While a previously low-profile presence in the online movie streaming market has been moving up the ladder recently, this week has seen a new company enter the frey, with Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. having already confirmed a deal to become content providers for Flickme, a new movie streaming package website that is placing a strong emphasis on social media as a tool to attract customers.
Launched on Tuesday (after being founded in January), Flickme (or Flickme.com) has been created as a potential rival to the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and Vudu, with the basic premise of their service being the same as the market leaders, with the exception of deals that make use of the user’s likely affiliation to websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Flickme users are being promised the chance to log onto their accounts on these online social networks via the movie streamer’s website, and from there interact with their friends list or meet others who have watched the same movies or genres.
This type of move might seem to be only a moderately ‘unique selling point’ (as is the option to buy instead of rent), but the key pulling power for Flickme is thought to be their new ’shareable discount platform’ to give viewers of a select (and eligible) film a chance to tempt their contacts into watching at a cheaper rate.
This system works by giving people buying or renting a title the option of making a recommendation to up to 10 friends on Facebook or Twitter. The friends that then receive the recommendation of the selected film are then able to rent the movie at a cut-back price of $1.49 (compared to a new title fixed-rate of $3.99 and $2.99 for older releases). Titles on Flickme that are ‘shared discount’ eligible is thought to be around 33% of the 1000+ titles currently in the online library of the young website (with big names including the Harry Potter franchise and The Hangover).
Warner Bros. digital distribution president Thomas Gewecke said of his company’s new affiliate: “Fans sharing discounts with friends is a great way to get groups of people watching the same movie around the same time. This opens the door for social interactions that greatly enrich the digital movie watching experience.”
