4 ms·

Amazon Acquires LoveFilm, The Netflix Of Europe

35 points by chegra84 16y ago

simias 16y ago
The Netflix of europe? I'm european and I've never heard of LoveFilm before...
- robgough 16y ago
  LoveFilm is very big in the UK, and would say the NetFlix of Europe is an apt description. I think this deal has to be good for both parties here, and would be surprised if they rebranded LoveFilm. It's a good name.
  - torpor 16y ago
    Europe is a lot bigger than the UK. There is practically no service to most European countries by LoveFilm, therefore "Netflix of Europe" is an almost entirely inaccurate description of this service. The UK isn't Europe.
  - weego 16y ago
    The only thing I know about lovefilm is they RL spam my postbox with "offers" that go into the bin none of which have mentioned that you can do anything other than get DVDs by post. I looked at their site today and it seems I can watch their entire catalog online. Useful information perhaps? And I really question "very big"; asking around 20 or so friends (20+ all very IT literate/gamers) pretty much everyone said something like "who?" or "they do delivered DVDs right?".
    - robgough 16y ago
      I'm surprised you didn't know about the online thing, and even more so that your associates have barely heard of them. They have advertised a fair amount - try asking your non IT literate and gamer friends. Oh well.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
  - rickenharp 16y ago
    It might be a good name in the UK, but almost everytime I tell someone here in Germany about lovefilm, the first thing I get asked is "So, it's a porn rental thing?"
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - robgough 16y ago
      Fair enough. If I could edit my first post, I'd change it to "Netflix of the UK is an apt description" Apologies to all you other Europeans.
- barrkel 16y ago
  Netflix of UK would be far more apt. I see on their website that they have versions for Germany and most of Scandinavia, but I have no idea how big they are there, and that's a far cry from the whole of Europe anyhow.
  - michael_dorfman 16y ago
    I'm in Norway, and a film buff, and I've never heard of them before. If they've done any marketing at all, it has managed to escape me-- which seems unlikely. So my guess is: not very big in Scandinavia.
    - pirko 16y ago
      I'm in Sweden and I've heard of them but never used the service. I think they had some commercials on TV a few years ago.
  - mzl 16y ago
    They don't have streaming in Scandinavia yet, only the UK and Germany.
    - lemonad 16y ago
      Actually, they have streaming in Sweden. Small selection though, only about 100 movies.
      - mzl 16y ago
        As far as I can tell from their homepage (lovefilm.se), there is no streaming available. Where did you find it?
  - Isofarro 16y ago
    Number 1 in the UK, Number 1 in Germany. Big growth in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
- Tichy 16y ago
  Unfortunately last time I checked they didn't do streaming of movies, only mailing DVDs and Blueray disks around.
  - ErrantX 16y ago
    They've streamed movies for about 6 months or more now; the selection isn't brilliant, but getting there.
    - Tichy 16y ago
      Thanks, good to know. The other day I heavily overpaid again because I didn't return DVDs in time...
      - ErrantX 16y ago
        That's the main reason I started with LoveFilm; getting stuff from, say, Blockbuster, was a pain for someone as forgetful as me :P No late fees is, well, a winner - even if you have to wait a day or two for a new film to wing it's way to you.
felixge 16y ago
This is weird. Amazon Germany used to operate a "Netflix" offering which they sold to LoveFilm in 2008. I was actually a customer and canceled at that point, LoveFilm's site was just terrible. So now they are buying back what they partially sold in 2008?
- Isofarro 16y ago
  Amazon sold it's DVD rental services in Germany and the UK to Lovefilm for a 48% stake in the company. Today they acquired the outstanding 52%.
ErrantX 16y ago
For all the Americans (and probably Europeans, I think LF is mostly a UK company) it's important to bear in mind that LoveFilm ain't Netflix. On the other hand; it's the best we've got. I have a love hate relationship with them - the selection is pretty good and the service is fine (with only a few hiccups which, given the state of our postal service is probably understandable). Although; their main UK depot is about 40 miles from me, and I have heard people out in the wilds have some issues. On the down side the online streaming catalogue could be expanded (5,000+ films, but not always the latest releases) and I tend to have trouble getting popular disks (sometimes they seem to send me random disks from my list for no apparent reason). I've been waiting for series 3 of Battlestar Gallactica for about 3 months now... :P I'm pleased Amazon are buying them, that's a positive move IMO. Their easily one of my favourite companies and seem to manage to let their acquisitions flourish rather than die off. So... looking good :) (and if LF eventually merges into my Amazon account, win :D) LF made a statement here btw: http://www.lovefilm.com/features/detail.html?editorial_id=32329 http://www.lovefilm.com/features/detail.html?editorial_id=32... EDIT: their recommendations engine is pretty dire as well incidentally, that is probably the main difference from Netflix
- binarymax 16y ago
  I eventually cancelled my lovefilm account when I moved out of london, and I had been on a waitlist for up to a year on some items. Recently I've been thinking of signing up for their online service and this backing by Amazon may have just convinced me.
- citricsquid 16y ago
  I signed up for Lovefilm earlier this month for the film streaming. I searched before hand and they had a nice film selection so I figure I'd go for it, if it sucked I could cancel. I signed up for the best plan that had streaming included (had no intention of doing postal DVDs) and found the following: - The only films you can watch for free (after you've paid the monthly registration fee) are from before 2007, even though their entire catalogue contains newer films and it says "Your package includes unlimited online viewing" and "With access to 5,361 watch online titles" on both the sign up pages and in my account. - After paying £4 for a film (Inception) which I expected to be included in the first place (a pipe dream I guess) I load it up... it's 360p at best, full screening makes it unwatchable. - I figure if this is the state of it and I have to pay for shitty quality films I may as well go out and but the DVD, which I wanted to avoid... so I decided to cancel my account to find it's impossible to do online, you have to phone up... it was 4am, they were closed. Terrible experience, but the joke is on me I guess, I didn't realise I could buy/rent films on iTunes so I'm doing that now.
parenthesis 16y ago
LoveFilm also white-labels its service. List here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovefilm#Operate_rental_services_for_other_companies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovefilm#Operate_rental_service... It would be interesting to know what proportion of LoveFilm's business is under its own brand, versus under these other brands, and whether amazon will continue to white-label the service long term.

35 points by chegra84 16y ago

simias 16y ago

The Netflix of europe? I'm european and I've never heard of LoveFilm before...

robgough 16y ago
LoveFilm is very big in the UK, and would say the NetFlix of Europe is an apt description. I think this deal has to be good for both parties here, and would be surprised if they rebranded LoveFilm. It's a good name.
- torpor 16y ago
  Europe is a lot bigger than the UK. There is practically no service to most European countries by LoveFilm, therefore "Netflix of Europe" is an almost entirely inaccurate description of this service. The UK isn't Europe.
- weego 16y ago
  The only thing I know about lovefilm is they RL spam my postbox with "offers" that go into the bin none of which have mentioned that you can do anything other than get DVDs by post. I looked at their site today and it seems I can watch their entire catalog online. Useful information perhaps? And I really question "very big"; asking around 20 or so friends (20+ all very IT literate/gamers) pretty much everyone said something like "who?" or "they do delivered DVDs right?".
  - robgough 16y ago
    I'm surprised you didn't know about the online thing, and even more so that your associates have barely heard of them. They have advertised a fair amount - try asking your non IT literate and gamer friends. Oh well.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
- rickenharp 16y ago
  It might be a good name in the UK, but almost everytime I tell someone here in Germany about lovefilm, the first thing I get asked is "So, it's a porn rental thing?"
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - robgough 16y ago
    Fair enough. If I could edit my first post, I'd change it to "Netflix of the UK is an apt description" Apologies to all you other Europeans.
barrkel 16y ago
Netflix of UK would be far more apt. I see on their website that they have versions for Germany and most of Scandinavia, but I have no idea how big they are there, and that's a far cry from the whole of Europe anyhow.
- michael_dorfman 16y ago
  I'm in Norway, and a film buff, and I've never heard of them before. If they've done any marketing at all, it has managed to escape me-- which seems unlikely. So my guess is: not very big in Scandinavia.
  - pirko 16y ago
    I'm in Sweden and I've heard of them but never used the service. I think they had some commercials on TV a few years ago.
- mzl 16y ago
  They don't have streaming in Scandinavia yet, only the UK and Germany.
  - lemonad 16y ago
    Actually, they have streaming in Sweden. Small selection though, only about 100 movies.
    - mzl 16y ago
      As far as I can tell from their homepage (lovefilm.se), there is no streaming available. Where did you find it?
- Isofarro 16y ago
  Number 1 in the UK, Number 1 in Germany. Big growth in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Tichy 16y ago
Unfortunately last time I checked they didn't do streaming of movies, only mailing DVDs and Blueray disks around.
- ErrantX 16y ago
  They've streamed movies for about 6 months or more now; the selection isn't brilliant, but getting there.
  - Tichy 16y ago
    Thanks, good to know. The other day I heavily overpaid again because I didn't return DVDs in time...
    - ErrantX 16y ago
      That's the main reason I started with LoveFilm; getting stuff from, say, Blockbuster, was a pain for someone as forgetful as me :P No late fees is, well, a winner - even if you have to wait a day or two for a new film to wing it's way to you.

felixge 16y ago

This is weird. Amazon Germany used to operate a "Netflix" offering which they sold to LoveFilm in 2008. I was actually a customer and canceled at that point, LoveFilm's site was just terrible. So now they are buying back what they partially sold in 2008?

Isofarro 16y ago
Amazon sold it's DVD rental services in Germany and the UK to Lovefilm for a 48% stake in the company. Today they acquired the outstanding 52%.

ErrantX 16y ago

For all the Americans (and probably Europeans, I think LF is mostly a UK company) it's important to bear in mind that LoveFilm ain't Netflix. On the other hand; it's the best we've got. I have a love hate relationship with them - the selection is pretty good and the service is fine (with only a few hiccups which, given the state of our postal service is probably understandable). Although; their main UK depot is about 40 miles from me, and I have heard people out in the wilds have some issues. On the down side the online streaming catalogue could be expanded (5,000+ films, but not always the latest releases) and I tend to have trouble getting popular disks (sometimes they seem to send me random disks from my list for no apparent reason). I've been waiting for series 3 of Battlestar Gallactica for about 3 months now... :P I'm pleased Amazon are buying them, that's a positive move IMO. Their easily one of my favourite companies and seem to manage to let their acquisitions flourish rather than die off. So... looking good :) (and if LF eventually merges into my Amazon account, win :D) LF made a statement here btw: http://www.lovefilm.com/features/detail.html?editorial_id=32329 http://www.lovefilm.com/features/detail.html?editorial_id=32... EDIT: their recommendations engine is pretty dire as well incidentally, that is probably the main difference from Netflix

binarymax 16y ago
I eventually cancelled my lovefilm account when I moved out of london, and I had been on a waitlist for up to a year on some items. Recently I've been thinking of signing up for their online service and this backing by Amazon may have just convinced me.
citricsquid 16y ago
I signed up for Lovefilm earlier this month for the film streaming. I searched before hand and they had a nice film selection so I figure I'd go for it, if it sucked I could cancel. I signed up for the best plan that had streaming included (had no intention of doing postal DVDs) and found the following: - The only films you can watch for free (after you've paid the monthly registration fee) are from before 2007, even though their entire catalogue contains newer films and it says "Your package includes unlimited online viewing" and "With access to 5,361 watch online titles" on both the sign up pages and in my account. - After paying £4 for a film (Inception) which I expected to be included in the first place (a pipe dream I guess) I load it up... it's 360p at best, full screening makes it unwatchable. - I figure if this is the state of it and I have to pay for shitty quality films I may as well go out and but the DVD, which I wanted to avoid... so I decided to cancel my account to find it's impossible to do online, you have to phone up... it was 4am, they were closed. Terrible experience, but the joke is on me I guess, I didn't realise I could buy/rent films on iTunes so I'm doing that now.

parenthesis 16y ago

LoveFilm also white-labels its service. List here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovefilm#Operate_rental_services_for_other_companies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovefilm#Operate_rental_service... It would be interesting to know what proportion of LoveFilm's business is under its own brand, versus under these other brands, and whether amazon will continue to white-label the service long term.