FilmFlex, is an on-demand movie rental services provider, claiming to be largest outside the US. [1]
The service originally launched as a joint venture between Sony Pictures Television and The Walt Disney Company, [2] but it was sold in 2014 to Vubiquity. [3]
Virgin Movies makes up part of Virgin Media's "On Demand" video on demand system. Virgin Movies has been available on Virgin since January 2005 and saw over 11 million films watched on demand in 2009. [4] [5] FilmFlex replaced Front Row which was a near video on demand pay-per-view service which was initially available on analogue cable from 1997, switching to digital when digital cable services launched from late 1999 onwards. On 13 September 2012, the FilmFlex service was rebranded as Virgin Movies on the cable platform. [6]
Virgin Movies provides over 500 movies some of which are available in HD (high definition), which are available at any time for the viewer to watch when they want to. Viewers can search for a movie by title, genre, cast or director. Once a movie has been ordered it can be viewed any time within the next 24 hours before it has to be paid for again. The movie can also be viewed as many times as the viewer likes within the 24 hours for no additional cost. Once viewers are watching a movie they have full control over it by the use of pause, rewind and fast forward functions, much like a DVD.
All genres of movies are available ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to action, adventure, horror, comedy, romance and classic movies.
On 8 February 2013, the two companies signed a multi-year deal, with investment in the development of next-gen functionality on Virgin Movies, including "multi-device playback" through Virgin TV Anywhere. [7]
On 26 April 2010, Virgin Media announced the launch of its first online movies service: Virgin Media Online Movies. [5] All rentals will offer unlimited streamed views for 48 hours so viewers can pause, rewind and watch again, plus the film can be watched wherever the account holder logs on. Virgin Media Online Movies is powered by FilmFlex, the service is delivered over the web using Microsoft Silverlight and will initially present movies in standard definition. [8] A HD version of the service was tested, although as of 2012 [update] has not been made available.
From 30 March 2007 Virgin Media ran a movies promotion called the 'Penny Movies Festival'. The promotion was run over five weeks and each week focused on a different genre. Week one: blockbusters, week two: family favourites, week three: cult classics, week four: comedy, week five: action adventure.
Each week viewers could vote on the Virgin Media website for their favourite movie out of a selection of 15 movies and the winning movie would be available to view on the On Demand service, during the next week for the price of 1p.
The festival returned in 2008.
Channel 4 partnered with FilmFlex to launch an online video on-demand service for Film4. [9] Film4oD, which officially launched on 1 November 2010, had more than 500 films available for 48-hour rental online. It closed in 2015.
In November 2011, HMV Group partnered with FilmFlex to launch the online video on-demand service HMVon-demand. [1] The online service offers content available on a rental basis for consumers to stream or download to view offline, with other models planned including download-to-own and cloud-based locker services. FilmFlex manage all digital rights and security on behalf of HMV and are responsible for the website build and platform operation; content management; billing and customer service as well as on-site promotion. HMV initially promoted the service with a soft launch through its hmv.com store, with the main launch activity beginning in January 2012.
On 30 October 2011, FilmFlex launched the EE Film store together with EE, to coincide with the launch of its 4G service. [10] The service is a combined cinema ticketing, listings, trailers and film download platform, which is also available via computers and features pause and play functionality, allowing viewers to start watching on one device and finish on another.
Telewest was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common 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.
NTL Incorporated, branded as ntl:, was a United States-listed British company founded in 1992, which provided cable television, cable internet and fixed-line cable telephone services. While NTL had its headquarters in New York City, the company's activities focused heavily on the United Kingdom, with operational headquarters in Hook, Hampshire.
Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group. In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on demand content are available through these as well as via Now, EE TV and TalkTalk TV.
Film4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, its high-definition variant is offered only as a pay television service.
Living TV Group was a British television consortium originally called Flextech before becoming a subsidiary of British Sky Broadcasting, with Challenge still broadcasting.
MovieBeam was a video on demand service started by The Walt Disney Company, specifically its subsidiary Buena Vista Datacasting, LLC. Movies were sent wirelessly into the subscriber's home by embedding digital data (datacasting) within local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations' analog TV (NTSC) broadcast to deliver the movies to a set-top box. The data was embedded using dNTSC technology licensed from Dotcast, and distributed to TV stations via National Datacast through the vertical blanking interval, the same method used to provide closed captioning. Up to ten new movies were delivered to the player each week. The player also contained free movie trailers, previews, and other extras.
V+ is a set-top box for Virgin Media's Virgin TV service, which provides personal video recording (PVR) and high definition (HD) functionality to customers who subscribe to the service. Virgin TV have taken a different approach from rival Sky's Sky+ and later Sky+ HD services, by implementing a rental scheme for the V+ Box. When Virgin TV was launched, there was an installation charge and a monthly charge for all customers with a discount for XL customers. On 1 June 2007 pricing was revised, with all customers paying a one-off set-up fee and TV M and L customers paid a monthly charge, while TV XL customers had no extra charges. Various deals to lower the set-up fee have been made available to all customers in order to compete with rival Sky.
ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition. ITV1 HD is available to view in England, Wales, Scottish Borders and the Channel Islands on Freesat via channel 103, Freeview channel 103, Sky channel 103, Virgin Media channel 103 and in Switzerland on SwisscomTV.
EE TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by EE; a brand of British telecommunications company BT Group, and was originally launched as BT Vision in December 2006. As of the end of June 2019, EE TV had 1.9 million customers.
Channel 4 is a video on demand service from Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—required for live viewing and the BBC iPlayer on-demand service—when watching on-demand services. The service launched on 16 November 2006 as 4oD. The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4, Film4 and E4 Extra and shorts, alongside exclusive content such as programming from Adult Swim. However some programmes and movies are not available due to rights issues. The service was originally available without registration, but free registration was later required. The service is available without advertising on payment of a subscription, under the name Channel 4+.
Virgin TV is a digital pay cable television service in the United Kingdom, owned by Liberty Global (50%) and Telefónica (50%) after the merger its UK businesses to form Virgin Media O2. Its origins date from NTL and Telewest, formerly two of the UK's largest cable operators, which merged on 6 March 2006. All NTL:Telewest services were rebranded as Virgin Media in February 2007. Since the acquisition of Smallworld Cable in 2014, Virgin is the sole national cable TV provider in Great Britain. Currently about 51% of UK households have access to Virgin's network, which is independent from BT's Openreach network.
On Demand was the brand name of a range of video on demand services from Sky UK designed to compete with rival companies such as Virgin TV or EE TV as well as internet television services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
There are four major forms of digital television (DTV) broadcast in the United Kingdom: a direct-to-home satellite service from the Astra 28.2°E satellites provided by Sky UK, a cable television service provided by Virgin Media ; a free-to-air satellite service called Freesat; and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition, an IPTV system known as BT TV is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country. 77% of the United Kingdom has access to HDTV via terrestrial digital television. Satellite is the only source of HDTV broadcast available for the remaining 23%.
High-definition television in the United Kingdom is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in late 2005 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 87 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Sky.
Internet television in Australia is the digital distribution of movies and television content via the Internet. In Australia, internet television is provided by a number of generalist, subscription-based streaming service providers, in addition to several niche providers that focus on specific genres. Australia's five major free-to-air television networks also all offer catch up TV of previously broadcast content to watch via their webpages and apps, and a number of ISPs and other companies offer IPTV – the live streaming of television channels sourced from Australia and elsewhere.
Vubiquity, Inc. is a Burbank, California-based provider of content monetization, distribution and processing technology used by entertainment and media companies. The company ensures its client's video content is properly formatted, licensed and tracked when shown on different media outlets, such as streaming services.
Film4oD was a UK based video on demand service for Film4, from Channel Four Television Corporation and FilmFlex. Film4oD officially launched on 1 November 2010, following two years of development by FilmFlex, with more than 500 films available at launch. Film4oD has more new releases available to rent than iTunes, LoveFilm or Blinkbox, with many films available on the same day as DVD release and some on the same day as cinema release.
This is a timeline of cable television in the United Kingdom.
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