Tracking downtime and recovery

LOVEFiLM experienced issues with our Affiliate Window tracking for approximately 24 hours from Wednesday 13th October afternoon. This will have meant that despite tracking being in place, leads will not have been passed back to Affiliate Window correctly

We have now recovered all the data that was lost and have added this back for each affiliate effected. Sales will be validated according to the normal process.

Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience and know we are reviewing the process that caused this to occur. Throughout the past 6 years we have never had an issue like this and appreciate the timing was not great with many affiliates at the A4U Expo and you may not have noticed until now.

LOVEFiLM is coming to PlayStation 3

Good news for all LOVEFiLM members and PS3 owners - our free streaming service is about to come to the PS3.

Film Fans on LOVEFiLM subscription packages of £5.99 or above will be able to stream 1000s of titles for FREE. They can also scroll through titles on the page and search through categories including ‘Pick of the Week’, ‘Most Watched’ and ‘Highest Rated’, so will never be short of a great film to watch.

In terms of our affiliate marketing this is a huge development. Affiliates can now promote our service to all PS3 owners (millions of them) with a great new feature. This adds to the great selling points of our service - imagine sitting on your sofa and being able to pick from 1000s of films depending on your mood, ready to watch for free right away.

The video below explains how the service will work and we have more information on our site here. Expect updated creative for all affiliates while copy should be updated on your sites.

Online Film of the Week - Ocean's Thirteen

This week the highlight of our FREE online film selection is the star packed Ocean's Thirteen

After their old chum Reuben Tischkoff (Gould) is double-crossed in a business deal and hospitalized, Danny Ocean (Clooney) reconvenes his charming gang of thieves and heads to Las Vegas to gain revenge on the man who put Ruben at death’s door: shark-like hotelier, Willy Bank (Pacino). Their plan is simple: break the Bank by destroying his new multi-billion dollar hotel. However, it won’t be that easy.

This film is free to watch for all of our members including anyone on a free trial. Other great films currently on offer include Batman Begins, Unforgiven and Alexander.

Please update any copy on your sites and email/newsletters to reflect the great new LOVEFiLM - not only can you watch on DVD and Blu-ray but you can watch loads of great films for FREE online.

LoveFilm secures 'Frozen' exclusive - another cool reason to sign up

As reported in NMA and Digital Spy LOVEFiLM has struck a deal with Momentum Pictures to release movie Frozen exclusively across multiple platforms.

The multiplatform deal will enable subscribers to watch the movie online via the LoveFilm Player or rent the DVD/Blu-ray.

The horror movie will become available to LOVEFiLM members on October 1, long before it is released on retail DVD on October 18. This is another example of the growth in our service and the many reasons for signing up for a free trial - great films on DVD, online and before anyone else.

Adam Eldrett, Momentum’s senior product manager said, “With Frozen set to become a hit in the UK, launching a multi-tiered release – for the first time via the LOVEFiLM platform – gives us the opportunity to bring movie content to film-lovers via a number of different channels.

Frozen looks like a great film, we recently held a special midnight screening and people loved the concept:

Frozen stars Shawn Ashmore (the X-Men trilogy), Kevin Zegers (Dawn Of The Dead) and Emma Bell (Death In Love; New York City Serenade) as a trio of twenty-somethings – best friends Joe Lynch (Ashmore) and Dan Walker (Zegers), plus Dan’s girlfriend Parker O’Neil (Bell) – hoping to spend some quality time skiing and snowboarding in the picturesque resort of Mount Holliston.

But a typical day on the slopes turns into a chilling nightmare when they find themselves unexpectedly stranded on a chairlift shortly after the ski resort closes for the week.

Unknowingly left dangling high above the ground and with no apparent safe way down as night begins to set in, with increasing panic they soon realize that the threats of frostbite and hypothermia are the least of their worries.

LOVEFiLM - direct to your TV

Affiliates should be updating their site copy to reflect the increasing ways you can access the LOVEFiLM service when you become a member, the big win is all new Sony and Samsung internet ready TVs.

All you need is a membership, a broadband connection and a LOVEFiLM Ready TV Device, you can watch thousands of films instantly on your TV

Some simple, on-screen instructions will show you how to match up your device with your LOVEFiLM account. Then, start watching films.

What's available to watch?

We've got thousands of great films to choose from: comedy, drama, action/adventure, thriller, documentary, horror and much more besides. It’s a slimmer version of the DVD rental catalogue, and we’re adding titles all the time.

We are adding new ways all the time and such a wide range of access options will appeal to anyone considering becoming a member. You can find our more here

LOVEFiLM launches app on Yahoo

As reported in NMA and elsewhere our members can now access the LOVEFiLM service via their Yahoo homepage. This gives an added way for members to use the service and easily manage their account, a useful extra feature for affiliates to promote.

LOVEFiLM Online Film of the Week - Taking Lives

This week the highlight of our FREE online film selection is the Angelina Jolie FBI thriller Taking Lives.

With superb investigative skills heightened by uncanny natural instincts, Iliana Scott (Angelina Jolie) is not a typical FBI profiler. This beautiful, no-nonsense Special Agent is a cut above the rest, which is why her old friend Captain Le Claire calls her to assist his detectives in Montreal when a brutalized body is discovered in a construction site. A murder the next night provides proof of a serial killer, but this time, there is a witness. Artist James Costa (Ethan Hawke) not only saw the murder, but also tried to save the victim, and is even able to provide a sketch of the killer. To complicate matters even more, Scott is drawn to their charming key witness, Costa, and finds herself in uncomfortable territory as she fights her romantic impulses in an effort to remain professional.

This film is free to watch for all of our members on unlimited packages including anyone on a free trial. This is just one of 1000s of titles available to watch that includes 300, Flags of our Fathers and Team America - World Police.

LoveFilm signs deal with MGM to stream classics and new releases

As now being reported on Forbes, CNBC, Yahoo, TechCrunch and all over the place, we have agreed a new deal with MGM to help grow our range of video on demand titles. This is helping to grow a core part of the LOVEFiLM service that is part of the free trial our affiliates are promoting.

MGM Classics will be available to LOVEFiLM members as part of their subscription including the multi-Oscar winning films West Side Story and The Apartment among other award-winning films. New MGM releases will be available to access instantly on a transactional basis.

Simon Calver, the big dog, chief cyclist and CEO at LOVEFiLM commented:

"We're delighted to bring MGM's legendary content to LOVEFiLM. With over 85 years making top quality movies, the MGM stable will be a notable addition to our expanding 'Watch Online' service. With the digital revolution underway, our opportunity for growth is huge and the addition of MGM titles is a substantial development in enhancing our digital catalogue."

LOVEFiLM Online Film of the week - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This week the highlight of our FREE online film selection is the Johnny Depp remake of a classic - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The film tells the story of Charlie Bucket, a boy from an impoverished family under the shadow of a giant chocolate factory. He wins a candy bar contest and is given a tour of the amazing factory run by the eccentric Willy Wonka and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.

This film is free to watch for all of our members on unlimited packages including anyone on a free trial. This is just one of 1000s of titles available to watch and among several featuring unusual characters. Also online to watch for free are The Mask, Batmen Begins and Robocop.

New banners to support our TV advertising

LOVEFiLM have updated our banners available on Affiliate Window to reflect the new message, as previously explained on this blog. This supports the new message also featured in our TV advertising - which started again this week.

As stated when we have had big TV campaigns before, affiliates do really well out of the increased brand awareness TV creates. The increased awareness not only leads to direct new sales but means affiliates can exploit the new knowledge their site audience may have.