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November 30, 2006

AOL Gives Away Free Movies For Christmas

Natali Del Conte

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aolvideologo2.jpgAOL Video has decided to spread some holiday cheer by giving away over 30 free movie downloads for one day only on Saturday.

Several of the titles are, appropriately, Christmas movies such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Jack Frost, but there will be some non-spirited ones available such as Spiderman 2 as well. The free offering begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time and customers are limited to one movie per person, but not one per computer.

Normally, movie downloads from AOL Video are priced from $9.99 to $19.99 per title. We reviewed AOL Video in October and found it to be lacking in selection and high in price compared to the other movie downloading services. But on Saturday, we would argue that it will be one of the better ones. After all, who can argue with free?

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 30th, 2006 at 11:42 am and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. MacNewsOnline.com

    November 30th, 2006 at 11:45 am

    Another media outlet that will fall by the wayside as iTunes steamrolls them all!

  2. Sean

    November 30th, 2006 at 11:56 am

    Whatever MacNews … who cares? This day it’s free … let ‘em do it. They may lower their price and increase their selection after this … then maybe they’ll be the ones doing the steamrollin (well prob not, but ya never know).

    Thanks for the news Natali

  3. Steve

    November 30th, 2006 at 12:04 pm

    Poor AOL has to do whatever it can to stay afloat.

  4. Alison

    November 30th, 2006 at 12:13 pm

    Will the movies come subtitled / captioned?

  5. Ed

    November 30th, 2006 at 12:16 pm

    I wouldn’t go there b/c I barely see TV, but are there any RSS features integrated into it (for listings, the TV News, Recaps). It seems good for RSS, but it’s currently designed w/o it. Did I see that right?

  6. ginchy

    November 30th, 2006 at 12:40 pm

    How about if they pay me twenty bucks I promise to download and watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”. Wait, make it a hundred.

  7. Allen

    November 30th, 2006 at 12:44 pm

    I certainly hope “holiday cheer does not just equal a bunch of xmas movies” knowing that there are plenty of other holidays for other religions at the same time.

  8. Justin Kistner

    November 30th, 2006 at 12:57 pm

    It must be going well because their server is slower than Michael Richards’ internal censor.

  9. Jarid

    November 30th, 2006 at 1:08 pm

    The free offering begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time…

    And the site will crash by 6:10am EST…

  10. mike

    November 30th, 2006 at 1:16 pm

    Thank god AOL will have a broader selection than the Disney movie store, er, iTunes. That iTunes movie store has a very limited selection. Just click over to the TV shows section and get a season pass for Real World season 56.

  11. Kishore Balakrishnan

    November 30th, 2006 at 1:40 pm

    Namaste

    Consider setting up a count down for “6AM Eastern”

    i.e., this page could dynamically show “available in x days y hours z minutes”

    Cheers, Kishore.

  12. Chris

    November 30th, 2006 at 1:53 pm

    I tried to download, it is just pain, the links don’t work, requires additional software. Doesn’t let you install, works only with I.E. 6.0. if anyone knows how to download, they should let us know.

  13. AtlasLions

    November 30th, 2006 at 5:19 pm

    Chris,
    Can you give more details on what browser/machine/OS you are using to download Movies from AOL ?

  14. Shashi

    November 30th, 2006 at 6:11 pm

    Minimum System Requirements to download AOL High Quality video’s:

    * Operating System: Windows XP (Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not currently supported)
    * Internet Explorer 6.0
    * Windows Media Player 10.0
    * JavaScript, ActiveX and cookies enabled
    * Broadband is recommended. Dial-up users will experience very long delays in downloading content

    NOTE: AOL Video Delivery Manager can only be downloaded & installed using Internet Explorer 6.0. Support for Netscape browsers is not currently available. Support for Firefox and Windows Internet Explorer 7.0 are coming soon.

  15. Bubba

    November 30th, 2006 at 6:15 pm

    AOL Video rocks. The selection is much better than I thought. They have more Movies than iTunes. The free offering this weekend will be appreciated. Wouldn’t it be cool if a free movie was offered every week the way iTunes offers free weekly singles under various genres? Yes, it requires special software for Windoze, as well as the second best OS available; but if the value is there maybe it’s finally worth having a Windows MCE PC as a media-only device. I was able to get everything going pretty easily; just read the instructions on the site …

  16. Bubba

    November 30th, 2006 at 6:18 pm

    Dohhh, by the time I posted …this guy named Shashi already posted the full set of instructions. Good call, thanks for the chocolate :)

  17. Ian

    November 30th, 2006 at 7:18 pm

    Shashi, thanks for the info. I look forward to grabbing the classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

    Has anyone had experience with the service and can comment on typical download speeds?

  18. David Mackey

    November 30th, 2006 at 8:05 pm

    I won’t argue with free. :-) maybe they can make thsi a semi-regular event.

  19. Prasoon

    November 30th, 2006 at 8:23 pm

    it rockss..! xclusivley meant for funks mad in video/songs….not bcse being part of video…but jus watch/hear videos in Mac..u know what is clarity..!

  20. Tyler Wright

    November 30th, 2006 at 10:25 pm

    Natali - I may only notice because I was a PR guy - your writing style is great. Very witty and punchy, yet terse. I dig it.

  21. Shaun Stevens

    December 1st, 2006 at 3:50 am

    What about proper broadband support and pricing ?
    AOL and the Time Warner deal eons ago seemed to be a marriage made in heaven.
    It has not worked out that way at in in any manner.
    Still more of useless cosmetic changes and colors.
    Reminds me of the upcoming vista launch.
    Give me value.
    Give me high speed broadband.
    Give me more ability to do my work at speed and at remote locations.
    Not diffirent colored interfaces and gee whiz audio.
    Where are the good employees in these organizations ?
    Have they left as a result of poor management to find employment elsewhere at more progressive companies where their skills are at least incorporated into their companies business and marketing plans ?
    I need more than my AOL email address and dial up speeds.
    Its a jungle out there in broadband world.
    An ocean of possibililites .
    http://www.aceemploymentservices.net http://www.winnipegjobshark.com

  22. Scott

    December 1st, 2006 at 3:53 am

    Has anyone found any mention of this anywhere on the AOL site? I’m looking for confirmation & additional details about this… And is it *this* Saturday (12/2)?

  23. Alyssa

    December 1st, 2006 at 6:17 am

    I was looking on the site for confirmation also… does anyone have a link for this?

    Greatly Appreciated!

  24. Bryan

    December 1st, 2006 at 6:19 am

    I don’t want to download inferior quality movies even if they are free. Its funny how part of the movie industry is pushing super-dooper-high-quality high definition movies ala Bluray and HD-DVD while the other side of the industry is betting on low quality downloadable movies. How many people really want to be able to watch a movie on a 1 to 3 inch portable media player anyway? I sure as hell do not.

  25. Greg

    December 1st, 2006 at 6:36 am

    MPG format works on all platforms, no special spamware required.
    I don’t need IE and cookies and javascript on. I don’t need to install unknown software with who knows what kind of back doors in it.
    Why does anyone do this? Why would you want large corporations to program your computer from remote? Do you feel safe? Ever wonder why your computer has so much spyware on it? Got a clue?

  26. Mark

    December 1st, 2006 at 7:02 am

    I was also looking for confirmation–where on the site do you see this?

  27. Kristen Owen

    December 1st, 2006 at 8:11 am

    I’m still looking for confirmation or a link on the site. Any luck anyone?

  28. Natali Del Conte

    December 1st, 2006 at 9:23 am

    The AOL press rep said that there wouldn’t be any sign of the free promo until Saturday. But I’m assured it will happen! Check tomorrow guys!

  29. Scott

    December 1st, 2006 at 11:59 am

    Thank you, Natali. Hopefully, this is more accurate than Techcrunch’s report of the “$100 Xbox 360″ sale on Amazon… ;o)

  30. engtech

    December 1st, 2006 at 1:05 pm

    I wonder how the servers will do?

    Good idea though. More sites need to realize that when it comes to new technology give out some digital freebies to get customers used to the software.

  31. Scott L

    December 1st, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    Hey all,

    I’m a product director at AOL, and can confirm for you that this offer is happening tomorrow…after 6 am, you’ll see it at video.aol.com, while supplies last. In the meantime, I can answer a few other questions as well. One, we do have some movies other than just Christmas movies…Eight Crazy Nights is on our list, as is Zoolander, but the final selection is still subject to change. The downloads use our Hi-Q format, so you can watch on a PC screen and still get a great picture. Downloads take about 90 minutes on most home connections, but it depends upon your Internet Connection and the length of movie. Last thing- the requirements posted above by Shashi are correct- thanks! We’ll be adding IE7 support shortly, but just couldn’t get it in for this weekend.

    Swing by tomorrow and pick one up- thanks.

  32. Chad

    December 2nd, 2006 at 7:06 am

    Scott, why does your company exclude Mac users from downloading the movies? Also, what does “while supplies last” mean. Doesn’t the online world eliminate the in-store gimmick companies can use to drive prices up and cause mayhem (e.g. PSIII). Anyway, I think it’s a good service but, as a Mac user, I would like the same opportunities as the rest of the underprivileged Windows community.

    Chad

  33. Joe

    December 2nd, 2006 at 9:37 am

    Requires IE 6.0 and even recommends uninstalling IE 7.0 if you’ve already upgraded.

  34. jim collins

    December 2nd, 2006 at 4:01 pm

    “Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not currently supported. You can not buy and download videos. You must use an obsolete bug-prone operating system that is open to rootkits to use this service.” Crap.

  35. j.d.a.

    December 3rd, 2006 at 2:51 pm

    The overall experience was horrible. I’m pretty confident that I’ll never use AOL video again.

  36. Max

    December 22nd, 2006 at 3:16 am

    Thank you, Natali.

  37. Chris

    December 22nd, 2006 at 8:54 am

    If anyone wants free movies, you should try this:
    Just go to this website: http://www.blockbuster.com/bbfamily

    Enter this Promotional Code: 1407ta

    You get 4 weeks FREE. Get movies mailed to you, then return them by mail or take them to the nearest Blockbuster and get another free DVD OR GAME RENTAL FOR YOUR KIDS (my family loves that!)

  38. ansia

    March 9th, 2007 at 7:28 pm

    mac users can’t download the movie, isn t it?

  39. DEPRESSIONE

    March 9th, 2007 at 7:28 pm

    it looks like really good

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