HBO and the Sandstorm

Thinking a bit about Amazon today got me to thinking a bit about HBO.

Six months ago, Amazon Prime Instant picked up The Wire, Rome, and loads of HBO "back catalogue" original programming.

HBO Go is still not available for Amazon FireTV, but I think that's only the result of some sort of exclusivity deal expiring. Come 2015, HBO's standalone streaming service makes that moot.

Contrary to what Steve Burke says, I think it's ridiculous for HBO to not start gunning for Netflix in the standalone streaming arena. His spin almost reads like a Mafia Don making an idle threat, "when you been part of 'the family' for so long, why gotta go make trouble?" HBO chief Richard Plepler is right in noting that "hundreds of millions" have been left on the table due to a combination of cable bundle "Families" not actively driving up HBO subscriptions and HBO choosing not to go direct-to-consumer.

Sitting on the "first run" Iron Throne of original series has kept people bowing and paying into The Bundle for years. I've long opined that the sleeping giant is HBO's enormous back catalogue of made-for-HBO narrative and documentary movies, many of which haven't re-aired in years (some, decades). Many of them have rarely, if ever, been readily available on home video in any form, with the recent exception of blessed Warner Archive DVD releases. Couple all of that in-house content with HBO's multi-decade relationship with literally every studio in Hollywood.

The thing I keep seeing repeated is "Netflix should be scared of what is to come," but I think that's wrongheaded.

Even as an eventual little brother to HBO, Netflix has enough going for it that they can survive for a bit yet while they make some strategic acquisitions and beef up their offerings so as to not get pushed off the playing field. Netflix should be wary and think long-term, but they're radically more forward-thinking than "Cable" networks and "Cable Bundle" providers.

"Cable" complacent content businesses are the ostriches that'll get swept up in the sandstorm.

Amazon Coins

Amazon has created a new store credit currency for those buying Kindle Fire apps and in-app content: Amazon Coins. Pre-buying credit through this new non-currency gets you a discount. Buy $5 worth for $4.80, $10 worth for $9.50, $25 worth for $23, $50 worth for $45, and $100 worth for $90.

Here's the problem: I can't tell if these are accepted for Amazon Video purchases at a glance. Amazon continues to have major messaging problems.

I would love to see Amazon publish numbers on Amazon Coins after a few quarters, or sales figures on apps, or any actual data one could analyze. I guess you don't when you aren't actually very profitable.

Amazon's Set-Top Box

Bloomberg reports that Amazon is planning to release their own "hockey puck" set-top box this fall, which will, like their theoretical smartphone, enter a very crowded marketplace.

If, like the story says, it is designed to connect people primarily to the Amazon Instant Video service, that's great, but so does my Roku. Bloomberg describe Amazon's interest in driving developers to create apps for Amazon's own ecosystem, presumably to support the theoretical phone and set-top box in addition to their Fire tablets.

Amazon should have done this three years ago, to be honest. This is a very uphill fight at this point, even with their enormous user base. Were I them, I would instead focus resources on being the premier distributor of digital media across various platforms, instead of sinking yet more money into a non-starter of a platform. They are up against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony, Roku, Boxee, (less so) Nintendo, and TV manufacturers themselves.

The team working on it doesn't scream "content disruption geniuses", either:

The set-top box is being developed by Amazon’s Lab126 division in Cupertino, Calif., which has toyed with building TV-connected devices for several years, the people familiar with the effort say. The project is being run by Malachy Moynihan, a former vice president of emerging video products at Cisco Systems (CSCO) who worked on the networking company’s various consumer video initiatives. Moynihan also spent nine years atApple (AAPL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Among the other hardware engineers working at Lab126 with considerable experience making set-top boxes are Andy Goodman, formerly a top engineer at TiVo (TIVO) and Vudu (WMT), and Chris Coley, a former hardware architect at ReplayTV, one of Silicon Valley’s first DVR companies.

Proximity to Apple HQ and résumé credits there from the 80's and 90's don't equal instant success. I'll say this much: they're DOA if they don't support ecosystem-wide search like the Roku 3 out of the box.

Amazon has financed TV pilots for original shows, and are locking up their own Netflix and Hulu-like exclusive deals. I'm not counting them out, but they really need to make a bold move that sets them apart from both the existing hardware and distribution behemoths to break away from the pack. If anyone has the buying power heft to outpace Apple, it's Amazon, but their track record does not inspire confidence.

UK's LoveFilm Strikes Warner International Deal

A small news nugget at Deadline caught my eye today:

Netflix competitor Lovefilm has entered what it calls a “milestone” deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution for the UK. From today, library content that includes The West Wing, One Tree Hill, Nip Tuck and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be available to subscribers. The Amazon-owned streaming service has 2M+ subscribers across Europe. Netflix entered the market in January 2012 where Sky also continues to build its business. The three companies each have deals with the major U.S. studios. In November, Netflix signed its own multi-year pact with WBITD that included shows like The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl.

LoveFilm is an Amazon UK service like the all-you-can-eat video component of the Amazon Prime membership in the United States. The "New TV" war is finally heating up across the pond. I talked about UK streaming with Myke Hurley on Screen Time a few weeks ago.

Shamewatch: OOP "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" with Ebert Skyrockets Overnight

Yesterday I thought "I should probably grab one of these used copies for around ~$12 before they disappear". This out of print edition of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is the only way to hear Roger Ebert's commentary track for the movie.

The real danger was that they would surge to insane prices. The least expensive used copy on Amazon is now $50. I wish there were a feature on Amazon that allowed you to report price gouging abuse and block yourself from unintentionally buying from sellers in the future.

Amazon Instant Releases an iPad App (That Kinda Sucks)

On the heels of Hulu Plus releasing an AppleTV app, Amazon has put Amazon Instant Video on the iPad. I downloaded the app, and sure enough...no AirPlay compatibility. Watch everything you want, only on your iPad and not on your TV. I'd love to watch all of The West Wing on my TV, not necessarily so on my iPad.