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Online giants race to movies
With Amazon reportedly eyeing digital-movie downloads in addition to its much-rumored music-subscription service and branded MP3 player, iTunes might have a fight on its hands.
While the iPod/iTunes juggernaut all but owns the digital-music space at this point, the race to put a dent in Apple's digital-media lead gets more interesting by the day.
Now it seems that while Apple is inching toward subscriptions with a monthly TV bundle deal and is reportedly eyeing digital-movie downloads, online retailing giant Amazon might be readying a movie play as well.
The New York Times reported today that Amazon is in talks with three Hollywood studios about starting a service that would allow consumers to download movies and TV shows for a fee and burn them onto DVDs. The Times cited sources who had been briefed on the discussions.
The Times reported that Amazon has engaged in talks with Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and Warner Brothers.
The news comes just a few weeks after Amazon's entry into the digital-music space set the industry abuzz with speculation about its potential to make a dent in the 70 to 80 percent market share that Apple has garnered.
Amazon's entry into the movie-download business would heighten that speculation. The retailer owns the Internet Movie Database, the most-visited movie Web site with 15.1 million unique visitors last month, according to comScore Media Metrix.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is using its power as a major seller of DVD movies to forge its ties to the major Hollywood studios. The studios are considering letting Amazon have the movies in its digital service at the same time that they are released on DVD.
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