A recent announcement by Sony Pictures Entertainment indicated that the company was extending the Crackle video platform to be utilized in a number of devices including the PlayStation 3, Roku set-top box, and a number of Blu-ray devices and Bravia televisions. Prior to the announcement, Crackle video content in these devices was limited.
The Crackle video service was established in 2007 to provide a free-to-play service which was supported by ads. A huge number of videos, be it television shows or movies, can be accessed through the Crackle video platform website using the browser.
Despite comparisons to Netflix, Crackle video is more akin to the service provided by Hulu. But the Crackle video service which has limits on the latest shows that come out through the site. In contrast, Hulu service contains a good selection of the latest shows. The more popular shows on the Crackle video service have come out sometime before which include “Who’s the Boss” and Married with Children”. The movies on the website also came out sometime ago.
Crackle video will go up against stronger competitors with its planned expansion to other devices. This includes Netflix, which is currently used in a number of devices that can be used in accessing the Crackle video of Sony. Other competitors that Crackle video will have to deal with are Hulu Plus and the Instant Video platform of Amazon which was introduced into the market recently.
According to Sony, Crackle video users average fifty minutes each time they utilize the site to watch videos. However the market is much bigger than this with over sixty percent of all videos downloaded or viewed utilizing the service provided by Netflix. Coming up second was Comcast, which was far behind with only eight percent.
