US over the top TV service Sezmi signaled this week that it is ready for prime time business, and has been launched in 36 US TV markets for just $4.99 a month. Sezmi combines live TV, on-demand movies, Internet video, and DVR capabilities and is geared toward people who are tired of paying the high price of cable and satellite TV services.
Sezmi emerged in November and launched in Los Angeles in February, and is now slowly rolling out the product across the US. It is a hybrid set top delivered service, which is both connected to the internet for paid services and sites like YouTube, and also to an antenna to pick up local ATSC broadcasts from TV stations. It comes with a 1 terrabyte DVR
Sezmi also contracts with local TV stations to use spare digital spectrum to transmit pay-TV channels such as CNN, CNBC, Bravo, TNT, MSNBC, USA, MTV and Discovery and where there is no spare spectrum it sends these channels over the internet. You have to pay an extra $20 a month for the extra Pay TV channels.
Sezmi has also signed up to offer movies from 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers plus several independent studios and has deals with Sonic Solutions which gives access to Sonic’s Roxio CinemaNow. The entire system runs off a single set of EPG menus.
The new 36 major markets are in 23 different states, and Sezmi reckons that it found immediate strong consumer demand in LA which justified the wider launch. US consumers can go to www.Sezmi.com to see if they are in an area where the service can reach. It can also be bought at BestBuy.com.
You have to pay $149 upfront for a set top, but this is cheap given that the disk drive in it holds up to 1,400 hours of programming. The set top also automatically records and organizes your favorite shows and movies into your own personal entertainment favorites menu for each member of the household and the system comes with a TiVo style search and recommendation system.
Buno Pati, president and CEO of Sezmi, said, ‘Today, cable and satellite are the two traditional choices for TV entertainment, but they come at a high price. Frustrated consumers across the country are voicing their dissatisfaction by either adding on piecemeal solutions, turning to the Internet, or by cutting the cord completely. Sezmi hears those unsatisfied customers loud and clear, and we’re responding by giving them a unique hybrid solution that seamlessly integrates digital broadcast television with online and on-demand video. Consumers want choice, they want flexibility, they want personalization, and most importantly, they want value. That’s what we’re offering.’
The average monthly spend for a pay TV customer at Comcast and DirectTV is $70 and $88 respectively, so a drop to $5 may well be fairly irresistible, especially in these hard times. This could be another Netflix.