In a new wrinkle for Internet-delivered content for PCs, TV for PC is offering customers unlimited TV and movie video streams for a one-time charge of $49.95 for the service, which doesn’t carry monthly subscription fees.
All that’s required on the user’s PC is a player such as Windows Media or Real Player. No special software or hardware is required to access all the free streams of TV that content owners have made available on the Web.
TV for PC’s service package comes with over 9,000 channels from all over the world including local, regional and international broadcasts.
Viewing video on PCs, of course, has gating factors to performance, primarily the speed of your Internet connection and size/resolution of your monitor.
And as ISPs struggle to manage Internet bandwidth with the specter of pay-extra tiers and/or guaranteed performance offerings, the landscape for Web video is likely to show some change.
TV for PC claims dial-up connections will work, though that seems a reach for fat streaming content such as video.
Still, with a badly crippled economy, lower-than-past content viewing options are coming to the fore and being embraced by cost-conscious consumers who want their entertainment, but don’t want to pay a premium for it.
That’s given way to the fast spreading popularity of options such as Redbox, which offers new DVD rentals from over 10,000 automated kiosks across the country for $1 per night, with users paying via debit or credit card.
The bargain-basement and Internet video options present challenges to telco TV providers and their cable competition who have largely been yet to embrace streaming video, and have not found a price-competitive counter to the likes of Redbox.
