HMV haslaunched its on-demand film service, hmvon-demand, as the embattled high street retailer looks to rival Apple, Amazon and LoveFilm in the online video market.
The service has been launched in parnership with FilmFlex Movies, the biggest provider of VOD movie rental services outside of the US and is backed by Sony Pictures Television and The Walt Disney Company EMEA .
The service offers of hundreds of the latest films through deals with over 30 distributors and suppliers including Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Entertainment One and Momentum Pictures. More content providers are set to follow.
Current new release titles available through the hmvon-demand site include Cars 2, Zookeeper, Rio, X-Men: First Class and Bad Teacher.
The service is currently in its beta stages and available only through the web via a PC (although films can be rented for offline viewing).
Development is underway, however, to bring the service to multiple devices.
The main launch activity is scheduled to begin from January 2012, when HMV will look to leverage the power of its brand across all its channels – in-store, online and digital, to more fully integrate the new on-demand offer into its wider marketing communications.
FilmFlex will manage all digital rights and security on behalf of HMV as well as being responsible for the website build and platform operation including content management, billing and customer service.
“Our deal with HMV illustrates perfectly the benefit of combining their well-known brand and high traffic volumes with our own expertise in technology and content,” said chief executive officer at FilmFlex Jeff Henry.
“This partnership is another indication why FilmFlex is the best movies-on-demand white-label service for any major media, retail or publishing brand in the UK who wants to monetize their traffic.”
“Our future potential to offer other content, as well as movies, means we are uniquely positioned to offer new and existing clients the best VOD service in the marketplace,” said HMV marketing & e-commerce director Mark Hodgkinson.
“We’re excited to be working with FilmFlex to launch hmvon-demand and offer our loyal and significant customer base a best-in-class movies-on-demand service.
“As an entertainment brand built on specialist choice our remit has always been to enable people to discover and enjoy content however and whenever they want. With a growing number of consumers now incorporating video-on-demand into their viewing and purchasing habits, the time is right to include a digital service into our own offer,” he continued.
“Partnering with FilmFlex will allow us to extend our brand into new areas and deepen the relationship with our customers.”
www.hmvondemand.com