Orange Wednesday replaced by £1 movie rental from EE
This month EE, Orange and T-Mobile customers will be able to rent one film a week from streaming service Wuaki.tv for £1 plus a 35p text.
Having called "cut!" on Orange Wednesday, EE is now calling "lights, camera, action!" on a new movie-related deal: EE Film Club. The promotion gives film fans on EE, Orange or T-Mobile a movie rental for £1 plus the price of a 35p text each week from Wuaki.tv.
Online streaming service Wuaki is currently showing new blockbusters such as "Interstellar", "The Imitation Game" and "Fury" to buy or rent, along with the latest series from TV shows like "Game of Thrones", "American Horror Story" and "Sons of Anarchy".
EE Film Club launches on 30 March. It will be available to all EE, Orange and T-Mobile customers with mobile or broadband contracts, and can be watched on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, games console, smart TV or EE TV set-top box. The service offers "the majority" of Wuaki's new releases and classic movies, with some offered in high definition.
You have to text EE each week for a promo code, which is a bit of a chore in this day and age. Oh, and texts cost 35p on your phone bill, which means your film actually costs £1.35. Anyway, to take advantage text "film" to 141 and redeem your code, then choose your movie and watch it within 48 hours.
The new offer replaces the long-running and hugely popular Orange Wednesday promotion, which was discontinued in February. Although it is movie-related, the new scheme is very different from Orange Wednesday, which gave Orange customers a second cinema ticket for free when they visited the pictures midweek.
EE and its precursor Orange have traditionally lent weight to the movie industry, for example with sponsorship of the Rising Star Award at the BAFTAs. But by shifting the viewing experience from the cinema to the home -- or more specifically, the mobile device -- the new scheme reflects changing trends in the way we consume movies and media in general.
"Today's announcement is very much part of EE's longstanding support and commitment to the film industry in general," an EE spokesperson said, "but also recognises how consumer habits are changing. EE is a digital brand so this new offer makes sense for our film-loving customers, as more people than ever before are downloading and streaming movies so they can watch at home or on the go."
EE quotes figures from market research company YouGov, which show that one in three UK adults are now downloading or streaming films and TV every week.
