Last month we heard that Netflix, one of the US’s biggest TV/movie rental streaming sites, is coming to the UK and Ireland early in 2012. With the online streaming/physical rental service currently largely dominated by the Amazon-owned LoveFilm here in the UK, it will be interesting to see how Netflix fare when they arrive.

Word now comes via Variety that HMV are throwing their hat in the ring too, and have launched their own on-demand service, called (funnily enough) hmvon-demand, partnering with Video on Demand provider FilmFlex Movies to do it.

The service is already in beta testing on their site, and if you’re a purehmv rewards member, then you can test it out right now before it officially launches in January next year. Films will be available online on the day of their release, with the latest titles currently including Cars 2, X-Men: First Class, Zookeeper, The Tree of Life (if you missed this in the cinema, I highly recommend it), Horrible Bosses (one of the funniest films this year), and Bad Teacher, along with an impressive library that will be increasing in the coming months.

Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., eOne, and Momentum Pictures are already partnering with hmv and FilmFlex Movies to provide content, with more distributors expected to sign up now that the site is launching.

At the moment, the service is available via the Internet on PCs, and you can watch them either online or offline, and the plan is to increase the availability to multiple platforms in the future.

Just over a dozen films are currently on special offer, from 99p to £2.79, with new releases set at £3.99, and a range of prices through their library. Given that LoveFilm offer both a package service as well as a Pay Per View service, with unlimited streaming packages starting from £9.99 (from what I can tell), it will be interesting to see if HMV will offer similar package options by the time January rolls around. If they want to be a competitive presence in the market, especially with Netflix arriving just around the corner, let’s hope that a package will be one of the additions they make when they officially launch next year.

The face of the British high street is set to change further with one of the most recognisable, and one of the last standing, entertainment retailer HMV announcing that in order to control costs they would close sixty of their high street stores, and twenty of the book retailers Waterstones which HMV Group also own.

Blaming seasonal weather and what the Group called ‘challenging trading conditions’ for the falling profits and it seems that the closure of HMV stores is the only way to stablise the company.

Almost exactly two years ago high street stalwart Woolworths closed its last stores and we’ve seen Virgin, then Zavvi also shut up shop, and walking down Oxford Street in London a few weeks before Christmas the absence of some of the larger stores was noticeable.

The BBC and The Guardian have a load of detailed analysis, and I suspect it’ll be a while before we see any real change on the high street. HMV are obviously putting a brave face on things, with the continuation  of a strong brand being of paramount importance, but this is still disappointing news.

Early last year Curzon Cinemas announced plans were afoot to place small cinemas in some prominent HMV stores and a pilot was carried out in Wimbledon but no further stores were adapted and no more news has been forthcoming. The relative economic buoyancy and proactive nature of the move is evident in the report but now it seems this idea wasn’t carried through and didn’t signal a return to rising profits.

Whether it is the rental market gaining a foothold, relatively high prices of goods compared to the iTunes or Amazon, the piracy factor, or a move to streaming media (or more likely a combination of all of these) it seems a shame that stores such as HMV will be seen less and less, but it seems inevitable that the brand will continue, probably online, in some form or another. It is a turbulent time for many businesses and it is more a reflection of the changing face of media consumption as opposed to the public turning away from music, movies and books that will necessitate more change and force each retailer to adapt.

Dave reported in October last year that HMV were linking up with Cuzon to open a 200 seat cinema in their retail store in Wimbledon, London. This pilot scheme was a successful one, as it is being reported today that HMV and Curzon are to open twenty cinemas in store across the UK.

HMV has weathered the economic storm while its rivals Zavvi, and to a lesser extent Woolworths, have fallen by the wayside, and is the country’s leading home entertainment retail outfit and this move to create cinemas in-house can be seen as a proactive move to entice the paying public into their stores.

Variety, who reported the story, had this quote from Curzon CEO, Philip Knatchbull,

The HMV at Wimbledon clearly demonstrated there is a need for high-quality, high-tech cinemas with cafe-bar spaces, delivering varied films and programming that’s tailored to the demands of the local community.

Sounds like a tremendous proposition, and if, as Disney for one want, the home entertainment release window gets any smaller there may end up being times when you can watch a film in the HMV Curzon cinema and then buy the DVD in store.

Do you think this is a good move?

Could this be the way that online retail is going? With Zavii and Woolworthes going down the toilet, HMV is one of the only high street shops that specialise in music and DVD sales. BBC Newsbeat have today reported that HMV have opened a three-screen digital cinema above its Wimbledon branch in collaboration with cinema chain, Curzon. There total capacity will be around 200 seats.

Newbeat:

HMV Chief Executive Simon Fox explained: “Our mix of sales now is about a quarter music, a quarter is computer games and half is DVD. Music has declined, as you’d expect. One of the reasons why we are putting cinemas into our stores is because we know the brand has to stretch, it has to stretch beyond the traditional music store into new areas. We are described as the last man standing on the high street and indeed we are, in terms of being the last entertainment specialist.”

I happen to live just down the road from Wimbledon and I believe the HMV is about 5 shops positions away from a huge Odeon cinema with 12 screens. This is the Odeon that has recently converted one of their screens to IMAX which will surely be a large blow to HMV. That said, HMV say this will not threaten their cinemas as they’ll be focusing on showing classic movies, independent and international films – but then they’re opening the cinema with Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus – which aren’t in the criteria?

I guess we might see HMV doing this elsewhere in the UK, especially if the Wimbledon branch does well. What do you think on the matter? Is this a good thing or are HMV clutching at straws? Let us know in the comments.

You can find out more on the HMV Curzon website here.