A surprising arrival on the SVOD scene

StopPress 11 September 2015
Streaming content is a hot topic at the moment. Companies like Netflix, Lightbox, Neon and Quickflix are all fighting for share, the telcos are signing up content deals left, right and centre, YouTube is still growing rapidly (and Facebook isn’t far behind with its auto-play option), and traditional free-to-air, ad-funded broadcasters are upping their on-demand game to try and compete. But the latest arrival in this already crowded market has come from an unlikely source: Family First.

The internet is a goldmine of glorious content. But, like all good goldmines, it’s full of dodginess. And it’s often hard to know what the kids are up to (Vodafone launched a campaign recently offering parents some digi-assistance). So, in an effort to provide families with content it deems appropriate, it has created its own streaming service through a tie-up with Good TV, a firm that works with a number of similar groups to filter out the badness.

“The best titles, at simple rental rates, with great added tools which allow you to manage your family’s entertainment diet,” it says. “There’s also some fantastic content that’s completely free! Family First TV is like an online DVD store and it’s incredibly easy to use.”

As well as movie rentals, it also lets users buy series. And it says the service has “market leading parental control technology so it’s really easy to keep the kids safe no matter their age and there’s plenty of great content for Mum & Dad too.”

At this stage, it requires HDMI or VGA cords to play on TV, but it says it will be adding support for Chromecast in the near future. But given the difficulties already experienced by the likes of Ezyflix and Quickflix, it’s a tough market to enter.

So put the kettle on, sit down with the kids and click on ‘My Mummy’s a Criminal’, a documentary about the anti-smacking legislation of 2007, which Family First opposed.
http://stoppress.co.nz/news/surprising-arrival-svod-scene