Warner streams movies on Facebook
Warner Bros. is testing video-on-demand through their Facebook movie page. Currently the only movie being tried is The Dark Knight. Simply “Like” the movie’s page and it offers to use credits to watch the movie.
The credit system is a little confusing. A lot of companies have used a credit system to mask the actual cost of the sales, most notably is the PlayStation Store on the PS3 where you purchase credits ahead of time and redeem them for purchases.
The Dark Knight uses 30 credits, which amounts to $3.00 USD. Access to the rental will be available for a 48 hour window after the movie is activated.
Warner Bros. CFO John Martin said social media is an opportunity to not only add revenue, but to mine their customer’s behavior and trends, which could affect how movies are made in the future. Think of Facebook as a giant test market.
This isn’t a special deal made with Facebook, simply an application utilizing Facebook’s API, just like thousands of other Facebook applications.
Warner may not be the only studio to be looking towards Facebook for distribution. Sony Pictures has also hinted at the possibility.
