The New York Times Not Too Pleased With Akimbo TV

Filed in archive Entertainment on June 9, 2005

The last few days we've been talking about the Akimbo reviews that have been rolling in. Torsten points us to a review from The New York Times that pretty much slams the content by saying:

To make matters worse, the rental terms are different for every show. Some are free. (Akimbo says 40 percent are free, but that tally includes movie trailers, video blogs, two-minute CNN snippets and other free stuff from the Web.) The rest cost 50 cents to $5; pornographic movies are $10 (parental controls are available). Some stay on your hard drive forever, some self-destruct after 7 or 30 days, and some give you only a two-day window to watch.

But even worse is this quote from Akimbo that pretty much shows their confidence level:

The other good news is that Akimbo is well aware of its problems. "We don't tell everyone to buy it," said Steve Shannon, the company's founder. "We say, try it out; we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. It's meant to appeal to people who have an interest in a particular channel. If you're really into Billiards, you might want this thing."

Hmm, maybe they need to hire a PR firm to do their talking?

Read TV's Future Is Here, but It Needs Work at TheNewYorkTimes.com