Best Buy Video On Demand Service Launches This Month

May 18 2010, 4:33pm CDT | by Jordan Cressman

Going where other big-box retailers have tried and failed, Best Buy will launch its own on-demand video streaming service later this month, thanks to its recent acquisition of CinemaNow.com.
According to newswire reports, Best Buy will not immediately rebrand CinemaNow.com to look more like a Best Buy product/service. Instead, it will keep the site looking pretty similar to how it did before the takeover, and it will market the online service in its stores and online.

The #1 electronics retailer will sell portable video players designed to play content from CinemaNow.com.

Best Buy already has Napster in its digital content pocket, and it offers video game downloads directly from BestBuy.com, so investing in a digital video service makes sense.

Wal-Mart opened its own digital video store a few years ago but quickly folded it up after there were problems with the technology company it was using to power the service. The huge chain then, years later, purchased video streaming Web site Vudu and kept its existing infrastructure in place.

However, it will be a struggle for any company to compete with any strength against Netflix, the undisputed leader in video-on-demand streaming, especially now that it offers its service on the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360.

With Best Buy at the helm, CinemaNow.com is likely to gain a much stronger presence in the World Wide Web, but it will take a lot to move any market share away from Netflix.

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