BBC Worldwide to offer TV episodes to rent for the first time on Facebook
bbc.co.uk
bbc.co.uk
If I'm paying for video, I need to be certain that I'll be able to see the entire thing uninterrupted, even if I'm offline or my connection becomes unreliable. This is where Apple and Amazon get my money, and streams don't.
The Facebook Credits idea is even worse. Here's the experience:
1. Go to the Doctor Who page on Facebook. I can't see the content until I agree to "like" the page. Annoying. What if I just want to see a BBC video? It's a bit presumptuous to assume I like something I haven't seen yet.
2. Once I agree that I "like" the page, a small grid of videos appear. Clicking on any video then redirects me to an app page, telling me that if I still want to watch a video, "liking" wasn't enough. I now have to grant BBC access to my private profile data, and allow them to post messages to my wall.
3. Fine, BBC, I "like" you, and you can come into my house, look at all my stuff, and talk to my friends on my behalf. Now how do I watch a video? Facebook Credits. Each video is 15 Credits. Ok, I'll go get some.
4. I click "watch," and am prompted to go buy some Credits. How do I want to pay, Visa, Western Union, other? I don't know, how much do they cost? How does Facebook know my credit card number? I don't remember entering that, but there it is.
5. Bravely moving on, I click through and see the price of Credits. 50 Credits = $5. So, 15 credits = $1.50 a movie, right? Oops, no. What a funny coincidence, 50 isn't divisible by 15. I'll always have $0.50 that I'm loaning to Facebook until I build up enough Credits to use them all up.
And they wonder why people download videos from "pirate" sites.
That makes each doctor who 'movie' from Netflix cost $6 USD to watch once. (Or as many times as you like within 48 hours.)
Seems a bit pricey to me. I'll likely pay for any I can't get on Netflix, but only those.