Amazon: You Bring The Popcorn, We'll Bring The Hi-Def Movies
The online retailer is offering 500 HD TV shows and movies from Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Showtime Networks.
Customers can order and watch movies and TV shows in HD on their televisions through compatible devices including the Roku digital video player; TiVo Series3; HD and HD XL DVRs; and the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link. In addition, as of Tuesday, Amazon Video On Demand's entire library of 40,000 titles, plus HD titles, will also be available on Panasonic VIERA CAST-enabled HDTVs.
Hi-def movie rentals are $3.99 to $4.99, and TV episodes are $2.99 each. Customers can also purchase and watch HD TV shows online on MACs or PCs, through compatible devices, or download them to their PCs for offline viewing for $2.99.
"Our customers have been asking us for two things: HD and the ability to watch movies and TV shows instantly on their television," said Bill Carr, Amazon vice president of music and video.
Amazon HD TV titles include shows from CBS, ABC, FX, the Discovery Channel, TLC, the CW, FOX, Showtime, Comedy Central, the Travel Channel, Nickelodeon and USA Network. That means that kids can watch shows such as "Gossip Girl," "One Tree Hill" and "Smallville," while the grown-ups can catch up on episodes of "Dexter," "The L Word," "Californication," the "CSI" and "Law & Order" franchises and "Saturday Night Live."
Conspicuously absent are any offerings from HBO. In addition to already run movies, Amazon.com is also offering a pre-theatrical release of "Mutant Chronicles."