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Film rental chain Tsutaya on Thursday unveiled a download-on-demand broadband service, letting customers rent titles from home without going to the store. The service by Tsutaya, which counts 27.2 million members at its 1,330 branches across Japan, is the latest sign of the growing market for high-definition television in Japan.
Tsutaya, part of the Culture Convenience Club (CCC) Group, starts the service Friday by allowing downloads of the first season of hit U.S. television series such as "Heroes," "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives."
A customer can download a title and watch it over a 48-hour period using Actvila, a portal set for interactive services launched by Japan's major television makers.
Tsutaya plans to raise its catalogue of downloadable titles to 2,000 by the end of the year via agreements with four major Hollywood studios -- Paramount, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and NBC Universal.
Renting a full-length movie through the service will cost 735 yen, with a lesser price for shorter films.
Use of the service requires high-speed fiber-optic connections, which are gradually replacing ADSL lines. Nearly 12 million of Japan's 48 million households have a fiber-optic Internet service.
Tsutaya hopes that the new service will pull in more customers with higher disposable incomes in the 40-50 age range.
Actvila was developed by Japan's major television makers -- Sharp, Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba and Hitachi -- and is compatible with several dozen models of plasma or liquid crystal display sets.
Prices of such high-definition televisions have been on the decline, creating a larger market of viewers.
© AFP
10 Comments
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movieguy
735 Yen for a rental movie?!?! They've gotta be out of their minds!!! I LOVE movies, but there's no way I'm that lazy.
nisegaijin
Yeah,I don't get what drives the extremely high prices. I just can't wait until somebody hacks the time limit.
electric2004
Probably it is not a simple downloadable file, but a stream, which is protected by an encryption algorithm.
Ken Zachow
735 Yen is expensive plus you need to get the fiber-optic internet service, then I guess you'll need to buy a decoder o video player from Tsutaya and who knows what else, probable an annual membership fee? All those Japanese companies are always adding ways to offer service that you can't avoid and get more money from you.
zanza123
download the program on my computer = 0 yen, having the program on my computer, hooking it up to a plasma screen and watching it widescreen = priceless. Although, considering what their movie prices in theatres are already AND how much it is to (Godforbid) BUY a DVD here, I disagree on the viewpoint that 735 yen is expensive. Have you guys checked out the prices of DVDs nowadays. A crappy old movie easily goes up to the 2000 yen mark.
asdfghjkl
just a bit on the expensive side!
electric2004
zanza123:
"older movie at Yamada denki": In the order of 1000 Yen. Also one can get used (already rented out) DVDs.
One day renting at Tsutaya: 100 Yen or so. Well.
Taka313
Electric2004, I agree. But, with a large computer screen, Final Cut Pro software (or Adobe Premiere or Avid) and a good digital video camera, a person could easily make copies that could be burned to DVD.
Taka
Taka313
addendum: Not that I would do that. That would be piracy. I'm just saying, the technology exists and doesn't require a great deal of know-how.
Taka
borscht
Downloading movies direct from Tsutaya thereby eliminating the need to leave your house... hmmm.
This is going to destroy the 'rent-a-DVD date' I've seen wherein a couple jump in their SUV complete with car navi, go to Tsutaya, and rent a DVD for one day. Then watch it in their SUV in the parking lot with the engine running and, in the summer, the air conditioning on. While they are free to smoke up a storm if they wish. (I've actually seen a family of four, each watching their own TV screen, do this.)
Hmm. Maybe this is a good idea. Saves on gas.