Roxio CinemaNow scores next-day web publishing rights for new TV shows

The Roxio CinemaNow business of Sonic Solutions has scored a coup in the right to distribute TV show episodes on the web the day after they air.
The deal with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution gives Roxio CinemaNow an expanded library of premium content that it will sell on its web-based video service for $1.99 per show. Technically speaking, Sonic has secured Electronic Sell Through rights for distributing standard definition and high definition versions of popular TV shows.
Shows include in the deal include Fringe, Human Target, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Bachelor, The Closer, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, and Past Life. Other shows are coming soon from Warner Bros. as well as other major studios.
“We want to be the first choice for consumers whether they are looking to instantly access the latest new movie release or catch up on a favorite TV show in stunning high definition,” said Dave Habiger, president and chief executive of Novato, Calif.-based Sonic Solutions.
Roxio CinemaNow offers movies and TV shows that you can watch via web connected PCs, TVs, set-top digital video recorders, Blu-ray players, smart phones and mobile media devices. Roxio CinemaNow comes preloaded as the digital delivery service for all web-connected Best Buy products.
There are more than 22,000 Hollywood-approved movies in the library, but most of the new ones are first-run movies that appear on CinemaNow at the same time they come out on DVD. When you buy a movie, you can start watching in five or six seconds as the movie downloads in the background.
Sonic bought the assets of CinemaNow (which it didn’t already own) for $3 million and renamed it Roxio CinemaNow. In January, Sonic and Blockbuster merged the CinemaNow and Movielink services.
Companies: CinemaNow, Sonic Solutions