Ben Reid
20 Jun 2006 15:03
Popular online film rental service Netflix is planning to introduce a proprietary set-top box with an Internet connection capable of downloading movies overnight, according to the company's Vice President of original programming, Eric Besner.
Speaking promisingly at an Independent Film & Television Alliance production conference in Beverly Hills, Besner said the business model for the service, which could launch as early as this year, is currently being worked out, however it is likely the subscription service would be offered in return for the subscription fee members pay for conventional DVD rentals at the moment.
The concept would be that users could add movies they want to watch to their rental queue online much like they do now, except those movies would then be conveniently downloaded to the boxes overnight rather than shipped through the mail.
He also added that the set-top box is just one of the Internet plans Netflix is working on.
Source
Variety.com