Dendy Direct video on demand service launching in August

Dendy's own VOD offering will kick off operations in early August, with videos available to rent or buy from AU$5.99.

Nic Healey Senior Editor / Australia

Nic Healey is a Senior Editor with CNET, based in the Australia office. His passions include bourbon, video games and boring strangers with photos of his cat.

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Nic Healey

July 29, 2014 11:11 p.m. PT

Dendy Cinemas has put a launch date on Dendy Direct, its new video on demand offering. The service will begin operation on August 6 and will sell or rent videos with no monthly subscription fees.

Dendy will vary its pricing according to file resolution and the age of the film, but it estimated that a rental of the SD version of a new release movie would be around AU$5.99, while buying the same film in HD to own could be up to AU$30.

While Dendy is a name probably best associated with arthouse cinema in Australia, the chain also screens standard blockbuster fare and the Dendy Direct service will reflect this breadth of offering, along with offering television series.

The list of distributors on board with Dendy Direct includes Icon, Madman, "="" in="" piracy"="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="eaba86c8-5071-4b5e-b6cf-fd04a6677ba7" slug="village-roadshow-says-iinet-is-complicit-in-piracy" link-text="Roadshow" section="news" title="Village Roadshow says iiNet is " edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key" api="{"id":"eaba86c8-5071-4b5e-b6cf-fd04a6677ba7","slug":"village-roadshow-says-iinet-is-complicit-in-piracy","contentType":null,"edition":"us","topic":{"slug":"internet"},"metaData":{"typeTitle":null,"hubTopicPathString":"Internet","reviewType":null},"section":"news"}"> and Umbrella Entertainment.

In a media statement, Dendy's CEO Greg Hughes said, "Dendy is the first cinema business in Australia to launch an on demand service, and we're one of only a handful globally to do so".

The Hoyts group has been planning its own VOD service since 2012, initially looking at an early 2013 launch, although recent reports have shifted its arrival to the second half of this year.