SEATTLE, June 13 -- RealNetworks Inc. and Starz Encore Group LLCare launching an Internet movie subscription service Monday, 18months after the two companies first announced plans for theoffering.
RealNetworks of Seattle and Starz of Englewood, Colo., had plannedto begin the service in the spring of 2003, after announcing it inDecember 2002. But RealNetworks vice president Karim Meghji said itwas delayed because the companies did not think the market was readyfor the offering, which lets people download movies to watch oncomputers.
One big hurdle was broader adoption of high-speed broadbandInternet connections, which Meghji said allows the movie files to bedownloaded in 30 minutes or less.
The company would not disclose its sales projections or say whenit hoped the venture would be profitable.
But RealNetworks is hoping the service will eventually get to thepoint where families are subscribing and watching the movies fromtheir regular television screens, mobile video players and otherelectronic gadgets. That could take a while, however, as thetechnology is developed, becomes affordable and is widely adopted.
The service, called Starz! Ticket on Real Movies, is to cost$12.95 a month and give viewers access to about 100 movies. Themovies are available for viewing an unlimited number of times whilethey are part of Starz's current roster of films, but the movie isthen deleted from the hard drive when the company no longer carriesit.
Competitors include Movielink, which charges per movie downloadand is backed by several movie studios, and CinemaNow, which letsusers buy subscriptions or pay per movie and is backed partly by Realrival Microsoft Corp.
The company also faces competition from Netflix, the mail-ordervideo service.
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