LG Electronics announced it will add video streaming features hosted from YouTube and CinemaNow to future standalone Blu-ray players in 2009.
"As millions of U.S. consumers view and download movies or TV shows through the Internet, they are demanding easier ways to access content and more home entertainment options," LG Electronics director of product development Tim Alessi said in a statement.
Adding CinemaNow and YouTube capability will expand the current LG library by about 30,000 new movie and TV releases, along with all of the user-created videos currently shown on YouTube. LG hopes the latest additions will help bridge "the gap between packaged media and video-on-demand services" that the company already offers right now.
As the economy continues to buckle consumers, some subscribers have decided to cancel their pricey TV subscription packages while searching for streaming content.
LG was the first Blu-ray manufacturer to announce streaming Netflix enabled Blu-ray players over the summer, and continues to believe consumers will be willing to purchase the pricier Blu-ray players to get the added streaming content. As more people begin to dabble with online content streaming, Blu-ray manufacturers have been forced to modify their marketing strategies, as Blu-ray player sales have been disappointing.
