iptv

With Blockbuster filing for bankruptcy protection next week, we lose an institution, a part of our culture for so many years, and lead the way to a possible monopoly of Netflix and or Hulu with their online streaming strategies.  Redbox’s surge to acceptance can not be ignored as well.

From Digital Media Wire:

Los Angeles - Video rental giant Blockbuster(NYSE: BBI) told the six major movie studios that it is preparing to file for bankruptcy next month, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources. The company is strapped with nearly $1 billion in debt and unwanted leases on more than 500 of its underperforming rental store locations, and has lost a total of $1.1 billion since the outset of 2008.

Blockbuster is likely to enter a “pre-planned bankruptcy,” wherein many creditors are included in the process before the court weighs in.

The company, which has already shuttered more than 1,300 stores, has faced increasing competition in DVD rentals from Netflix and Redbox, and in the home video market from pay-TV video-on-demand, as well as online services like iTunes.

Apple has apparently been shopping iTunes as a TV service to television network executives according to a report from allthingsdigital.com..

No word on whether any networks have actually signed on to the idea yet, however it appears that the service would be subscription based, cost about $30 per month and put Apple in direct competition with cable and satellite companies.

On the plus side this would be a great boost for the highly under-rated Apple TV platform as a distribution platform for on demand programming, hopefully without the high $$ associated with buying content currently available.

There are certainly times I am on the road, stuck in an airport, or just stranded somewhere, when I could just kick myself for not converting my favorite shows or downloading them from itunes to keep me occupied/entertained on my iphone. With the sheer amount of quality video content out there on the internet, wouldn’t it be nice if someone could stream it directly to my iphone?

Well, joost has just launched an iphone version of its online site, beating Hulu to the mobile phone/iphone punch. Joost does not appear to have the broad content appeal that hulu.com has, however it does offer more than 46,000 videos — including 18,000 music videos — as well as 400 TV series and 1,200 movies and short films.

“Offering Joost on the iPhone and iPod Touch is an important step for Joost as we endeavor to offer users premium entertainment where they want it and when they want it,” Joost CEO Mike Volpi said in a statement.

My initial take at the new joost app was impressive.  The quality of the stream was very good, and the interface was solid for a v1.0 version of any product.  I am sure joost will improve apon the user experience in the future, however, the bar has now been set, and Joost is the king of video streaming on the iphone!