The Internet Movie Database Inc. (IMDb), an Amazon.com (AMZN) company, has announced it will offer consumers free streaming of more than 6,000 films and TV episodes, with the content coming from CBS, Hulu and several hundred independent film makers.
The announcement serves to further broaden the wide availability of content on the Web and comes just days after Comcast Corp. (CMSCA) announced a store for its Fancast.com site that will enable users to download movies and TV shows. The cableco said in January that its goal is to make Fancast the premier online entertainment destination.
However, IMDb seems to have a broader goal in mind and may bring more entertainment assets to the table. It also provides strong competition to telco TV providers who have focused on services to the home, with far less emphasis on Internet accessible programming.
“IMDb's mission has always been to be the world's most comprehensive, user-friendly destination for all movie, TV and celebrity-related information, products and services,” said Col Needham, founder and managing director of IMDb.com Inc., in prepared comments. “Our goal is to show our users every movie and TV show on the Internet for free on IMDb.com.”
IMDb is also opening its platform to filmmakers and rights owners worldwide, and claims it’s “changing the landscape for filmmakers” by allowing them to reach the more than 57 million movie and TV lovers who visit IMDb each month.
IMDb claims to offer a searchable database of more than one million movies, TV and entertainment programs and more than 2.5 million cast and crew members. Its features include cast lists, photographs, quotes, trivia, reviews, box-office data, celebrity biographies, coverage of film festivals and major events, and streaming trailers.
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