Movielink was a

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

-based

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

(VOD) and

electronic sell-through Electronic sell-through (EST) is a method of media distribution whereby consumers pay a one-time fee to download a media file for storage on a hard drive. Although EST is often described as a transaction that grants content "ownership" to the consum ...

(EST) service offering movies, television shows, and other videos for rental or purchase. Movielink drew its content offerings from the libraries of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Paramount Network Television The first incarnation of Paramount Television was operated as the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, until it changed its name to CBS Paramount Television on January 17, 2006. History Desilu Pro ...

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Buena Vista Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

(including

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

Twentieth Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

Koch Entertainment Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company ROW Entertainment in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as part of Koch Inte ...

and others on a non-exclusive basis. While it was only available to users in the United States, it was the first company in the world to offer legally downloadable movies from major studios. In general, movies obtained through Movielink could only be viewed on the computer or a television set connected to the computer from which the movie was purchased. However, consumer electronics devices such as the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

game console also allowed users to more easily view these digital media on a traditional television screen. Also, Movielink had deals with certain set top box companies to offer its movies downloaded directly to people's televisions(including AT&T's Homezone product). Experimentation with other

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s was underway, including a feature which allowed users to purchase, download, and burn a DVD of a selected film.

History

Movielink was launched on November 11, 2002. Movielink used

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...

software from

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

and

RealNetworks RealNetworks LLC is an American technology company and provider of Internet streaming media delivery software and services based in Seattle, Washington. The company also provides subscription-based online entertainment services and mobile enter ...

to protect their content. Consequently, compatibility was limited to Intel-based computers running

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, XP, or

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and

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

version 9 or later. They offered daily weekday specials for under 99 cents, and certain films for half price every week. On June 1, 2006, it was revealed that Movielink's initial investors—a joint venture of Paramount, Sony, MGM, Universal, and Warner Bros—were looking to sell the company. This came shortly after numerous studios announced their intent to work with a range of potential Movielink competitors, such as

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

, BitTorrent Inc.,

Jaman Jaman was a company that offered users a movie discovery site, allowing them to browse viewing options offered across the internet. In its previous iteration, Jaman was one of the first sites to offer views on demand of media on the internet. It ...

, and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

. On August 8, 2007, Blockbuster purchased Movielink. According to the 8-K filing by Blockbuster, the total purchase price was $6.6 million. The deal included content agreements thus giving Blockbuster access to one of the largest libraries of downloadable movies. With the acquisition of Movielink, Blockbuster was positioned for media content delivery in

brick and mortar Brick and mortar (or B&M) is an organization or business with a physical presence in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases retail shops, factory produc ...

rentals,

DVD-by-mail DVD-by-mail is a business model in which customers order DVDs and similar discs containing films, television shows, video games, and other media to rent, which are then delivery to the customer by mail. Generally, all interaction between the ren ...

, and online delivery of movies. On December 16, 2008, the Movielink website was shut down. The site was re-directed to the Blockbuster

home page A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website. Usually, the home page is located at the Root directory, root of the website's Domain name, domain or subdomain. For example, if the domain is example.com, the home page is likely l ...

. Customers were notified 30 days in advance that all movies rented or purchased prior to the shutdown date must be downloaded by no later than 12/15/08 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time.

References

{{Blockbuster Defunct video on demand services Former joint ventures Blockbuster LLC