have competitors like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Blockbuster worried—it’s not clear—since the market is still wide open, and it seems that consumers want to get their movie downloads from as many distributors as possible. Release.

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Jun 5, 2009 12:16 PM ET

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Posted In: Entertainment, Movies, Technologies / Formats, Broadband, best buy, cinemanow

  • I think this could definitely bite into the netflix share of the market

  • I agree with Dan.  This might give Best Buy a tiny bit of a revenue boost, but competing with Netflix?  That's not possible with this kind of model.

  • Not sure I agree that Netflix should "beware" of this, or the notion that the digital movie distribution business is "booming". The Netflix and CinemaNow business is very different, as are their offerings for digital movies. Netflix streams all of their movies, does not charge for them, and lose money. CinemaNow will offer downloads to devices and if it's anything like Blockbuster's service, will be a total failure. When was the last time anyone heard of Blockbuster's Mediapoint player?

  • This is a good thing for CinemaNow.  Definitely, movie addicts out there will surely be looking forward in using their service.

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