Users want to see more content on Boxee. Content owners want to be paid for what they produce (whether that’s TV Shows, movies, music, or applications). We don’t believe these are conflicting interests.
This is why we plan to release a Payment Platform this summer where users will be able to make purchases with one click on the remote. The content partners we launch with will offer shows, movies and channels that were previously not available to Boxee users. The content owners will be able to package and price as they wish, including pay-per-view and subscription. Content partners will have the flexibility to decide what they make available, whether it’s premium content, content from their existing library, or extras that will never make it “on air”.
As content owners benefit, so will Boxee. While details are still to-be-determined, Boxee will charge a small fee (i.e. lower than the 30% charged by many app stores) for transactions which we enable. This beginning to the Boxee business model ties our success as a business to the success of our partners.
This is a direct result of the generational shift towards over the top video during the past few years. Recent college grads will tell you the Internet is vital to them in a way PayTV could never be. Their social, professional, and family lives are reinforced by (and sometimes wholly self-contained within) the social networks, blogs, and interaction the Internet provides. This generation has turned to the Internet for their entertainment needs as well.
The move towards the Internet as a main source of entertainment does not mean everything will be free however. The iTunes store has already shown us that people are willing to pay for content when it’s affordable and easy to access. Our goal is to equip the content providers that we’ve spoken with over the past year, both big and small, with a way to monetize their content above and beyond the advertising-only model.
It’s our belief that the Internet is ready to become the 4th method of distribution for broadcast & premium content after Cable, Satellite, and IPTV (FiOS, u-Verse, etc.). In the case of Satellite and IPTV, it took an act of congress to open up these delivery methods. This time it’s people who are demanding this change.
The Internet represents a great opportunity for the major media companies and for the independent content producers to create more engaging and immersive experiences around their content and for them to be paid for more eyeballs on yet another screen. The connected living room represents a new medium, one in which great value could be generated. There are also many business models that will thrive including Ad-supported, pay-per-view, subscription and authentication (e.g. TV Everywhere).
We hope we can play a key role in enabling these content owners to showcase and monetize their offerings while creating the best experience possible for users.
If you are a content owner and interested to be one of our first launch partners please email content@boxee.tv to start a conversation.
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This is a huge step forward for you guys. Great stuff. I'd really love to see some store tie-ins like Amazon's mp3 and video on demand stores.
yes, would be great to have Amazon VOD and MP3 stores available on Boxee. though I am already buying too much music on Amazon as it is. it would be bad news from my credit card,
Actually, I don't think it would be that bad for your credit card. We long ago disconnected from regular bulk-pay cable or satellite and moved all that money into a pot we use in pay-for-play video content whether it's iTunes rentals, purchases, Netflix (Zip.ca in Canada) or others.
Allowing content providers to engage in micro transactions with viewers is the way of the future. It also means we might be able to get around all the annoying "content not available in your area" IP blocks due to restrictive licensing of content that is almost exclusively ad-supported.
Boxee is leading the way… and this pay-for-play style of system works even more efficiently with all the social networking aspects of the Boxee user experience – since shows and content are promoted by the very action of watching/consuming them.
Go Boxee. Go.
i am currently paying for a video subscription (Netflix) and buying music a-la-carte from Amazon MP3. i am sure people will have different preferences and combinations that works best for them. hopefully the Payments Platform will mean much more choice and options for Boxee users.
BOO, BOO!!
Ok ,I hate to say it, but even at 30% cheaper than the other ridiculously overpriced sites, tv shows are still overpriced! At $3 an episode for say a 20 episode season would run you $60. I could buy the dvd set when it comes out for cheaper AND at a higher quality. In some case I could buy the blu-ray set for under that price!
Why do people still think it is a value to buy a tv show for that much money per episode? I really wished you would have brought out a subscription based plane to get everything for a certain cost per month or per year. You would also have to make it cost effective enough to make people jump ship from cable and satellite service, which would be a tall order.
Once you let it up to the content providers and don't put your foot down and tell them how you will do it, they win, people lose, and the prices stay at the ridiculous levels they are now.
I am really looking forward to the Boxee box from D-Link, but unless pricing comes WAY down or a yearly/monthly service is offered for EVERYTHING, I wont be buying any extras.
Mike
and seriously, how much does it cost to transmit a tv episode through the internet? Would be interesting to see some numbers. No packaging, no artwork, no distribution channels to speak of, no shipping, no handling, yet they are MORE expensive than the dvd sets that include all of that stuff – when will people wake up?
the idea behind the Payments Platform is to enable content owners and aggregators to package and price their content on their own. a media company can decide to charge per episode, sell a whole season, sell a subscription to a channel or to a bundle of channels.
pricing, packaging, windowing, quality, ad-load wil all be important factors on whether these offerings will succeed or not. i assume there will be a lot of experimentation before the right combo will be found.
the cost of streaming an episode online is becoming a non-factor. to stream an episode in 720P costs less than $0.05. and the prices will continue to decline.
the major costs have to do with the production of the content (talent, set, staff, etc.) and the marketing of the show/movie. while you can produce great video content with a little budget the premium shows are still very expensive to produce and if we as users want to continue to watch these type of shows there will need to be a combination a pay and ad model.
Where did you get the 30% number from?
The number in the post was about the fee an appstore/platform keeps from the purchase price of the item for providing the service.
I agree that this is nothing less than a SELL-OUT!!! Involving corporate interests is not in my interest. The internet is the last american frontier and be careful where you tread, you could lose your footing. Keep it free and let us decide who we involve; otherwise, it will become nothing more than cable.
…you do realize that you get the internet from a corporation, it's transmitted to you via corporate infrastructure, it's hosted on servers owned by corporations, and the hardware and software used to create the content is 80% made by corporations.
I understand you enjoy the grass roots aspect that the internet fosters, I do too, but don't pretend that a group of hippies could have put the internet in place.
Boxee will remain a free product and I assume that there will be a lot for free, ad-supported content. The Payments Platform will enable content owners and developers who want to charge for their creations to do so. It is up to you to decide whether you're willing to pay or not.
if you're that worried about it then use XBMC or some other app. there are plenty of other places you can take your un-backed political outrage.
as long as current services on boxee stay free or get way better for a small and reasonable fee this is a good thing.
Stop thinking that you're somehow entitled to free content which studios pay millions of dollars to produce. You want to watch an episode of TV today VS a year from now on dvd then you will have to pay a premium for that.
May I suggest some reading?
http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/…
Sounds cool. It should be interesting to see what will appear once this is in place, from creators who have been waiting for some form of compensation.
Nothing from Rupert Murdoch, though… he's likely to charge users $10+ just to have an app appear in the library
it would be great if it could become a venue for independent content owners to monetize their content. it is badly needed.
It's not only badly needed. It will change the face of media production and consumption.
I say this as someone who works nearly full time in media production (a small production company). The focus on content has long been replaced by the focus on filler between advertisements. While this isn't true in all cases, the quality of "new" corporate-sponsored entertainment, on the whole, is abysmal; at the same time, folks (of whom I am openly envious) with vision and talent can make creative, inspiring, engrossing and addictive content out of their homes/basements/bedrooms/communities with little to no experience, backing, or equipment.
It will refocus and refine/redefine the place of media in our lives.
There will, as with systems that are wholly or mostly democratic, be a lot of crap to wade through. But the opportunity to find and support really spectacular productions outweighs those concerns.
As for cost, well, the market will decide that in the long term. It's only just begun.
I agree that there is a big change (for the better) coming. the lower cost of production, the new methods for distribution, potential new business models, more distributed discovery experience should all contribute to a great opportunity for independent content producers and quality content.
Avner, this is great. I'd particularly like to see a way to view short films in good quality, with a decent chunk of the money going to the studio to support their creativity. The short film genre is badly neglected with the current Netflix type offerings…
You guys built an application used exclusively by people who pirate video online and now you expect everyone to pony up for some cheesy apps? C'mon.
actually the most common use of Boxee is streaming videos and music from services like Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, MLB, Revision3, Digg, etc.
we believe the best way for content owners to fight piracy is to offer their content online in an easy-to-use, compelling and affordable way. when TV networks started streaming their shows online the piracy of their shows started declining in a big way.
I would love to stop torrenting. Believe me, it's a pain to download from a site to my pc (I use 2 sites that I donate $10 a month to each) and then ssh to my apple tv (which is hacked with atvflash, another $50 for that as well as 279 for the apple tv). The video quality is very good, not hd, I'm at the mercy of the quality cables the uploader used, et cetera.
I live in the US and watch a lot of UK/Australia/New Zealand programming. If I could pay $20 a month for BBC/ITV and the OZTV and Kiwi TV I would in a second.
I don't torrent movies or music, I pay for that.
I only torrent tv I can't get in the US.
I think it would be short sighted of content providers in Australia (for example) to not let an American pay 5-10$ a month for access. Think of the Italian expat living in Brooklyn that would pay to watch programming from back home. I love the whole Boxee concept, but if it ends up being an American mostly thing, I dunno how far it will go.
we plan to address the International market later on. it is a matter of focus and resources. the challenge is to work with the local content owners in every country. I do hope that the US content owners will find a way to make their services available outside the US. it will likely take a while.
Wow… have you actually downloaded and tried the software? I use it, and there isn't any pirated video here. In fact, most of what I use it for is free ad-supported video or audio podcasts. I'm likely not in the minority, either.
Exclusively? Um… no.
Will it be possible to charge for apps? Could I charge for Dropboxee?
yes. you'll be able to charge for an App or for a feature within an App. there will be a simple API that will enable developers to integrate payments as part of their applications.
@Mike
@Wells
No company can move forward with a good business model that is dependent on pirating. The option for users to pirate material will always be available so long as users choose it, but adding pay-per content as an alternative to illegal methods of adding material to Boxee is a way to develop strong business relationships with content producers that will help legitimize Boxee in the long run. What started as an underground movement has made it's way to the Consumer Electronics Show, and for the average consumer torrenting content is not an option. Adding this option brings in more revenue, and for users who pirate content, that means more money for Boxee to invest in the company. It's a win win for everyone, even those who choose not to utilize this feature.
Uh, Mike, just so you know: the (lower than) 30% mentioned in this blog post is the fee Boxee will be charging content providers on transactions.
As I read it final pricing is left up to the content providers, including the option to allow subscription based packages, as mentioned in the second paragraph.
Whether or not content owners will actually be wise enough to provide subscriptions at competitive pricing remains to be seen however. And I'll be cautious on that together with you, considering the track record so far of online content distributors.
content owners will experiment with pricing and value proposition. the beginnings may be rocky, but I am sure they will find the right offerings that will be appealing for consumers.
if there were a way to get live sports (and I'd pay per view) on the Boxee Box, I would buy 10 of them, one to watch and nine just to support Boxee. Seriously.
thanks!
we are talking with several sport leagues. hopefully they will make their content available on Boxee.
I hope the National Hockey League is one of the leagues you are speaking with. I'd buy Boxee for that alone.
Well then I have good news…. Youtube is now streaming live sports! Yup thats right… All the Indian Premier League cricket you could want. That is what you meant by "Live Sports" right? http://tinyurl.com/yzn5uzv
LOL! I was thinking the same thing. Unless consumers are SPECIFIC about what they want to watch, the answers they get won't be what they were expecting.
if anyone here is expecting that NCAA, MLB, NFL and the like are going to be available, truly "live" on the boxee, you're fooling yourselves.
Hold Boxee to higher standards, at least you'll get something rather than nothing.
What do you mean? There exist, right now, a MLB app.
I completely agree though. NBA Broadband League Pass please.
MLB is already available. we would love to see NFL, NBA, NHL and the others come on board, too.
don't forget MLS!
Boxee has managed to turn the set-top box and internet-enabled TV media on its head but the real sticking point for any media service internationally is copyright as I see it.
As a Boxee user from the U.K., I get to stare at one, yes one, tv show (South Park) which when I select it doesn't even work.
So micropayments ARE a step in the right direction. Certainly iTunes' expectation that people want to pay more than buying a DVD in store will cost them seems to be counter-intuitive. People do want to watch things legally when its made very easy and won't damage their pockets too much.
However, if the content isn't available in the first place it's hard to get excited about this.
From this side of the pond we've already seen Pandora's doors shut on us but companies like Spotify that have targetted more markets than just North America surely are setting their sights more firmly on global expansion not just in their own back-yard?
It's not Boxee's fault. Boxee makes finding media locally and on the internet so much easier (and prettier as well!). It's the copyright holders that need to pull their heads out of their collective a$$es and find ways of treating the world as a whole like the internet does.
in the UK you can access the BBC iPlayer and some BBC live streams, but we really need to work with Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV, Sky, Lovefilm and more in order to create a compelling offering.
I hope we'll be able to get some of it done in 2010.
Avner-
I've been watching you guys since just before Fred announced that he was funding you and have been so impressed with your ability as an entrepreneur to adjust to the market, change direction, and go full throttle towards a new approach. Well done sir.
You guys are kicking ass!
-@ryangraves
thanks. we are fortunate to have Fred, Bijan and Neil on our board. makes a big difference.
Does this, by inference, mean that Boxee will begin handling DRM for purchased content? If not, I guess this will be a bit of a hurdle for some (backwards) content owners.
Along those lines, perhaps the ability to handle paid content securely will be enough to turn a head or five at Netflix, and get them to partner with Boxee as they already do with Roku, Sony, M$, etc. to have the content streamed directly instead of the viewer having to jump through hoops.
Boxee already supports DRM in streaming services (e.g. Netflix, MLB and others), so it's not really an issue.
what about things like tv shows you purchased in itunes?
Get UFC Live PPV broadcasts in on this (along with other live sports), and I can FINALLY say goodbye to my cable box.
Question: Would this be a replacement to the current site-scraper model of viewing content? Will content available freely on CBS (for example) still be available for free on Boxee, or would their (theoretical) pay-content delivery system supersede the free content?
Also, would this open up better options for Hulu and Netflix (at least on Linux)?
i believe that most content that is available in an ad-based model today will remain available. content owners may change the ad load, the quality and the windowing. i think they will likely create a freemium model for much of their content.
i agree with you that it opens the door for more live sports to find its way to Boxee. we'll make sure we're reaching out to all the major sport leagues (UFC included
)
as long as things don't change with what is there I'll be happy. Offering more for more money is acceptable, but offering the same thing that is free now for money is unacceptable.
Love ya, boxee
That will certainly be the ideal, yes.
the goal is not to push stuff exclusively behind a paywall, but rather enable more content to be available online and on Boxee.
content owners will be the ones deciding what they are putting out for free, what will be ad-supported and what will be behind a paywall. whatever their decision is we would like to them to offer that content on Boxee
I think this could be really nice, but as Jonathan says, the copyright holders need to deliver their content to everyone. I'm currently living in Taiwan, and I wan't to pay for reasonably priced, easy to access movies and TV shows, but as it is now with the iTunes store and other outlets its impossible or at least very difficult. Way more difficult than pirating.
we plan to enable payments from outside the US, but that is not the only issue. there are international right holders and in many cases the content owner will need to sort out an arrangement with their existing local distributor before they'll be able to put it online.
Sounds like a fantastic idea! Submitted this to Slashdot to hopefully keep the interest in Boxee growing.
I think it is a good idea to some extent. The key being “AFFORDABLE” and “REASONABLE” pricing. What I would really like to see and would pay for it’s a one $40 or $50 subscription model to everyone with unlimited access to all the content available. Then you can see what people are watching more and those content providers could get a bigger piece of the pie. But I don’t like the idea of paying individually for every bit of content. That would not be reasonable in my view. But I think we could start with this first in order to get there once BOXEE becomes the platform of choice.
i think a bundle of channels, movies, etc. for one monthly payment makes a lot of sense for the consumer. not sure how much it will cost, and whether it will work for everyone.
Thanks for your response Avner. I think that if you can get access to everything (and when I said everything in a perfect world would be every movie ever made, ever music record ever released, etc) for a reasonable monthly fee it would be a hit. As I said before I think that the distribution of the money could be done internally. Obviously if people are watching more the latest release from Sony Pictures then Sony would get the biggest piece of money out of the global subscription model. If an independent movie doesn’t get that many views then they get less. But the consumer will have one monthly fee to worry about. The media conglomerates I know will hate this idea at first, because obviously they want to make us pay for everything several times. For example if I own a movie on DVD and want to watch in on BOXEE streaming they would want me to pay for that again. And if the movie it's on cable I have to pay for that too. I think that will be the biggest obstacle. But again by showing them that this could be a viable platform we could get there, I hope. Are you going to have the BOXEE Box available at Best Buy?
I think I saw some analysis in the past about the merits of such a plan (need to find it. it ran a model that showed it will be a net positive for the media companies. it was in the context of music not video though).
We may get there eventually, but I don't know what the pricing around it is going to be.
Re the Boxee Box by D-Link it is supposed to be available this summer online and in major retail stores (BestBuy included)
Great Avner, and good luck in LA. I hope you can get this people (Greedy media companies) on board.
Someone else mentioned UFC and live sporting events. I'm curious, what is the likelyhood of getting PayPerView events? The way I see it sporting events could be charged in just the same manner. $40, $50 or whatever they are charging now for users to get an event online instead of through their cable provider. I'm sure, though that the toughest part of something like this is contracts. Seems like content distributors like HBO, Showtime, UFC, etc have some sort of contract that isn't just going to get thrown out the window. As someone who has no interest in purchasing cable or satellite this would be my answer to being able to view the content I really want to see without the hassle of paying for a service but rather paying for the content I actually want to watch. That's the biggest plus to me. When I want to watch a TV show I want to watch it when I have time. Hence the creation of DVR. My life will not revolve around when a freakin sitcom is aired
Thanks for Boxee, Avner. It's an amazing product and I believe it already is and will continue to be a game changer
thanks.
some of those events are locked up in exclusive deals with no distribution online, and in that case they will not likely appear on Boxee, but the UFC and others are already streaming some of their events online, so there is no reason why it could not be part of Boxee.
I believe that once the Payments platform will be out we will see many experiments with pay-per-view and subscription services on Boxee
If sports are available that would be really nice. I know currently I do not have cable and dont live in the same city as my favorite NBA team so I have to go to a bar just to watch. Which is expensive…I drink a lot.
Will the payment plan be introduced before the Boxee Box goes on sale? That could be a big factor in whether or not I buy it. The point of switching to Boxee is that I dont like the crazy prices for cable. If the Boxee subscription starts to be close to that then what will be the point? Other than on demand but DVR is pretty common right now.
the content owners will determine the pricing, so it will be up to them to find the price points and value propositions that would be enticing for consumers.
i assume it will take some time till the equilibrium is found
I must agree with Mike on this one.
Bandwith costs are so low that there is no technical reason for charging so much for a TV show episode.
They really want to stop piracy, then make the content available for a decent price!
==> Real Life Example
Lost Season 5 (17 episodes) => 20$ at Amazon, that's 1.18$/episode
Lost Season 5 Blu-Ray (17 episodes) => 37$ at Amazon, that's 2.18$/episode
They want me to buy it online with Boxee (or another service provider)? Make each SD episode at 99¢ (or less for the whole season) and around 1.29$ in HD, then I will seriously consider it!
I rest my case.
the main driver behind cost of episodes is not the delivery, but rather the production and marketing. if users will not buy at current pricing levels then they'll need to adjust like in any other type of open market.
As long as it remains content and not features, ill be game.
content, apps, games. not features.
This opens up a lot of good things. But also a few concerns for me. It puts a LOT of control in the content providers hands, doesnt it? Giving them free reign to charge what they want for their content. Sounds like it could get expensive quick. That puts me right back where I started when I was paying 100$ a month for premium cable channels…. which was the reason i ditched cable for boxee in the first place.
HOPEFULLY, the current ad supported providers would be happy to stick with that model, but I dont really trust them to do that when they know that there is more easy money to be made.
also, when I pay for something, its nice to be able to "own" it. Obviously this would depend on the support of the content providers, but would there ever be an option to download items that have been purchased, rather than just stream them? like downloading mp3's purchased from the itunes store for example?
Excellent news!
we believe that overall spend on entertainment by users will not change significantly as users move to consume more on-line and on-demand. it will more likely open the door for more niche content and quality content to be produced, and will enable the user to have more control over his spend.
re owning media. i think it is a matter of pricing not technology. we will support downloadable media (we already do today), but ownership is likely to increasingly move to the cloud as well (e.g. Amazon VOD).
Way to go Avner and Boxee! What I love about you guys is that you continue to be a compelling voice of the consumer, in the melee that has resulted from the collision of old business models and new. I believe that bottom line, people are willing to pay for quality content, and recognize that there is a cost to produce such content, which needs to be borne by consumers and/or advertisers (whose budgets ultimately come from consumer purchase of their goods and services). The beauty of the internet as it relates to media is that it enables personalized distribution of media so that people can access what they want, when and where they want it. This is a wonderful thing for producers and consumers alike! And the beauty of Boxee (well, part of the beauty. . . ) and Payments is that you are simply (well, maybe not simply!!!) enabling the free market for media to evolve, in a way that puts producers in control of what they charge, but beholden to what the market will pay. Go for it.
could not agree with you more. thanks for your support! lots of work ahead of us (both in terms of development as well as evangelism..)
That's all well and good just wish they would put
a bit more time and effort to get it working propely
first at the moment it's the flakiest most frustrating bit of software
I've tried to use
sorry about that. another version with more bug fixes coming out real soon.
Avner seriously you either have no fucking idea what is going on with media companies OR you actually believe Boxee, with incredibly limited reach will affect change at the MSOs and content companies.
Stick to making nice UIs and aggregating content, let the big boys figure out how to change the media business.
The Big Boys are not going to change anything, US, the consumer, has to make pressure, through BOXEE in this case to make this happen. IMHO
@Seriously
such a douchebag comment…
we hope we can make a difference. sometimes being small is an advantage.
I know it's not that easy, but make sure it isn't US or even US + Europe only. Get worldwide coverage. There are tons of money to make 'out there'. I want to pay you and content producers from my couch here in Brazil without the need to VPN and proxy traffic through US.
We get all sort of bizarre restrictions. Fortunately, I am employed by an US company so I lived there for a while and once I work around the network related checks I am good to go on the payment side of things. Works for iTunes.
I second that.
Would be great to have services like that for us outside the US.
we plan to make Payments available internationally. I hope we will be able to attract content owners and developers from across the world.
Selling a box is one thing, but if you're going to be selling premium content as well, then you for-seriously need to take a look at stability. I realize it's a Beta… I realize it's a beta that had a pseudo-closed period after announcement (for stability's sake), ironic for OSS, and I also realize it's a beta that is much less stable than the Alpha that came before it. Don't get me wrong, I love what you're trying to do and really love the software, even with it's crashiness and bugs. That's why I continue to use it. But you've had a very predictable track record: you seem to focus more on "OMGZ dis plugin is teh awesome! New feedz will rawk yer face off!!1" before actually making sure the product works well.
It would be good to know if the BOXEE Box will come out with the BETA release or if it would be actually the first stable release of the software. If the BOXEE Box's rock solid stable it would be great!
monetize is the future. monetize sites = $$$$$$$$$$$$
1.000.000 x 0,04 = 40.000,00!!!
easy, fast, Coming soon
we're going to spend the next few months on stability and performance. you'll see multiple minor versions coming out fixing bugs. we're on it. we realize this is one our biggest short term challenges.
will boxee app developers be able to charge for their applications?
Avner already said yes a few posts ago.
yes. they will. we will reach out to all the developers once we have more details to share.
People have asked about the business model for boxee since day one.
This, along with the boxee box, is a way for them to make money.
If they don't, they won't be around for a long time.
simple as that.
this is the beginning of a business model for Boxee. I really hope it will work, because it is a model that ties our success to our partners success, which is a very healthy symbiosis.
I may be missing the boat here. But my question goes to the idea of getting rid of the internet provider i.e., making the Boxee Box an all in one wi-fi, Wi-Max configured machine. I hate paying for channels via cable that i never watch or care for. Anything like this on the horizon?
we don't see ourselves getting into the Broadband Access business. we're network agnostic. whether it is cable, dsl, fiber, WiMax, etc. we don't care (as long as the bandwidth is sufficient to stream high quality video)
Can you guys predict how this will play out for Live TV? Do you anticipate applications interfacing with live TV programs through Boxee?
It woudl be good to have an application to display live channes through a HD HomeRun for instance. Good idea!
we're still not sure when will offer integration with the existing OTA and cable systems. on-going internal debate…
Oh, you mean iTunes?
it is less like iTunes and more like an App Store model. we don't license the content and then distribute it. we enable the content owners to set the price and take care of the delivery.
Boxee can offer a great value-add by managing refunds themselves, directly within the application. If I pay for a live sports broadcast only to find servers or my ISP are overloaded to the point I can't watch, I don't want to go argue with MLB or the NCAA to get my money back. By making refunds easy, Boxee significantly lowers the risk of trialing premium content, encouraging far more users.
i agree that it is important. the idea is to make re-funds real easy.
About the one and only thing still keeping me clinging to cable is live news and live political shows. Have you contacted any of the big news companies like CNN, NBC, etc. about providing a true live news feed for Boxee? I'd make the jump in a New York second.
d
Quick question. I see where Axonix on their MediaMax mediaservers are re-skinning Boxee. Is that legal?
i have no idea who this company is. will take a look. not really our style to go chasing after these type of things.
Would you mind using by TVCat operator its own billing platform integrated with your Payment Platform ?
we would not mind
Could be great news… IF it will be available somewhere other than the US. I am sick of copyright holders ignoring Canada in their online offerings. Seriously, what the hell! We have to wait years to get the same service? Why? Do you want our money or should we keep pirating everything?
The longer they wait, the more upset consumers up here get, and the more they will turn to illegal options. I can't believe these greedy pigs have taken this long to come out with any kind of legitimate service because they are too busy trying to figure out how to keep gouging money out of people.
I think they realize it is a major issue for them. It pushes users outside of the US towards piracy, which is not good for anyone.
It is a complex rights issue, but I believe content owners will take action to resolve it over the next couple of years.
Boxee has certainly impressed with it's execution of this disruptive technology model. Once the Boxee Box is available, the only remaining hurdles to mass adoption will be live TV and the cost of the hardware. The rest will be taken care of by the market.
Recession + Monthly Savings + Better User Experience = Success
Avner, if you're interested, our equipment leasing company can put together a program that allows consumers to finance their boxee box purchases so that the out-of-pocket expense will remain roughly even for a short period until they pay off the cost. After that, the monthly savings are 100% theirs (for me, that's around $80/mo. on std. cable svc).
Good Luck!
an interesting idea. we can connect you with D-Link to discuss. please reach out to gidonc [at] boxee [d0t] tv to discuss
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. On Demand TV and movies are ridiculously overpriced. It's bad enough that content providers over cable and satellite give us 300 channels of "crap", now we will be piece mealed. It's ironic that the only "channels" that give programming for free are the local channels we are charged for as cable and satellite customers. Then, those same free channels, are tore apart episode by episode and sold to us.
i think that content owners will eventually strike the balance that is appealing for consumers and enables them invest and profit.
Is there going to be exclusive content/channels provided by Boxee?
do you need exclusive content producers? I have an excellent resume of producing live web tv content, mostly music genre shows, but also other types of informative content.
we're not licensing content, so we're not looking for exclusive deals. it is up to the content owners and aggregators to decide to whom they distribute their content. we don't get in the middle of that.
Question about how this would work. With a family, I would like 3 or 4 boxee boxes. Could they use the same subscription logins and watch say a premium hulu show in one room, and my wife a different premium in another room? Would my que be accessable from all the boxes? Would there be multiple logins for each box so me and my wife could have our own ques and friends lists?
I'm not happy until I complicate everything in my life, so I would need to know how this stuff would work.
it will be up to the content owner to decide whether they allow multiple concurrent streams of their shows/movies.
the Queue is stored on our server, so you'll be able to access it from any Boxee device.
there will be multiple logins. you can maintain multiple profiles.
Love it! I'm really hoping to see a Showtime paid channel coming soon!
me too. big fan of Weeds and Dexter.
No sir. I don't like it.
if you don't like it then you will just not use it. it's not going to change the core Boxee experience, it will just enable you to get access to more content.
It was nice to film Boxee Box at CES: http://armdevices.net/2010/01/08/boxee-box-at-ces…
And congratulations with all those people thinking were the best of the show.
I wish you luck in revolutionizing the TV world. It's a big deal though, I think that industry is not only a multi-trillion dollar industry worldwide, they also basically control the minds of people. TV stations are decisive in elections, they make or break politicians and one cannot become famous without TV.
While I am amazed to see all your interfaces work so smoothly on an ARM Powered Tegra2 device, I'd like to see confirmation if you really support everything and all codecs on that platform. If you really will support all the same content sources such as Youtube HD, Hulu, all the podcasts, BitTorrent RSS and more.
Since you are building an open system, perhaps the best way to implement pay-per-view would be to implement an open platform that not only supports Boxee payments but could support any other payment system where Boxee might not even see 1% of the transaction revenues. It'd probably be weird though for you to be that open on the payment opportunity side of things.
i actually agree with you. we don't think we should have a monopoly over Payments in Boxee. if someone else steps in and does a better job, or offering a more affordable Payment mechanism then they should be able to compete.
Boxee will only be successful if it will remain truly open. It will also challenge us to execute better, since at any given moment others can come in and offer a superior experience.
Great news, looking forward to payed content at boxee! Though, some filter for apps with advertisment or which you have to pay for would be nice. So that I can choose to filter them out if I only want to have (ad)free content. Also, in your efforts to play more online content please don't forget to play the home content too ^^ This was a point which was a very important feature in boxee for me. Just love the automatic movie and series detection with cover and plot preview and the "play next" button
Another thing for the content providers: It would be nice if one could choose to watch a specific movie or episode in original language with subtitles or english (if multiple languages are available for it). This shouldn't be much of a problem if content is already streamed.
we will not abandon playback of local content. we realize people have lots of photos, music and videos they would like to access.
it's a good point regarding filtering apps based on pay vs. ad-supported.
supporting multiple languages should not be an issue for content owners.
Well I read some of the replies, not all.
My first reaction to the article was "WTH!!!" The reason ppl like me use boxee is because of the convenience it offers in viewing FREE online content. Right now I can hop from site to site and see my shows one at a time for FREE or manage them all from boxee and view them for FREE. Content providers are already offering it for FREE. Your demographic is a bunch of folks who support opensource alternatives, a bunch of folks who would rather use your product and watch PBS, than subscribe to cable…Its almost like Boxee and Boxee users are not speaking the same language here.
I want so much for Boxee to profit in some way (keep the project growing and brilliant minds sustained through a comfortable salary), however, this is a big turn off. If content providers use Boxee to push their products/content in our faces…and if people PAY these ridiculous prices for content, then they're going to start pulling all the FREE stuff off the web and making us pay for every single thing. I don't want Boxee to be the content provider's next best way to nickel and dime us.
I don't think content owners are going to put all their content behind pay walls, so if you are not interested to pay for any type of content I am sure you will still have a great selection to choose from.
For people who are willing to pay for content it would mean more choices, which is a good thing. Boxee is trying to enable access to ALL sources of content regardless of the business model, so the user will be the one deciding from where and how he is getting his content.
Avner, I sent an email to content@boxee.tv, if you have the time, could you please take a look.
Gidon and Kevin are answering all the emails. You should hear back soon.
In general, it sound like a good step forward for Boxee. It's sound sort of what Apple Tv has been doing. I hope theirs both micro or subscription payment AND access to ad supported like HULU. Anyway to get away from cable and embrace the 4th distribution model. I think it's analogous to HBO (subscription, or micro pay) and "free" or delayed viewing similar to paid or free viewing rental.
If people want live first run content, watch traditional television. Otherwise watching delayed content WITH ADS is also great. They make money either way. What IS the problem with Hulu and traditional content owners. I know, they just love shoving the high prices to cable and satellite distribution. Greed. They hated DVD till they accepted idea that some money is better than no money. "NO! All theaters will close" yeah right.
CNET and Twit.Tv are great examples of online only, modest ad supported quality content. The studios for TV and movies should take their cue.
Lastly, I notice the analog outputs are missing from Dlink Boxee Box. Boooo! This sounds like content copy protection nod to Hollywood. Roku gives all choice guys. C'mon.
Overall I wish Boxee success
Dano
the support for paid transactions and subscription is not intended to replace free content. it is a way for us to enable more content on Boxee. ultimately it will be up to the content owners to decide what they are distributing for free and what they are charging for.
the Boxee Box by D-Link only has HDMI because most LCD TVs sold over the past few years have HDMI. it has nothing to do with content protection.
Trying to reach you Avner I want to sell our films through Boxee. tv
you can send an email to content AT boxee DOT tv. or directly to me.
Great. It just makes Boxee eve better (more options). My reasons for getting the Boxee Box is mainly for the wireless streaming and hardware specs features.
But will it play HULU? BBC?
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