HMV unveils online video service

digital film services and counter falling sales in its High Street stores, Advanced Television reports.

It will be available at www.hmvondemand.com, but HMV will only start marketing the venture aggressively after Christmas. The initial target market is the two million members who are part of HMV's loyalty scheme.

According to The Guardian, HMV is the latest company to look to cash in on the increasing demand for digital film services, joining rivals such as Amazon's LoveFilm, Tesco's BlinkBox and Google's YouTube. US online video service Netflix is also launching in the UK and in Ireland early in 2012.

The music retailer, which has closed almost 30 stores in the past few months in response to a 15% sales slump, is planning a major marketing campaign for January across its store network as well as online and in advertising.

FilmFlex offers a white label service - partners such as Channel 4's Film4 service have launched their own branded movies-on-demand offering - using an online rental model.

MarketingWeek states that Mark Hodgkinson, HMV's marketing and e-commerce director, says the move into video-on-demand reflects changes in media consumption.

He adds: “With a growing number of consumers now incorporating video-on-demand into their viewing and purchasing habits, the time is right to include a digital service into our own offer.

“Partnering with FilmFlex will allow us to extend our brand into new areas and deepen the relationship with our customers.”