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Netflix Delivering Straight to Television

Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer, says that Netflix is going to deliver movies directly to televisions.

DVD-by-mail service Netflix Inc. will begin delivering movies and other programming directly to televisions later this year through a set-top box that will pipe entertainment over a high-speed Internet connection.

The set-top box, to be made by LG Electronics Inc. as part of a partnership announced late Wednesday, is designed to broaden the appeal of a year-old streaming service that Netflix provides to its 7 million subscribers at no additional charge.

As the article notes, expect a lot of announcements as the annual consumer electronics show in Las Vegas gets underway.

Although Netflix says its subscribers have watched more than 10 million movies and TV episodes through its "Watch Instantly" option so far, the streaming service has been too constraining for many subscribers.

That’s because all the streaming service’s programming must be watched on a personal computer, unless the viewer knows how to link a high-speed Internet connection into a TV monitor.

I think cable companies would argue they already deliver movies on demand through a high-speed connection.