Lovefilm buys right to stream Sony Pictures content The tit-for-tat announcements from Lovefilm and Netflix continue as the arrival in the UK of the US streaming giant and the biggest threat to the Amazon-owned incumbent gets closer. Yesterday, Netflix said it would offer subscribers BBC shows. Today, Lovefilm said it has persuaded Sony Pictures Entertainment to let it stream …
Biggest problem for Lovefilm is the dreadful way that it recommends films - it doesn't take into account anything you've rented or streamed, so is utterly useless. At the moment, you can only view streamed titles in order by user ratings or release date (usually wrong).
It's obsessed with martial arts movies, and the filters are too blunt to be any use.
I'm a mostly happy Lovefilm user, but unless they sort this out soon, I'll be looking carefully at anything netflix offers.
Having to watch Sony stuff in LoveFilm's awful quality. Fragmenting the market by preventing said content from being streamed by NetFlix.
Can't really think of anything good to say about this news.
What I want is an provider of unlimited streamed movies with good quality streams and a large range of content for a reasonable monthly fee. Lovefilm cant do any of that. Let's hope Netflix can. I may be able to give up on the superior service (cost is not the issue) of BitTorrent then.
"The service needs to ramp up the range of titles it offers as streams"
Damn right, they do. I'm currently canceling my LoveFilm subscription, as I've had three DVDs in a row through the post that haven't worked correctly. Oh sure, the data side of the DVD looks fine, but look closer in the right light and you can tell that the discs have been buffed/polished up, when they should have been put through a proper re-surfacing doodah like they have in some CeX stores. I would have gone onto a stream-only account and saved some cash that way, but the number of titles available on stream compared to DVD is pretty crap, and 95% of the films/series I want to watch aren't on there.
To be honest, given the £15 cost per month, and how cheap DVD/BD box sets are these days, going back to buying will probably work out cheaper for TV stuff.
A free 1 month trial of lovefilm stream-only with the intention of watching on my xbox.
Totally agree with what you're saying. The range is.. weak. I'm checking how much they're adding as it's a young service, so far about 15 titles a week.
I'm not much of a film buff, but only 3% of the titles on there are recognisable as 'big films'.
Also struggling to find films that are less than 5 years old.
If it has it's full dvd catalogue available for streaming by January, I'll keep subbing, but right now it's very much a trial and forget affair.
I took Amazon up on their one month trial with a £20 voucher at the end. I looked at the offered selection, opted for a few Blu-ray movies and decided to see what was available to stream. The selection of streamed movies vs the physical copies is pitiful. I'll be very glad to see a full streaming only service that has at least a similar quantity of titles available to stream as they do to get through the post.
Greg - £15! You've been had mate. £9.99 for unlimited 2 disks at home + streaming. I bet someone has better than that too! No duff disks so far. You sure your DVD isn't on its way out?
fwibbler - definitely better on mine but then I've 50Mbps. I've had one case where it seemed to think I was on a slow connection and then, yes, it was pretty unwatchable. Lowish bitrate freeview is the quality for me. Fine for most of the limited selection of B-movies available.
"You sure your DVD isn't on its way out?"
*Twitch*
I'm guessing by that you mean DVD player. Sorry, personal bugbear. Anyhoo, unless my PS3, DVD player, laptop and desktop are all dying a death, I think it's the discs. (I'm on 3 discs + unlimited streaming, BTW.)
Someone recommended Ergo Proxy to me. It turned up, didn't make it past title select, so I asked for another. The second disc got 15 mins in and then died. Exasperated, I pulled out the Big Lebowski DVD that came in the same package, and tried that. 4 minutes in, it stuck as well. Went around and tried every player I have - same results. Screw this.
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