It’s been a bad day for the Internet’s old guard. This morning we reported that Yahoo was pulling the plug on Geocities. Now we’ve learned that Lycos Cinema, one of the social media projects created by the once-massively popular web portal, is closing its doors. Granted, Lycos has been under new ownership for years and has been trying to get a foothold in markets unrelated to the web portal/search engine that made its famous, but it’s still a name many of us associate with the late 90’s, when it was among the most trafficked sites in the world.
Lycos Cinema launched over two years ago, with the promise of letting friends watch videos from different computers at the same time using ’simulstream’ technology, which was supposed to mimic the social experience of watching a movie in a movie theatre or over at a friend’s house. The site got a big upgrade last May, when it launched a new chat client and a revamped interface.
Unfortunately, it looks like Lycos Cinema never got over its biggest obstacle: a lack of content. We wrote last year that the site hadn’t signed any of the major studios, and by the looks of the current library this never changed. The only studio listed is ‘National Lampoon’, and I can honestly say that I haven’t heard of 90% of the movies featured on the site’s homepage. That may have flown a few years ago, but with sites like Hulu and TV.com offering recent movies and TV shows, there just wasn’t much of a reason to head to Lycos Cinema.
According to the notice at the top of the site, Lycos Cinema will close on April 29th.
No real suprises here I don’ think
I never heard of them… and by the looks of it, I was not alone. Hopefully this doesn’t spell the beginning of the end for Lycos itself.
Jon
http://WoodMarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
the concept was good too bad it didnt work out.
How is lycos still around? That is what surprises me. I guess this is bad news, didn’t even know the service existed.
And another one down…and another one bites the dust’
Geocities… That kinda sucks. Every once in a while you really find some great gems there. On the other hand, FINALLY. Glad to see they’ve started making decisions again at Yahoo.
I didn’t even know Lycos was still around.
Alas, when you let the competition overtake you – you go to that place…
test
I’m in the internet tv industry and have never heard about Lycos Cinema, sorry and good luck next time. I hear about video sites closing every day because of lack of business.
shows how much you know..
Considering this is the first time I’ve actually heard of the service, I’m guessing they didn’t do a very good job of getting the word out…
bunch of guys on the team should let go long time ago…these big wigs really dragging the rest of the teams. hopefully they are still making some money off ads from games from moms/womens
No. Not Lycos cinema. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
idiots like those should send their money to charity. or better invest in young start ups with brains. But to be honest I totally digged Lycos Cinema, it was ahead of its time. Actually I already plan to copy that feature for my new portal.
They are just dunce that’s all.
I heard first time about this cinema I dont have any idea but may be it will grow
Great concept when properly utilized–ala with the ABC Family shows. The platform itself is solid, but didn’t make sense within Lycos family…Demos were completely wrong and not enough commitment to ‘get the word out’. I am hoping to see this platform re-formed as a startup under new ownership.
I almost forgot they even existed..LOL