CinemaNow was an international over-the-top (OTT) provider of video on demand and streaming media. It was available to viewers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1999 and was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. CinemaNow was sold several times and was eventually shut down on August 1, 2017.[1]
| Industry | Video on demand |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Curt Marvis and Bruce Eisen |
| Defunct | August 1, 2017 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California , USA |
Area served | US, Canada and United Kingdom |
| Services | Video content delivery |
Number of employees | 120 |
| Parent | Sonic Solutions (2008–2010) Best Buy (2010–2014) Regent Equity Partners (2014–2016) FilmOn (2016–2017) |
The CinemaNow platform was available on the web, on mobile devices running Android and iOS, on PlayStation and Xbox game consoles, and on CE devices including LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Toshiba.[2][3] Videos from CinemaNow were available for electronic sell-through via Download To Own, in the home video release window, DVD burning, as well as rental time-limited viewing in the pay-per-view window.[4] As of 2016, the company had 55,000 movies and TV episodes in its library.[5]
History
editCinemaNow was founded in 1999 as one of the first video on demand Internet streaming media platforms.
In July 2004, it raised an $11 million Series D round from Menlo Ventures, Cisco Systems and Lions Gate Entertainment.[6]
In July 2006, it raised a $20.3 million Series E round from EchoStar, Cisco Systems, Index Holdings, Menlo Ventures, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Microsoft.[7][8][9]
In November 2008, Sonic Solutions acquired CinemaNow.[10][11]
In January 2009, Sonic and Blockbuster announced a strategic alliance to provide digital content delivery under the Blockbuster brand, essentially merging the digital storefronts of CinemaNow and Blockbuster.[12]
In 2010, Sonic Solutions and Best Buy announced a strategic alliance which resulted in Best Buy's acquiring the CinemaNow brand.[13][14]
Sonic Solutions rebranded the CinemaNow movie technology as RoxioNow, which became a white label movie store business.[15] Sonic Solutions was acquired by Rovi Corporation for $775 million in December 2010[16] and continued to operate the white label movie store business, which was renamed the Rovi Entertainment Store.[17][18]
In July 2013, Rovi announced that the Rovi Entertainment Store had been acquired by Reliance Majestic Holdings LLC, a new media company backed by Proveho Capital, a private equity firm based in Austin, Texas.[19][20] In July 2014, Best Buy sold the CinemaNow business to the private equity firm Regent Equity Partners.
The company changed hands again in January 2016, when Regent Equity Partners sold CinemaNow to the UK-based company FilmOn.[5] Reports surfaced in August 2017 that the site had become inaccessible, and it was later confirmed that CinemaNow had been removed from Ultraviolet's list of providers.[1][21]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Chabot, Jeff (August 8, 2017). "CinemaNow movie website & platform is no more". HD Report. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
- ^ Raby, Mark (May 16, 2012). "CinemaNow app comes to Xbox Live". SlashGear. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (November 3, 2009). "Cinema Now movies-on-demand service to be built into Best Buy's web-connected gadgets". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ^ Lawler, Richard (December 20, 2012). "Best Buy's CinemaNow opens home disc-to-digital program, makes cloud copies of DVDs for a fee". Engadget. Archived from the original on December 24, 2012.
- ^ a b Spangler, Todd (January 27, 2016). "FilmOn Buys CinemaNow Movie, TV Digital Storefront". Variety. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ^ "CinemaNow Raises $11M". SocalTech. July 27, 2004.
- ^ Marshall, Matt (July 12, 2006). "CinemaNow lands $20 million, to keep up with everyone else". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^ "CinemaNow Adds $20 Million". Forbes. July 13, 2006.
- ^ "EchoStar invests in CinemaNow". The Denver Post. Bloomberg News. July 13, 2006.
- ^ Szalai, Georg (November 19, 2008). "CinemaNow is sold to Sonic". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press.
- ^ Ali, Rafat (November 19, 2008). "Online Movie Service Cinemanow Acquired By Sonic Solutions". CBS News.
- ^ Cheng, Jacqui (January 15, 2009). "Blockbuster finally makes big online move with CinemaNow". Ars Technica.
- ^ Fritz, Ben (May 18, 2010). "Best option: Best Buy acquires CinemaNow name for its digital video offering". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015.
- ^ Russell, Terrence (April 17, 2009). "Best Buy breaking into movie downloads?". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (January 4, 2010). "Sonic Solutions to launch richer version of CinemaNow movie service". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^ "Rovi to Buy Sonic Solutions for $775 Million to Add Streaming to Listings". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. December 23, 2010. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (September 25, 2013). "Target Opens Digital Video Store, Designed to Shield Kids from R-Rated Content". Variety. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ^ "Rovi Announces Intent to Pursue Sale of Rovi Entertainment Store Business and Narrows Estimates Range for Fiscal 2012" (Press release). Rovi via Globe Newswire. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ^ "Rovi Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2013 Financial Performance Announces Agreements to Sell Rovi Entertainment Store and Consumer Website Businesses" (Press release). Rovi via MarketWatch. July 31, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ^ Pringle, Sarah (November 6, 2013). "DivX likely to draw interest from strategics". The Deal. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015.
- ^ Bouma, Luke (September 7, 2017). "CinemaNow Suddenly Shuts Down Leaving Users Unable to Access Their Movies". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
External links
edit- CinemaNow.com (archived on June 3, 2017)
- Market Wire (August 18, 2008). "'CinemaNow Selects Widevine to Enable Multiplatform Content Distribution to Consumer Electronics Devices and PCs', and 'Widevine's Open DRM and Digital Copy Protection Solution Enables CinemaNow Users to Download Digital Content Regardless of Computing Platform or Browser'". DigitalTVnews. Seattle, Washington.
- "Best Buy press release announcing the re-launch of CinemaNow (Best Buy is now the owner of Cinema Now)". BBY.com. May 18, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2010-08-15.