The Change Mariner

SBC calls action for Movielink rentals over broadband

ZDNet:

SBC Internet Services is promoting an online video-on-demand service from Movielink, in the hope of luring new customers to its broadband access with film rentals.

The high-speed Internet access provider, a unit of SBC Communications, has teamed with Movielink to create a co-branded Web site of video downloads for subscribers to SBC Yahoo DSL, the companies said Monday. New members will receive $10 in movie rentals from the service, which is powered by Movielink. The online video company, a joint venture of five major Hollywood film studios, lets people rent, download and watch movies on a PC for roughly $4 a title.

The partnership is a trial, and terms were not disclosed.

"By working with Movielink, SBC Yahoo DSL members receive a more robust choice in true broadband content," Tyler Wallis, executive director of SBC Consumer Marketing, said in a statement.

For Movielink, the deal promises greater exposure among its target market: broadband subscribers. The company has long faced difficulties in winning moviegoers over to rent films online. But as increasing numbers of people sign up for high-speed Net service, it has more opportunities to sell its movie downloads, which are less likely to result in a shaky picture on a PC, or on a TV set fed by a PC, if a broadband connection is used.