With Netflix reeling from a series of very public PR disasters, competitors are lining up to steal a piece of the online streaming pie. The latest is a new startup from the founders of Skype called VDIO.
VDIO is currently undergoing closed testing from a small group of users. The service will only initially be available in the UK, with more markets promised to come soon. GigaOM was able to obtain a short FAQ list from the company:
What is VDIO?
VDIO lets you instantly watch the best in TV and movies, right now.How is it pronounced?
Vee-dee-oWho is behind VDIO?
VDIO was founded by Janus Friis and is run by a team with experience from Skype, Napster, Microsoft, TV Guide, and Apache.When will it launch?
VDIO is currently in closed beta.How is VDIO funded?
VDIO is privately funded.Where will VDIO be available?
Initially, VDIO will be available in the U.K.Where is the company based?
VDIO has offices in Santa Monica and Europe.How much does it cost?
The pricing will be announced at a later time.
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How is it different from Netflix and LoveFilm?
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We think people will love using VDIO.Who is the team?
Ian Aaron – Chief Executive Officer
Justin Erenkrantz – Chief Technology Officer
Priidu Zilmer – Creative Director
Scott Barrow – Senior Vice President of Operations
Sander Striker – Senior Vice President of Engineering
Patrick Dodd – Senior Vice President of Global Licensing
Jessica Algazi – Senior Vice President of Business AffairsWhat is VDIO’s relationship to Rdio?
VDIO and Rdio are run by separate teams.
“People will love using it” doesn’t seem to be the strongest possible argument to distinguish VDIO from competitors such as Netflix. What would the new service need to offer in order to be competitive in the cutthroat world of entertainment streaming?
(via GigaOM)
If they provide new release movies on a schedule same as Redbox and only charge a $1 usd they will be the winner.
Yeah, those answers are so vague right now it could be anything. Especially the how is it different line.
There’s an old saying I can’t quite remember but it’s about taking bigger pieces of shrinking markets (pies depending on the analogy). Think of video like game consoles, you have too many and the market fragments. Usually the late ones fail. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu will own the market. Anyone else will either get crumbs or get their backside handed to them.
Think of it like this as well, we are going away from cable because we have to buy so many channels to get so little content. If there were 5 online sites dividing the content that all charge 8-10 a month, then we are back at the ~45 dollar cable bill. File this one under bad idea no matter how big the names they toss around with it.
They need clients on hardware. A ps3 version and 360 version will go a long way to competing with netflix, hulu or vudu. Also obviously ios and android versions of clients are necessary too.
Hardware is a stumbling block but first we need to know exactly what they are. Remember that people consider Amazon VOD and Redbox to be competitors to streaming because if you buy VOD or rent a disc you don’t stream. This will either be
1- another leech company – Netflix is making deals but the studios aren’t allwoing exclusivity. Hence places like Hulu and Amazon Prime get overlapping content. This company may come in and also get the same crumbs from Netflix open ended deals. If so they will never succeed. People won’t leave Netflix for Netflix content
2- vod – anyone can get VOD content. You (yes any reader here) who can get enough capital to do it will find it easy enough. You just have to sign a deal with the studios giving them guaranteed revenue up front and profit sharing beyond that per viewing or per rental period depending on the deal you can get. That’s why so many VOD sites exist and if this company goes that route it also will fail. The VOD market is flooded and shrinking at the same time.
3- will go after new (to streaming) content subscription style. Their only real hope. If they could get CBS, HBO, or some major studios on board that so far are less willing to play along. This is unlikely however. There are some majors that have plenty of untapped content (Sony for one) but they are wanting to create their own supply chain.
Right now Netflix has two things going for them, their ergonomics and their platform depth. Those are two major hurdles. By ergonomics I mean the rating system and the ease at which it can find the content for you even before you know you wanted it.