Netflix allows subscribers to ‘binge-watch’ shows offline

Foxx to produce Marvin Gaye series

LOS ANGELES, Dec 1, (RTRS): Netflix has finally rolled out a feature subscribers have been requesting for years: The company will now let members worldwide download select TV shows and movies for viewing on Apple and Android devices while disconnected from the internet.

The latest versions of the company’s mobile apps include a “download” button on the details page for a film or TV series — although not all titles on the streaming service are currently available to watch offline. The app also includes a new menu item showing what’s available to download.

Netflix said it will add more series and movies to download in the future. Original series including “Orange Is the New Black”, “Narcos”, “House of Cards”, “Stranger Things”, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Master of None” and “The Crown” are available for download starting Wednesday. Other titles available for offline viewing include TV shows “Breaking Bad”, “Supernatural”, “The Office”, “The Flash” and “The 100,” and animated movies “Minions”, “Kung Fu Panda 3” and “Home.”

Download

Content currently not available to download for offline viewing includes Netflix’s reboots of “Gilmore Girls” and “Fuller House,” as well as the Marvel street-hero series including “Daredevil”, “Luke Cage” and “Jessica Jones.” Also excluded are Disney movies including “Jungle Book”, “Zootopia” and “Lilo & Stitch.”

“While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we’ve often heard they also want to continue their ‘Stranger Things’ binge while on airplanes and other places where internet is expensive or limited,” Eddy Wu, Netflix’s director of product innovation, wrote in a blog post announcing the feature.

Amazon Prime Video has offered offline viewing to members on iOS and Android apps for more than a year, while YouTube Red and Starz’s mobile apps also provide video downloads for access in offline mode.

Netflix’s new download feature is included in all plans and available for Android and iOS phones and tablets. To download titles, users will need iOS 8.0 or later or Android 4.4.2 or later as well as the latest update of Netflix’s app.

Netflix execs had previously raised the prospect of allowing downloads for offline viewing, but they had suggested the company would first launch the feature in countries with constrained bandwidth infrastructure.

Jamie Foxx will executive produce a limited series revolving around legendary singer Marvin Gaye. The project will be produced with Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones of de Passe Jones Entertainment, who will shop it to various outlets, both linear and digital. Although several others have attempted to get series about Gaye off the ground, none before this have had the approval of the Gaye family. The Foxx-produced series has the blessing of Gaye’s son, Marvin Gaye III.

Cable network Z Living will premiere three new original series, “Finding Fido,” “Altar’d,” and “POPSUGAR Presents: Conquered” in a new primetime programming block beginning Tuesday, Jan 17 at 8 pm “Finding Fido” stars author Seth Casteel as he meets hopeful pet owners-to-be and dogs in need of homes. “Altar’d” features six engaged couples on the quest to lose weight and live healthy lifestyles before the wedding date. “POPSUGAR Presents: Conquered” sheds light on the unique stories on the people who have broken extraordinary boundaries to achieve their goals.

Actor Paul Bettany (“Gangster No. 1”) has been cast as Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. “The Unabomber,” in Discovery’s upcoming scripted series “Manifesto,” which will detail the downfall of one of the most infamous domestic terrorists in US history.

Executive produced by Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Troy Searer, and Greg Yaitanes for Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti’s Trigger Street, the series will be directed by Yaitanes, who will also serve as showrunner, alongside a script written by Andrew Sodroski. The series will follow FBI profiler Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald and how he used old-school methods to track down the Unabomber.

John Malone’s UK pay-TV operator Virgin Media stepped up its rivalry with Rupert Murdoch’s Sky on Wednesday when it unveiled a new box, the V6, which can record six shows at once, and a download-to-own service, among a flurry of other new services and enhancements.

At a launch event in London’s Leadenhall Building, overlooking Tower Bridge, David Bouchier, Virgin’s chief digital entertainment officer, revealed the various features of the V6 box, which is powered by TiVo software. “Our new Virgin TV lineup raises the bar in home entertainment, marrying the latest and smartest technology with the very best TV programs, all underpinned by our ultra-fast cable network. This is game-changing TV,” he said.

While recording six shows at once, V6 box users can also watch a seventh recording or stream from services such as the BBC’s iPlayer or Netflix. Virgin has also freed viewers to roam throughout their homes.

Recordings, on-demand shows and live TV can be watched in one room, paused and continued in another with the V6 box or their existing TiVo box. Recordings and live TV can be continued on a mobile device with Virgin’s TV Anywhere app.