TalkTalk TV Store

TalkTalk TV Store (formerly blinkbox) was a UK-based transactional (purchase and rental) video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs.[1] Content is generally streamed, with downloading currently possible on Windows PC/laptops. The blinkbox brand had been extended to companion services offering digital music and books.

TalkTalk TV Store
Developer(s)TalkTalk Group
Initial release2007 (2007)
Operating systemWindows XP (x86 only)
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Mac OS X (x86 only)
Xbox 360
Xbox One
PS3
iOS
Android
TypeVideo on demand, TV, music streaming
Websitetalktalktvstore.co.uk

Tesco bought an 80% stake in the business in 2011 as part of a move into digital content. On 8 January 2015 the company sold blinkbox Movies to TalkTalk Group, who stated they intended to integrate the service into its own range of services.[2] Tesco sold blinkbox Music to Guvera on 26 January 2015,[3] and confirmed it would close its blinkbox Books division at the end of February 2015.[4] TalkTalk renamed the blinkbox Movies service in 2016. In May 2018 TalkTalk announced that they would close the service completely, with customers transferring to rival service Rakuten TV.[5][6][7]

History

The company was co-founded in 2006 by Michael Comish (he was blinkbox's chief executive officer until June 2013 when he became Tesco Group Digital Officer)[8] and Adrian Letts, chief operating officer of the blinkbox group of services and MD of the Movies and TV service, both former senior executives of Channel 4 and Vodafone respectively. blinkbox was launched in October 2007 with the backing of a number of venture capital firms.

On 20 April 2011, Tesco acquired an 80% stake in blinkbox from Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners, intending to use the company to boost its digital entertainment offering.[9] The Movies and TV service has around one million users per month.

In December 2014, Tesco was reported to be in negotiations with TalkTalk Group over the sale of blinkbox Movies, after talks with Vodafone fell through.[10] The sale to TalkTalk was completed on 8 January 2015.[11] TalkTalk eventually acquired the service along with a number of broadband customers, who transferred to the TalkTalk network.

In May 2018 TalkTalk announced that they would close the service completely for off-network customers who did not take TalkTalk's own broadband service where the more fully featured TalkTalk TV service is provided. Customers are being transferred to rival DTO service Rakuten TV.[5][6][7]

Services

TalkTalk TV Store has content deals with over 50 of the world's leading content producers including HBO, BBC Worldwide, Disney, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, FremantleMedia, All3Media, Revolver Entertainment and Aardman Animations.

In 2010 the company signed a deal with the Samsung Group allowing films to be streamed directly though any Internet@TV Samsung TVs. blinkbox also formed a content partnership with YouTube[12] allowing the site to carry blinkbox films on its new Movies section. The service was also the first in the UK to offer streaming film content through Sony's PlayStation 3, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 consoles.[12]

Rental content can be streamed directly to a Windows PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Samsung Smart TV, and can be viewed any number of times within 48 hours. Buy-to-own content can be viewed without limit. The blinkbox app is built into all pre 2012 Samsung Smart TVs. Content is protected with Microsoft's Windows Media DRM digital rights management and requires Microsoft Silverlight to play. blinkbox cannot be used on Linux.

Historically blinkbox combined a free+pay model allowing users both to buy titles and also to watch free ad-supported titles. In December 2012 blinkbox stopped all ad-supported titles and shortly after launched www.clubcardtv.com, in which users with a Tesco Clubcard could watch titles free of charge, viewing advertisements targeted to them based on their buying habits.

On 28 October 2014, Tesco shut down the Clubcard TV service, stating that they were not getting the level of repeat usage that they had hoped for.[13]

Other services

In 2012, Tesco bought the online music streaming service WE7 and relaunched it in 2013 as blinkbox Music, aiming to compete with Spotify.[14][15] blinkbox launched an ebook service, branded as blinkbox Books, in March 2014.[16] blinkbox Music was sold to Guvera on 26 January 2015.[3] After exclusive talks with Waterstones ended, Tesco also confirmed that blinkbox Books would close at the end of February 2015.[4] Customers' purchases were transferred to Kobo.[17]

References
  1. "How to watch blinkbox on a range of devices". Blinkbox. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  2. Harris, Jamie (9 January 2015). "TalkTalk to drop blinkbox name and integrate services". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  3. Glenday, John (26 January 2015). "Tesco sells Blinkbox Music to Guvera". The Drum. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  4. Armstrong, Ashley (26 January 2015). "Tesco gives up on e-books as it closes blinkbox Books". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  5. "TalkTalk Broadband Deals: Home Internet & Phone Offers".
  6. "TalkTalk off-net TV customers switched to Rakuten TV". 12 April 2018.
  7. "UPDATE ISP TalkTalk Shifts UK Off-net TV Only Customers to Rakuten TV". 12 April 2018.
  8. "blinkbox co-founder and CEO Michael Comish promoted to Tesco Group Digital Officer". Blinkbox. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  9. "Tesco takes majority stake in Blinkbox". Digital Spy. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  10. Williams, Christopher (29 December 2014). "Tesco turns to TalkTalk in bid to offload Blinkbox". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  11. Williams, Christopher (8 January 2015). "TalkTalk to shutter loss-making Blinkbox Movies service". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  12. Warman, Matt (27 August 2010). "YouTube adds movies on demand". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  13. "Tesco will close its free, ad-supported Clubcard TV streaming service on October 28". The Next Web. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  14. Halliday, Josh (14 June 2012). "Tesco buys We7 for £10.8m". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  15. Chapman, Matthew (4 March 2013). "Tesco poaches Facebook and Sainsbury's execs for Blinkbox task". Marketing Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  16. Campbell, Lisa (26 March 2014). "Tesco launches blinkbox books". The Bookseller. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  17. "Transferring your blinkbox Books library to Kobo". Kobo. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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