Best Buy Getting Into the Movie Download Business

Apr 18 2009, 10:00am CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Best Buy may soon embrace digital downloads by launching a movie download service similar to Amazon’s as early as this summer, according to a Variety report.

The electronics retailer is looking to strike a deal with CinemaNow. While details remain sketchy, the report indicates that Best Buy hopes to market and sell Web-ready televisions, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray/DVD players with access to CinemaNow’s 3,000 titles.

Could the electronics retailer be scrambling to catch up in the digital realm as they watch DVD sales drop? They would face stiff competition from similar offerings via Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Blockbuster. Walmart’s attempt in the movie-download space crumbled in 2007 when partner Hewlett Packard pulled out of the deal.

One wrinkle not mentioned in the report is that CinemaNow’s sister site is AllAdultChannel.com, "a leading provider broadband video-on-demand for the adult market," according to the site. Could this be a sly way for Best Buy to get into the lucrative adult film business? Currently, none of the other major download services offer anything considered pornographic.

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.