LG, Netflix Team Up on Set-Top Program Delivery
Movies to Be Delivered Directly to LG HDTV Sets via Set-Top
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/3/2008 3:34:00 AM MT
On the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, TV-set manufacturer LG Electronics and movie-rental service Netflix announced a venture to deliver movies directly to LG HDTV sets via the Internet and a set-top box.
The LG set-top, which will be released later this year, allows viewers to stream movies from the Netflix Web site to the TV set. They can already view them on PCs
Netflix claims more than 7 million members to its service, which boasts more than 90,000 movie titles and over 6,000 TV episodes.
"Internet to the TV is a huge opportunity," Netflix chairman Reed Hastings said in announcing the deal. Hastings added that the company considered developing its own branded set-top but "concluded that familiar consumer-electronics devices from industry leaders like LG Electronics are a better consumer solution for getting the Internet to the TV."
The pair will join others in the direct-to-TV space, including early-adopter Akimbo.
