If Video Killed the Radio Star, Why Did Rdio Snuff Out Vdio?
Barely eight months old (and just six months since launching to the public), the Vdio streaming platform is no more. Rdio has decided to pull the plug on the service without it ever having exited beta status, discontinuing a promising alternative to established streaming video services like Netlix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime Instant Video, to name just a few.
"We are writing to inform you that we have decided to discontinue the Vdeo beta service," the Vdio team wrote in a email to beta participants. "Despite out efforts, we were not able to deliver the differentiated customer experience we had hoped for, and so Vdio is now closed."
While comparisons to Netflix were inevitable, Vdio had more in common with services like iTunes, as users could buy and rent streaming movies and TV shows. However, had the service lasted beyond the beta stage, it might have morphed into something much bigger. One of the goals was to combine Rdio and Vdio, offering users the best of both worlds (music and movies).
Unfortunately it never had the chance to be something more than it was. In addition, Vdio came into this world on iOS and was never offered on connected devices. It also failed to offer a value proposition that users couldn't already get with Netflix and other streaming services.
It's too bad because a combined Rdio/Vdio service would have had potential. In the end, however, radio got its revenge on video after video killed the radio star.
"We are writing to inform you that we have decided to discontinue the Vdeo beta service," the Vdio team wrote in a email to beta participants. "Despite out efforts, we were not able to deliver the differentiated customer experience we had hoped for, and so Vdio is now closed."
While comparisons to Netflix were inevitable, Vdio had more in common with services like iTunes, as users could buy and rent streaming movies and TV shows. However, had the service lasted beyond the beta stage, it might have morphed into something much bigger. One of the goals was to combine Rdio and Vdio, offering users the best of both worlds (music and movies).
Unfortunately it never had the chance to be something more than it was. In addition, Vdio came into this world on iOS and was never offered on connected devices. It also failed to offer a value proposition that users couldn't already get with Netflix and other streaming services.
It's too bad because a combined Rdio/Vdio service would have had potential. In the end, however, radio got its revenge on video after video killed the radio star.
