In a move that has many people scratching their heads, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has acquired the movie discovery service Flixster as well as the popular movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. The deal states that Flixster will continue to operate independently but will expand its services to include “digital content ownership and delivery across any connected digital device.”Could this mean WB is planning to use Flixster to take on services like Netflix or Apple’s iTunes store? One of the mentioned initiatives planned is called “Digital Everywhere”, which is being described as an application that “will be the ultimate destination for consumers to organize and access their entire digital library from anywhere on the device of their choice, as well as to share recommendations and discover new content.” It’s only for WB titles, but that is still a lot of content. If WB plans to remove what they currently offer on other services for their own, and are successful with it, will other studios follow?
The bigger concern I have is how WB plans to use Rotten Tomatoes. Will bad reviews of their films be buried on the site? Will critics stop supplying their reviews to the site? Did WB buy it to kill it? Time will tell.
What are your thoughts? Is this a good move for Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes users or a sly move from Warner Bros.? Let us know in the comments below.
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