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DVD Unlimited was a DVD-by-mail service based in Auckland, New Zealand. It was a wholly owned unit of SKY Network Television. It competed directly with Movieshack and Fatso.
DVD Unlimited was originally based in Nelson, and was created in late 2003 by Don and Sandy Webster, a couple who ran a traditional video store there. Due to health reasons preventing the normal operation of the video store, the couple created an online store modeled after Netflix. DVD Unlimited was subsequently purchased by SKY TV for an undisclosed sum and promptly formed an alliance with both Blockbuster (New Zealand) and the Telecom New Zealand XtraMSN portal.
In June, 2008 the company announced a merger with former competitors Fatso and Movieshack. [1] Screen Enterprises Limited was formed by merging the businesses of DVD Unlimited, Fatso and Movie Shack. According to the 2008 Sky TV annual report, the three firms were all struggling with the business model that has "yet to be accepted in New Zealand". SKY owns 51% of Screen Enterprises Limited and as such all subscribers are consolidated into SKY’s results.
The company completed the switch-over of its services in November 2008, when it switched its members to the new service which now operates under the Fatso name.
TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) developed and marketed by Xperi and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList" searches which allow the user to find and record shows that match their interests by title, actor, director, category, or keyword. TiVo also provides a range of features when the TiVo DVR is connected to a home network, including film and TV show downloads, advanced search, personal photo viewing, music offerings, and online scheduling.
Video on demand (VOD) is a video media distribution system that allows users to access video entertainment without a traditional video entertainment device and without the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the commonest form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
Netflix, Inc. is an American media-services provider and production company headquartered in Los Gatos, California, founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California. The company's primary business is its subscription-based streaming service which offers online streaming of a library of films and television programs, including those produced in-house. As of April 2019, Netflix had over 148 million paid subscriptions worldwide, including 60 million in the United States, and over 154 million subscriptions total including free trials. It is available worldwide except in mainland China, Syria, North Korea, and Crimea. The company also has offices in India, Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea. Netflix is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
Blockbuster LLC was an American-based provider of home movie and video game rental services through a video rental shop, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. Blockbuster expanded internationally throughout the 1990s. At its peak in November 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide, including about 58,500 in the United States and about 25,800 in other countries, and had 9,094 stores in total, with more than 4,500 of these in the US.
Television in New Zealand was introduced in 1960 as a state-run service. The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1989, when the Government allowed competition to the state-owned Television New Zealand (TVNZ). There are currently three forms of broadcast television: a terrestrial (DVB-T) service provided by Freeview; satellite services provided nationwide by both Freeview and Sky; and an internet television service delivered over cable and fibre broadband.
Spark New Zealand Limited, more commonly known Spark, is a New Zealand telecommunications company providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider, and a major ICT provider to NZ businesses. Its name in te reo Māori is Kora Aotearoa, and it was formerly known as Telecom New Zealand until it was rebranded with its current name in 2014. It has operated as a publicly traded company since 1990.
Sky Network Television Limited is a New Zealand pay television satellite TV provider. It is also a wholesale channel provider to New Zealand cable television provider Vodafone. On 1 February 2020, Sky had 925,000 subscribers consisting of 599,000 satellite subscribers and 326,000 streaming subscribers. Despite the similarity of name and services, such as Sky Go and MySky shared with its British equivalent, Sky, there is no longer a connection between the companies.
Video Ezy is an Australian-based rental and retail chain, offering DVD, Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and Video Games and other digital content. The brand consists of fewer than 40 franchised stores within Australia and over 1200 kiosks. At its peak, Video Ezy had over 500 stores and in the 1980s and '90s, the company expanded into Asia.
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the source media continuously. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the content almost immediately. This is known as streaming media.
Prime is a New Zealand free-to-air television network. It airs a varied mix of programming, largely imported from Australia, the UK and the United States, as well as free-to-air rugby union, A-League soccer, and cricket matches.
TCL Corporation is a partially state-owned Chinese multinational electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and small electrical appliances. In 2010 it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer. Since 2015, it remains the third-largest television manufacturer by market share.
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd. is an Australian distribution and rights management company, specialising in feature films, documentaries, television series and anime across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand. Its headquarters are in East Melbourne, Victoria.
Vodafone New Zealand is a telecommunications company operating in New Zealand. It was a subsidiary of the London-listed company Vodafone Plc. On July 31, 2019 the sale of Vodafone New Zealand Limited to a consortium comprising Infratil Limited and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. was settled. Vodafone is New Zealand's largest mobile phone operator, based in Auckland, and was formed in 1998, after Vodafone purchased BellSouth's New Zealand operations. The company employs over 3,000 people and has operations nationwide, with its main offices based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The company is part of New Zealand Telecommunications Forum.
TelstraClear Limited was New Zealand's third-largest telecommunications company before being acquired by Vodafone New Zealand in October 2012.
DVD-by-mail is a business model in which customers rent DVDs and similar discs containing films, television shows, video games and the like, ordering online for delivery to the customer by mail. Generally, all interaction between the renter and the rental company takes place through the company's website, using an e-commerce model. Typically, a customer chooses from a list of titles online and adds titles to a queue. As a customer's requested titles become available, the company sends them out. When the customer is finished with the disc, they mail it back to the company.
Lovefilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany.
Movieshack was an online DVD rental company in New Zealand. Based in Auckland, it was launched on 28 June 2004 and introduced commercial online DVD rentals to New Zealand. The company was founded by brothers James and Nick MacAvoy, who created the customised software systems and website.
Home video is pre-recorded video media that is either sold, rented at a video rental store or streamed for home entertainment. It is a type of home media. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotape, but has carried over into optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray and, since the 2000s, into methods of digital distribution such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and others.
Fatso was a New Zealand online DVD and video game rental service that mailed DVDs, Blu-ray discs and video games to customers around New Zealand.
An online video platform (OVP), provided by a video hosting service, enables users to upload, convert, store and play back video content on the Internet, often via a structured, large-scale system that can generate revenue. Users generally will upload video content via the hosting service's website, mobile or desktop application, or other interface (API). The type of video content uploaded might be anything from shorts to full-length TV shows and movies. The video host stores the video on its server and offers users the ability to enable different types of embed codes or links that allow others to view the video content. The website, mainly used as the video hosting website, is usually called the video sharing website.