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| * (Website devoted to LOVEFiLM news and customers reviews) | * (Website devoted to LOVEFiLM news and customers reviews) | ||
| * (this independent site offers a largely positive review of LOVEFiLM, but includes some valid criticisms and an interesting article on alternative DVD rental services) | * (this independent site offers a largely positive review of LOVEFiLM, but includes some valid criticisms and an interesting article on alternative DVD rental services) | ||
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LoveFilm (official typeset LOVEFiLM) is a British DVD rental company which provides online DVD rentals, console game rental and film downloads in the UK, Germany and Scandinavia. It operates the LOVEFiLM website, as well as providing the actual website and delivery infrastructure for an array of branded services in partnership with other British companies. LOVEFiLM has grown through ten mergers and acquisitions of other online DVD rental companies, such as ScreenSelect and Webflix.
History
LOVEFiLM beagn as DVDsOnTap, which was renamed LOVEFiLM after being taken over by Arts Alliance, a family-owned private equity firm, in late 2003. The business claimed to reach 50,000 subscribers in December 2004, and 100,000 in March 2005, a month in which it shipped almost 700,000 rentals. The step-change for the business was merging with the larger ScreenSelect (which had over 200,000 members) in April 2006. The company then adopted the LOVEFiLM name in all its key markets. The latest claims are over 600,000 members, over 65,000 titles, and over 2 million rentals per month. LOVEFiLM faces competition in the UK from traditional high street rental, the online operations of Blockbuster and many smaller operators such as MyMovieStream, as well as from the broader home entertainment and movie market, including DVD retailers, and the likes of Sky Movies and the emerging BT Vision.
The company has been a pioneer in the area of legal movie download services, offering feature films, shorts and TV series in a range of legal download formats. It was the first company worldwide to offer a major blockbuster film for legal download to own when it released King Kong for download on the day of DVD release in April 2006. The company claims its UK service offers more downloadable films than any of its competitors including BT Vision, Sky Movies, and Apple.
On February 4, 2008, LOVEFiLM announced that it will be acquiring Amazon's DVD rental business in the UK and German markets. If finalized, Amazon will become the largest shareholder of LOVEFiLM.
LOVEFiLM is backed by Arts Alliance Media, Benchmark Capital, Esprit Capital Partners and Index Ventures.
Pricing plans and associated rental services
LOVEFiLM's own service provides "Unlimited" (£9.95-£15.99) pricing plans, ranging from 1-3 DVDs out at a time (a 4-disc plan at £19.95 has been offered in the past). There are also "Combination" plans which allow the rental of both DVDs and video game discs at higher prices. In 2007, LOVEFiLM has launched lower priced capped packages for 2 or 4 discs a month from £3.99 as well as Pay as you go options.
Each of the "powered by" services will typically have plans similar to LOVEFiLM's (although some may only have a subset), and may have varying prices, different length free trials, etc. It is not known whether customers of the various companies are treated differently when it comes to choosing titles to be sent. Customers are limited to a single free trial among the array of related LOVEFiLM-powered companies.
LOVEFiLM-associated rental companies
The following is a list of current white label services operated by LOVEFiLM in the UK/Scandinavia .
- CD-WOW! - an online retailer. Offers Unlimited-3
- Sofa Cinema - the Guardian newspaper sponsors this one, offering Unlimited-3 and Light-2.
- WHSmith Movies Direct - from the WH Smith bookstore chain. Offers Unlimited-3 (£13.99) and Limited-1.
- Tesco DVD Rental - Service for the Tesco supermarket chain website, offering 1-3 unlimited DVD rental plans.
- EasyCinema.com - Service in conjunction with the Easy Group.
- Odeon Direct - Service in conjunction with the Odeon cinema chain.
- BraFilm.no - Service for Norway, acquired by Video Island.
These are in addition to current and previous partnerships with the Evening Standard, Dixons, Virgin and Woolworths in the UK, TV4, Coop, Telia and Astoria in the Nordics and an exclusive partnership with Deutsche Post in Germany .
Former LOVEFiLM/Video Island-associated rental companies
- Sainsbury's DVD Rental - The Sainsbury's supermarket chain. Offered Unlimited 1-4 plans at lower prices than the regular LOVEFiLM levels. This was closed by Sainsbury's following a 'strategic review'.
- MSN DVD Rental - Service operated through Microsoft's MSN channel.
- ITV Movie Club - Service operated through the ITV website.
- mymovies - in association with the mymovies.net portal site.
- FilmFour DVD - Film Four is a free-to-view movie channel which is available on Digital TV. Offered Unlimited-2.
- Five Movie Club - Britain's Five channel. Offered Unlimited-1,2,3. Discontinued early 2007.
- lastminute.com - offers Unlimited 1,3,4 and Lite 1,2,3.
- BraFilm.com - Service for Sweden, acquired by Video Island and now rebranded as LOVEFiLM.
- digitarian.dk - Pioneering Danish DVD by mail, acquired by LOVEFiLM and rebranded.
Advertising
LOVEFiLM originally used partners to advertise it's services but started to run TV adverts from 2006. Since then, the amount of white label services and partners has decreased, possibly due to increased brand awareness of the LOVEFiLM name. Since advertising on a regular basis on TV the company has used British male actors for voice overs - Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Ray Winstone. LOVEFiLM advertise in multiple media - online, press, TV, train posters, door drops, promotions and even bathroom posters in clubs, pubs and service stations.
"Throttling" and dispute of fair usage policy
Prior to the merger with Video Island, LOVEFILM came in for criticism from users over its claim to offer "unlimited" DVD rentals. Some users reportedly found the company used long delays at the shipping stage to reduce the number of films a month a customer can rent. The company was subject to a dispute by the Advertising Standards Authority over the use of the word "unlimited" in their advertising. It was revealed that they practiced throttling. This is where high-volume customers may experience a greater likelihood of (slower) shipments from alternate warehouses, and selections from lower in their rental list. They are also less likely to receive replacement shipments on the same day a disc is received. The company itself claimed that this "fair usage" policy means all customers get a similar service.
The merger with Video Island was completed in October 2006, at which point LOVEFiLM's original technology platform was replaced with ScreenSelect's, and ScreenSelect's brand was replaced by LOVEFiLM. Policies, prices, packaging and processes were harmonised between ScreenSelect and LOVEFiLM. No complaints of 'throttling' since that point have been upheld.
References
- LOVEFiLM to Acquire Amazon’s European DVD Rental Business - Amazon to become largest shareholder of LOVEFiLM
- LOVEFiLM's pricing plans
- LOVEFiLM's brands
- Advertising Standards Authority adjudication upholding a complaint against LOVEFiLM. 9th August 2006.
External links
- Corporate website
- LOVEFiLM online store
- Hacking LOVEFiLM (Website devoted to LOVEFiLM news and customers reviews)
- Critique of LoveFilm's DVD rental service (this independent site offers a largely positive review of LOVEFiLM, but includes some valid criticisms and an interesting article on alternative DVD rental services)
- LoveFilm Editorial Review