by Dick Rolfe, CEO – The Dove Foundation

If you’ve been keeping up with the evolution in home entertainment and watched it transition from DVD’s and Blu-ray discs to digital delivery, you may already be using one or more of the new services.

In the 90’s you could rent a movie for a few bucks a night.  In the years that followed, rentals were replaced by purchase-only DVD’s, leaving kiosks like Redbox and Video On Demand (VOD) services from the cable and satellite companies as the only movie rental options.

Now that the Internet has reached lightning speeds, full-length HD movies can be delivered direct to any web-connected device – computer, smart phone, or tablet. This paved the way for streaming VOD where you can rent a single movie online, or subscription services (SVOD) where you pay a monthly fee and watch as many programs as you wish.

Streaming VOD is available over the Internet from services like iTunes, Amazon basic, Hulu basic, and Vudu. Of the subscription streaming services, Netflix is the frontrunner, followed by Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime Instant Video.

The number of services to choose from is multiplied by the number of program choices available on each of these services. This is further complicated by the lack of segmentation or security available to those of us who would like to choose from a wide selection of movies that reflect our values.

For over two decades, The Dove Foundation has focused on locating and endorsing movies that reflect family values, and providing online reviews so families can make informed choices before plunking down good money for a movie ticket or a DVD purchase.

After many months of research and planning, Dove is embracing this new digital technology. In addition to recommending movies for the faith and family audience, we will begin providing access to many of them.  We’ve partnered with a top notch technology company that is building a system to provide a safe “walled garden” of family-approved and faith-friendly movies from which you can choose.

The DOVE CHANNEL will be available in late 2015. This service is similar to Netflix. However, it will offer a wide selection of only Dove-approved movies. The DOVE CHANNEL will be available for steaming on the Web, and many of the popular digital services such as Roku, XBox, Smart TV, iTunes, etc.  Watch for updates in future issues of Hollywood Uplink and on our website.

The winner in all of this is you, the person who cares about what types of movies you and your family members expose yourselves to. Making wise entertainment choices is not easy. Hopefully, the DOVE CHANNEL will make your life a little better.