CNET: Disney delays MovieBeam expansion

Hewing to almost perfectly consistent precedent, Disney's video on demand test markets are proving a bust. This time around, Disney's stab at making the online world resemble the Hollywood model is called MovieBeam and uses a technology that downloads movies onto a set-top box through TV broadcast signals. They've reportedly invested about $68 million to date and are on the hook for another $55 million in licensing fees if they keep it up.

It is unlikely that the residents of Spokane, Jacksonville, FL and Salt Lake City - the three current test markets - bought enough $1.99 movies to make the effort seem potentially profitable. But Disney, again consistent with the storied video on demand tests of the past, isn't admitting defeat. It is upgrading software in those test markets and is characterizing the pushing back of the national roll-out as merely a delay.