January 4, 2011, 11:59 AM ET Netflix Button Coming to Remote Controls
By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/01/04/netflix-button-coming-to-remote-controls/?mod=rss_WSJBlog&mod= As televisions go the way of smartphones and get loaded up with apps, Netflix Inc. is staking its claim on an important place — the remote control. The movie-rental company has struck deals with makers of TVs and DVD players to put a one-click “Netflix” button on remotes starting this spring, Netflix said Tuesday. Such a button would make it easier for people to go straight to their Netflix account, rather than clicking through other menus, which take time and could potentially distract the viewer. “We’ve always regarded ubiquity on devices as our strategy, and we want to be present there as simply and visibly as possible,” said Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey in an interview with Digits. Netflix declined to disclose details of the deals but said Sony Corp., Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp. would include the button on remotes for new Internet-connected TVs. Those companies, plus Panasonic Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and others will put the button on remotes for Blu-ray disc players that also can stream movies from Netflix. And the button will be on remotes for boxes like the one made by Roku Inc. Each remote will be different, depending on the manufacturer’s decisions, Mr. Swasey said. Some will include the red Netflix logo, while others might just have a black button. Netflix released a picture showing a giant red button that says “Netflix,” but Mr. Swasey said that is simply the picture that will go on the boxes at retail to indicate the remote has the one-button feature. “I don’t think any of the remotes are going to have a button that big,” he said, adding that prototypes of the remotes exist but haven’t yet been finalized. Some device makers could show the remotes at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, he said. Getting a prominent place on the remote could be important for Netflix as more applications come to Internet-connected televisions and compete for users’ attention. TV makers are betting that apps like those on smartphones and tablet computers will be a hit among viewers, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Netflix is aiming to get ahead of the curve, securing its position as the go-to program for streaming movies as Internet TV menus grow more cluttered and competitors like Amazon, Apple and cable companies offer more downloadable or streaming movies. And device makers have an incentive to make must-have applications easy to find. A deal for space on a TV remote control could be the 2011 version of deals that placed default software on PCs. -- ======================================== George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
