Movie piracy is a problem, but it’s not as huge of a problem as music piracy was this past decade. While certainly the size of the movie files and the need for fast broadband connections to get them in a reasonable amount of time plays into it somewhat, also helping is the fact that there are some fairly decent ways to get movies quickly, for a pretty fair price these days. And now Hollywood is apparently trying to change that.
The studios are starting to rally around a horrible new idea: Keeping new releases out of Redbox and more importantly, Netflix for 30 days. Let me repeat that: They think Netflix shouldn’t be able to ship many new movies to you until 30 days after they’re released on DVD.
Now, this doesn’t appear to be set in stone yet for Netflix, as the studios are said to be currently negotiating this with the company, but it is what the studios want. And the strategy is going forward with Redbox, which recently filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox over the same issue. And now, with Universal and Warner Brothers getting on board, another lawsuit seems likely.
And in a move that couldn’t be less surprising, Blockbuster is on the wrong side of this. Despite the company having a strategy to do a massive roll-out of kiosks like the ones Redbox has, it is all in favor of the 30-day window, based on comments CEO Jim Keyes made during its Q2 earnings call.
Why? Well the company once again completely bombed in those earnings, posting a net loss of $36.9 million, while overall sales fell 22 percent in the quarter. It is getting fleeced by the likes of Redbox and Netflix and needs to gain some sort of competitive advantage in movie rentals. A 30-day rental window for its stores would certainly offer that.
Of course, as the name synonymous with movie rentals for the past couple of decades, Blockbuster could have used its power to get ahead of some of these trends (by-mail rentals, cheap kiosks, online rentals/streaming), but didn’t. So now they will have to rely on the movie studios attempting to put stricter rules in place for gaining access to its movies right away. Rules, that would seem to be basically prodding users to obtain those movies illegally.
If the studios are allowing some places like Blockbuster stores to rent movies on day one, but limit Netflix from doing the same, how many of the millions of Netflix users are going to drive to a Blockbuster store to get that movie? Some certainly will, but a lot will also turn to the web and simply download the movie. And some who have never done that before will learn how to get around such a ridiculous restriction.
And Blockbuster’s comments on this are pitiful. Having failed so far with its movies-by-mail approach, online approach, and set-top box approach, Blockbuster is now turning to kiosks. It hopes to have some 2,500 of them by the end of the year and 7,000 of them by next year. Some of their ideas for them are pretty laughable (a good example is the digital transfer of movies to portable media players, but no iPod/iPhone support, meaning that basically no one would use them), but more importantly, Blockbuster is against the two things that made this solution work for Redbox: Availability and price.
Keyes comments during the earnings call indicate that he believe the $0.99 price that Redbox offers its movies for is far too low for a sustainable model. He probably doesn’t mean for Redbox’s end, because they seem to be doing just fine — which is to say, just about the opposite of Blockbuster — using that model. Instead, he seems to be saying that Hollywood can’t survive on such a model, which again, is probably not true, but it’s good that Keyes is the movie studios new PR agent.
Here’s the best part of what he said though:
A vending rental window would enhance the complementary relationship between Blockbuster stores and Blockbuster kiosks. On Fox, Universal, and now Warner titles, for example, we can be far more aggressive in filling the store shelves with product to assure 100% availability of hot new releases. After 30 to 45 days, we can then make use of that product in our vending channel at a substantially reduced cost of goods, since that product will be partially amortized. Our customers can then use Blockbuster stores for depth and breadth of selection and assurance of hot new releases being available on Friday night or Saturday night. The customer can use vending kiosks then for value and convenience.
So basically, he wants to use the studio’s ridiculous 30-day window to prop up his own stores, which are flailing badly. He sees a movie rental ecosystem in which you get new releases from Blockbuster stores, and then slightly older options from the kiosks. Of course, both of those methods of getting movies are already dead, Keyes just doesn’t realize it yet.
He’s investing in these kiosks because Blockbuster has failed elsewhere to make inroads against competitors. But eventually, everyone knows that all of this distribution is going to go online, and then Blockbuster will be left with thousands of kiosks that are useless, just like its store are becoming. At least those won’t be the black holes for money that the stores are, I guess.
Supporting Hollywood’s ridiculous and dangerous idea to place 30-day rental holds on Netflix and Redbox, might prop up his failing brick and mortar stores a bit, but the idea that it will save them long term is laughable.
And Hollywood shouldn’t be tricked into thinking this 30-day rental window is a good idea because they have Blockbuster’s support. Blockbuster doesn’t matter anymore. And they well pay for that mistake in piracy.
[photo: flickr/gwaar]
Would this rule be applied to iTunes movie rentals?
a similar rule already applies to most iTunes (and other online distribution) rentals, that’s why you only see a few that are available the rent the same day as they’re released. now hollywood wants to extend that idea to redbox and netflix.
I’ve always hated this about the itunes movie store. When I KNOW a movie is “out” and I look on my apple TV and it is not there – I tend to acquire it elsewhere (and I’m not running out to the store).
If anything they should start doing online rentals the minute the movie is out of the theatre, not pushing it back further.
we’re a long, long way from that happening, but I do think it will eventually happen – especially if Hollywood keeps going on this path. they’ll have to do something like that to save themselves many years from now.
The best way to deal such issues is to let users get the live satellite stream the minute it is out in theaters (on the same times as that of theater). Of course, on a subscription basis. The subscription will be 50% more expensive than a typical theater ticket.
This way they will not only earn more but also resolve a lot of piracy issues.
When the movie is no longer in running in theaters (could be a week, a month or whatever time it generates sizable revenue in theater) , that’s the ideal time to move to netflix, redbox and others, including the dvd /brd releases.
If i were the controller, i would do it this way.
While reading the article I was thinking that there should be a solution… and this seems brilliant to me
Anti-competitive lawsuit waiting to happen!
exactly. can you say, anti-trust?
Perhaps, more specifically, restraint of trade.
The entertainment industry has successfully used payola schemes to influence what’s “popular” — and other deceptive trade practices to maintain their profit margins.
When you have contempt for your customer, all these business practices apparently seem rational.
Some folks in this country are _so_ out of touch with reality.
I don’t goto the blockbuster store now b/c I’m lazy so if I can’t get it online legally… well, I’ll get it online illegally.
It’s their choice and it appears they’re shooting themselves in the foot.
This article is so poorly written it boggles the mind. Where is the discussion of revenue sharing? Afterall, the studios have stated clearly that if Redbox and Netflix with adopt this policy (which Blockbuster has been doing for years) they’ll drop the whole lawsuit. Netflix and Redbox having been getting fat off the profits of rental for years while the studio hasn’t received a dime. And because people can so easily get a rental at $.99 they refuse to buy it new, and that costs the studio in a big way. Keyes isn’t to off base when he says the $1 rental may ruin Hollywood–the data very clearly shows that this rental scheme results in a net loss for studios. Data which was never mentioned in this article. Way to do your research people.
Here here!
How in the hell is renting from a kiosk any different from renting from a Blockbuster store? The movie studios are trying to screw consumers.
Instead of embracing new distribution methods they are fighting it. This has fail written all over it.
Carl – .99 rentals and convenience of having them in grocery stores & mcdonald’s is brilliant. I love those kiosks and probably all parents do too. Easy, cheap, convenient.
plus – just realized something else- when you return movies to BB, you usually just dump them off. If you’re forced to go into the grocery store, you might just pick up some items “since yu’re already there…
those kiosks are totally one of those “why didn’t someone think of this sooner” ideas
I agree, i’m all for the kiosks. My point is the movie studios are stupid for treating the kiosks different from how they treat stores like Blockbuster.
I am more likely to rent from a kiosk than a Blockbuster store simply because I go in grocery stores every week… I *NEVER* go in a Blockbuster.
I never rent movies anymore. But just yesterday I actually stopped and looked at the selection at the kiosk in my local grocery store… and might have rented something if a title caught my eye.
The kiosks are great. I’m surprised NetFlix hasn’t jumped into that arena yet or acquired RedBox.
I rent movies multiple times a week from these kiosks. They are cheap and convenient. Ill pay 1.00 to dvd express anyday over $5 for a movie at blockbuster.
They should make their stores like the kiosks. Make movies $1 a day. Why would i go to blockbuster and pay $5 for a movie so i can watch it once then let it sit on my coffee table for 4 more days when i can get a movie for $1, watch it, and return it the next day.
That is the reason i don’t go to blockbuster anymore.
Go megavideo.com
These companies should be embracing technology innovation instead of inhibiting it.
If something like iTunes had come out when MP3s first appeared, the music industry would be in a better place.
You’d think the movie studios would have learned something from the music industry.
agreed, but the movie studios are trying to protect there all-important dvd profits – which are already falling – so they’re scrambling to come up with a way to do that. of course, they don’t realize an idea like this is only going to put them in a much worse position in the future. it’s extremely short-sighted.
“Their” profits, not “there.” There refers to a place.
here! here!
(yes, that’s a joke)
This is absolutely right. It has really taken the music industry a long time to catch on though, so why would the movie industry be any different?
Of course, the sad thing is that they are pretty much the same companies. Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing…
If you want to read more of my thoughts on this, check out the conversation on “Inside Redbox”
http://www.insi...-redbox-part-3/
I can’t help but think the root cause for most of these DRM schemes is generational… in other words, the old people dont get it.
Do you think any of them read blogs like TechCrunch and then wonder why everyone hates their ideas so much?
I really find it astounding how short sighted they can be, yet there are SO many people out there (like in this article) pointing out how bad these ideas are.
Why don’t they listen to you guys? Am I crazy to think many of us younger techie people could develop far more financially promising business plans than these executives can? If we were magically put in their place, would we do a much better job with our ideas?
I’d like to think so, but the fact that they don’t seem to be listening or responding to these ideas at all is really disheartening.
Redbox should just call itself a store. Put a picture of acne faced teen on the kiosk and pretend that teen is renting the video.
It’s all about money and greed, and with this economy, it won’t work.
Don’t these kinds of “agreements” by the movie studios border on illegal collusion? In what other industry do suppliers legally get together to dictate to wholesalers what they can do with their products?
i’d say these types of agreements are certainly suspect when one studio does something and the others rush to support it, basically crippling the market.
I don’t know, it seems pretty genius to me.
Studio heads just probably love pirates. Johnny Depp f’ing rocks.
that’s true. Pirates 4 is going to make a killing at the box office. i can’t wait to rent it 30 days after it’s released on dvd. or maybe i’ll just find another way to get it…
If they’re smart they’ll make it available for download first and price it accordingly.
Release windows are still pretty complicated. And I think you should check out “revenue sharing” aspect of Blockbuster deal vs. RedBox, it may be causing a bunch of this.
I’ll probably just raid a village and grab a copy. Do you want me to grab one for you MG?
+1
It’s a shame that the brass at Blockbuster can’t see their own approaching demise. They fail to recognize that they are still an analog sales stream in a digital sales economy.
I don’t care if there is a Kiosk at my local Blockbuster or corner store because I still have to go and get it. Why bother when it can come to me.
It will get to me in some form or another and it will usually be by the path of least resistance.
If I have to wait an extra month to see a film then so be it. I already waited 4 since the theatrical release so what’s another 30 days.
If I REALLY wanted to see the film that badly, I would have gone to the theater.
For most of the crap that’s coming out of Hollywood these days it’s just not worth the trip or expense.
These guys are just caught up in their own little world and don’t see the big picture.
EXACTLY. What’s another month? If I *needed* to see it sooner I would have gone to the theater. Who cares?
This whole thing makes no sense. If the studios want to make more money, they should just charge more money. It is simple — when a movie is fresh and new, charge more to rent it on iTunes (or Hulu, or Google Video, or whatever service it is on). Once it is older, charge less.
If you make it just unavailable then folks start looking for other ways of getting it. (Or do something other than watch a movie.)
This is why I only pirate movies.
Occasionally you’ll get the good move that comes around and you go see it in the theater, but as soon as that Blu-Ray comes out, it’s off to the bittorrent tracker.
do people still pay $6 per movie for a few days of rental? how are they still open in the first place?
you know what a 30-day delay is going to do? It’s just gonna push back when I rent by 30 days. I already don’t see stuff in theaters since its $10+ so waiting 30 more days doesn’t really matter to me. and by rent I mean going to a kiosk for a buck or the local place for 2 bucks, not blockbuster for $6.
tv is where it’s at people. always on and no delays.
They will never learn…
I use amazon.com/unbox whenever I can. I know new movies come out and should be available for rental there but aren’t…for weeks sometimes. So, instead of getting my 3.99 for a download rental of 24 hours (ridiculous I know) they get me never renting the movies at all. By the time they show up I’m usually disinterested.
I have a blockbuster right down the street and I’ve used it once in the past year, at Christmas time. Having the new releases there vs on netflix or online isn’t going to make me drive down there once a month – it will just give me even more disdain for the studios and blockbuster.
But, I guess none of us ever thought either of them were geniuses!
This is a poor strategy and will not work, band-aids never do.
Who are these people that rent / buy movies? Likely the same morons who still buy cd’s.
I have not bought any media (other then blank) in years .. between torrents / p2p / usenet / ftp etc .. there is enough places to get anything you want usually weeks if not longer before anything hits the retail channel.
Those who know – do
Those who don’t – pay out the ass
torrents / p2p / are still illigal as far as I know. Also, as far as picture quality goes, pirated material still has a ways to go.
But you are right in there does need to be an alternative distrabution method available to consumers.
So what, that’s why they call it piracy and as far as quality goes you can have HD resolution sources atleast a month before the actual bluray comes out, most computer hardware is HD ready so again what was that about quality, keep spreading your misinformation bud.
This isn’t true either. You can get a Blueray rip a month before the movie comes out and download it in a couple of hours. Then just use an HDMI or DVI cable to your flat screen TV. You must be downloading crap.
CDs still outstrip MP3s in quality, especially if you’re playing it through a high-end system.
This isn’t true. FLAC is exactly the same as a CD. You won’t even be able to tell the difference between it and a V0 or even V2 unless you have magical ears and a 300,000 dollar music system, and even then it would be negligible.
They also outstrip the MP3 in survivability. Sure, you can back up legally or illegally obtained MP3s, but those discs just don’t last that long.
I have CDs from the mid-1980’s that still play fine.
And as for the DRM-ed stuff, it’s all fine and dandy until the company you bought the product from goes away or arbitrarily turns off your account.
Given that legal MP3 downloads generally cost as much as the full-resolution-and-with-art CD, I generally buy the CD.
Physical media still has its place.
I’m wondering if this means more stupid lawsuits like what RIAA did. I certainly hope not. I think the courts have better things to do.
did you see joel tenenbaum and the riaa spokeswoman segment on cnn. all i kept thinking was uh good for you riaa, but now how are you going to get that money. i mean if i’m broke and i’m downloading what are you going to do…send me to jail or say that all my future earnings will have to go towards my riaa dept?
http://www.yout...h?v=GCOlaxeywlM
i haven’t downloaded in years. i still buy things, but the internet makes my whole life easier and allows me to see things i wouldn’t buy in the first place. why do i need to go and buy the latest crap single from a crap artist when i can hear it for free. if it’s an artist i like and support i will gladly spend money on their products.
i agree with sean shepard. i heard on the radio that dvd sells have not been good so far this year, but more people are chosing to go to the movies during the recession. this plan, will not get me to get off my ass and spend money on a dvd. i can go to my local chinatown and get the early release version for less than $5.
sells=sales.
give me a all you can eat download store for $9.99 a month and i will we sign up. so will my rapidshare/torrent loving friends. the studios need to start thinking like walmart. cheap+scale=profits
Doesn’t Netflix offer this? $10/m package allows unlimited streaming, IIRC.
When Netflix started out, they just went to BestBuy and bought a ton of DVDs.
What is to stop Netflix from going back to that model?
Sure, the final model would probably be split (e.g, 20/80, 10/90) between buying a few DVDs via BestBuy, Walmart, et al. and buying the lower cost “rental” DVDs via the studios, but this 30-day silliness isn’t going to stop Netflix from having the DVDs, unless Netflix wants to wait. All Netflix has to do is buy enough DVDs from a different supplier to sufficiently satisfy the initial demand (move the DVD from the “To be released” state to the “very long wait” state).
What is to keep Netflix from cutting huge deals with major wholesalers/retailers? Sure they’ll pay more than the studios might charge, but they’ll pay far less than retail.
The studios are acting like they have a monopoly on selling DVDs when they don’t.
Isn’t this why Redbox is being sued?
I was under the impression Redbox was doing the suing.
Once the studios have placed the DVDs into the “stream of commerce” the First Sale Doctrine takes hold and those DVDs may be sold to anyone.
I don’t even use Netflix anymore, but I haven’t even been inside a Blockbuster store for years. What kind of weirdos drive to a store to get a movie and then drive back to return it the next day? That’s crazy talk.
i live a couple streets from a blockbuster and every time is see it it looks so sad because it has maybe 6 total customers…and i can’t remember the last time i used netflix.
Blockbuster, like its studio friends and fellow music publishers, have this notion that competitive advantage comes from regulating their lack of innovation, hence screwing not only the creative, innovative and rightfully successful competition but eventually the end consumer.
The cahoots with the big studios is nothing more that an overly arrogant sense of entitlement.
Now there’s an antitrust case if I’ve ever heard one…
And yes, promoting the release of a DVD to all consumers, including those who prefer electronic and mail delivery, Redbox, Netflix and Amazon – and then ending up releasing it in the pitiful Blockbuster retail location may increase Blockbusters’ bottom line, but rest assure; it will increase piracy 10 folds.
I have a real question MG – Why are they taking on a strategy that is so obviously short-sighted?
They aren’t complete idiots – Heck, they can read this blog. There must be a reason.
My only guess is that it is the same kind of reason politicians make short-sighted budget decisions: To stay in office. If you have the choice to lose your job now or in 2 years, the answer seems obvious.
My logic here seems spurious – Any informed ideas as to why a bad idea for the business may be good for the individual execs making the call?
on one hand I think you’re right, but I also think their desire to stop the DVD profit bleed is blinding them.
I would like to see day and date with theaters but agree with MG that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Let’s face it, Hollywood hates tech companies that have tried to offer new forms of movie availability and will try any moves to thwart advancements that threaten there current hold on distribution.
What’s going to be very interesting is as their profits from physical discs fade away will they start reducing the movie budgets? And when they start reducing the movie budgets will we start to see more B quality movies? And to me the best part, will these a-list actors still demand $20M a movie or will they also reduce their rates?
Er, maybe I’m missing something here, but how exactly how does renting DVDs from Netflix promote piracy? Can’t you just go to BB and burn the movie using DVD Shrink and AnyDVD when you get it home anyway?
We’re in for something amazing. After music downloading became common, musicians realized the way to make money was to go out and perform. Something like that is going to happen in the theater/movie industry. Lots of pain in the transition, and I have no idea what the end product will be, but I think it will involve some experience that can’t be reproduced digitally.
I think these guys need to have a good long talk with their lawyers about ohhhh I don’t know, possibly the most significant anti-trust case in history:
http://en.wikip...t_Pictures,_Inc.
I bet what they’re hoping is that they’ll be able to get away with it long enough that it’ll cripple Redbox and Netflix too badly that even if they win their inevitable lawsuits, they’ll still never recover.
Also I think it’s important to note that if they go through with this, we consumers can also file lawsuits against them; anti-competitive actions harm consumers, too! Anyone up for a little class-action?
Just in time for the ipredator VPN service release party!
Lets do the math quick.
~$20/ 3 months for VPN service
$15+/ month for rental service.
Ill take the pirating!
I already watch too many movies. If this keeps me from a few more, I’ll only have gained the time I would have spent watching movies. It could be worse. I don’t even care whether the Netflix movies I’m getting are new or old. There all mixed up in my queue, anyway.
“The love of money . . .”
The movie studios are out of their mind!
If something like this pass, I think it should be the responsibility of each one of us to illegally download 30 movies each month .
Most movies are already available to stream before they even hit the theatres. Stuff like this will lead more and more people to go that route.
ridiculous idea
This plan would work if DVD wasn’t a unsecured format.
Piracy will increase, simply because on day 1 of the DVD release, someone will buy it and rip it to a torrent within an hour.
Having that 30 day window makes sense to allow people to buy the release, obviously if they really want to see a movie, they will buy the DVD or just wait the 30 days.
It WAS like this in the VHS days of renting back in the early 90’s. A release would be available to buy first, then after a month, the VHS would be available to rent.
To the movie studios defense, they are running a business and need to maximize their profiting potential.
New formats are among us to offer better security in digital distribution than DVD and Blu-ray, but all in all the digital delivery is what people want today with so many limited options for local retail locations.
This is going to do absolutely nothing to stop piracy. You can’t stop piracy. It is futile.
All you can do is target the consumers who are willing to pay for your product and focus on those consumers.
This isn’t going to drive people to buy DVD’s. It just means consumers are going to wait 30 days until they can get it through NetFlix or RedBox. OR they will just pirate it.
Um, DVD *is* a secured format with CSS encryption. Blu-Ray is even more secured with AACS and BD+ encryption schemes, but it makes ZERO difference of course. And no “new formats” are going to work any better, as this entire notion of DRM is inherently “unsecurable” ultimately.
But all this is besides the point as movies get released to bittorrent weeks (sometimes months) *before* their commercial release.
only way it’s all going to work is where it’s inevitably headed anyway – comcast on demand type service. All movies any time any where, just buy, download and watch. Can watch them on certain TVs only for a certain period of time then they’re gone etc.
TV shows too. Ridiculous that i cannot just click and find any TV show/ any movie at any time I want. It’s almost 2010 for crap’s sake. When are we going to get our minority-report type world…
What planet are you on, of course you can click and get everything you want, most shows are even on websites right now, the so called time limited files is just another type of DRM, useless and easily circumvented. Why oh why people do you keep playing into these pirates robbing you of your rights to purchase and own something to do with as you please. If you want to live in your minority report world I suggest you educate yourself on torrents/p2p you can have everything you want and add another nail in the morally bankrupt entertainment industries coffin.
yeah b/c I *really* want to sit in front of my computer on a friday night watching my monitor when I can lay on my couch in front of a huge TV where i can watch HD movies without glitching. And when I’m at work, I work, I don’t watch TV shows on my computer.
and maybe, just maybe i’m not a child and have money to pay for things that other people produce. I don’t steal. Period. Morally bankrupt or not, I think the artists and so on need to get some money.
the minority report comment was a joke, chill
That minority report world is coming sooner than later.
You don’t ‘own’ with a right to do what you please. You license content for your own viewing, and certain limited depending on what country you live in uses.
Copyright, even in its most open creative commons form, still gives the content creator/distributor the right to say how it gets used.
Actually there is an answer, it’s just not released and popular yet, but I can assure you it does exist and in last phase of testing now
@Bruce;
My STR3EM format is a secure (the most) media delivery format that is designed to succeed optical media..
As a successor to DRM, we are utilizing a new system of linking media ownership to a user’s Facebook account (min of 32 friends required to avoid bogus account piracy)… User can access our media on any PC or compatible device.
So now people can’t play the “DRM is limiting me” excuse card.. A user can allow the world to view their STR3EM products if they like, all they have to do is share their FB login and password publicly. Not an easy decision I am sure.
No one can say that a format is “limiting” their “fair use” anymore, and keep 100% security.
The only limitation now will be how willing is a user to share their FB account with the world.
Fixing all the problems with entertainment media is easy, by providing the middle point needed for open easy user access and top level AES-256 (government level) security for content owners, everyone should be happy.
(The following is not directed @Bruce, just a general statement)
Anyone complaining after the release of STR3EM simply are not interested in acquiring content legally, and I suggest to them to make photocopies of a $20 bill, take them to Best Buy and try to buy all the music and movies they want. Until anyone can do the above and not spend the rest of their lives in jail, stop the bickering over companies attempting to protect their investments and intellectual property.
How can these coorporations actually be so short sighted? I really don’t understand it.
Is it as simple as old-school executives who just doesn’t understand the way of the world – that the internet is becoming a staple in a majority of peoples’ diets?
Don’t they spend millions of dollars paying analytical companies / contractors to figure this stuff out for them even? I’m so confused by these types of decisions from the conglomerates.
Do they think they can control us just because they have so much money in their cauffers?
Don’t they realize the internet is a completely different ball game?
It is called China where you can watch a new release movies the day it comes out…. on VDC I think it is called.. some weird name..but still pretty good… the chinese know what they are doing… and nobody cares….lol
yupp. and this is why people still head over to their various chinatowns and get dvd’s of films that haven’t been released in the west. gotta love the asia.
asia=asians.
If Blockbuster can’t see where the market is going, I suggest they visit just about any college town across this country. There aren’t many, if any Blockbuster stores left in those areas.
I have watched two close in my neighborhood in Chicago within the last year because I guarantee you that the kiosks in the local supermarkets and Netflix are the only places that the college students and the largely 30-something population get their movies from. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for almost five years, and I went to one of those Blockbusters the once the week I moved in, and once a week later and I haven’t been back since.
Driving through college towns visiting family or friends also reveals a dearth of Blockbusters. This generation just isn’t interested in traveling specifically to get a movie. Yea, they might pick one up from a kiosk if they come across one, but otherwise, they either utilize Netflix, buy it from a Best Buy or Amazon, wait for it to come out on cable, or download it online.
It isn’t like this population is wanting for entertainment, the local theaters – despite the massive cost of tickets these days is routinely busy and often packed. The discrepancy is more than a bit noticeable, which makes it all the more laughable that Blockbuster hasn’t seen it.
I’d prefer to watch all movies at home instead of at the theatre. The theatre experience freakin blows, all the noise, cell phones, crappy huge ass screen with fuzzy lines…etc.
So I’ll wait 30days and get it on Netflix… wtf do I care.
Now if the movie industry made the movies available at home the same day as the theatre I may be willing to pay $7.50 for it… on some movies.
dfdsfdsd
Well… they did this back in the days of VHS. Rental establishments had them first (often at $70+ a tape) and then they got shipped to retail stores 30-60-90 days later.
One of the early selling points of DVDs (and inducements of buying a DVD player) was that they eliminated the wait. You could get a disc the same time Blockbuster did.
But I sincerely doubt that the new 30-day window will have any impact whatsoever. If you’re used to picking up a disc from Redbox while you’re at Mickey’s, or maybe even from iTunes, then you’ll get a new release when it finally gets there. Until then you’ll watch something else.
Besides, it won’t last. It won’t help BB, and studios will soon realize that all they did was push back their profit cycles by 30-days.
Ah, maybe that’s the game. There will be no delay to drive blueray adoption since it is harder to pirate?
I don’t use netflix for the discs. I use it for the live streaming to my xbox. I said a while ago when hd-dvd and blu-ray were fighting with each other that I thought they both would lose out to downloaded media, and for me they did.
So rather than pay for a 3 Disc Account at Netflix, they want me to lower it to 1 and then just download the movies for free with uTorrent?
That’s fine.
Your move, giant stupid movie companies.
Do you know that in France, it’s not 30 days, but a few monthes?
And don’t dare to ask whether it’s legal that Movie Studios do that: they lobbied for a law to enforce this interdiction, and got it.
Oh, and it’s forbidden to show a movie on TV at wednesday ant saturnday night. For people to go in theaters.
SCREEEEWWWW HOLLLLLLLYWOOOOOD
Wait, I realized I’m angrier at Hollywood than just typing “Screeewww Hollyyyywoood”.
See, its these damn theaters. I went for a show last Sunday. I caught the morning show because it was supposedly a great movie and I couldn’t find shows for the evening.
The theater was full of high school kids who were more interested in giggling, talking on their cellphones, wisecracking, or just being plain obnoxious.
And then there was the kicker – a 20 minute (yes TWENTY minute) interval/break in the middle of the movie during which we were forced to sit through commercials. Not movie trailers. Commercials. Like the ones you see on TV.
I won’t even add the fact that the seats were lousy, there was almost no leg room, and the tickets cost me more than my dinner.
WTF is everyone in the movie industry (from Hollywood to Theaters) thinking? That we are their idiot hostages?
SCREEEEEEWWWWW HOLLLLLLLYYYWOOOD!
Simple, make them affordable to buy not outrageously expensive. Yes it is cheaper (free) to download, but if it were affordable many more, (not all), would pay for it just because it is legal and you get the artwork and other papers with it. CD’s / DVD’s it’s all the same. These equations consider a 10 fold increase in sales at a far cheaper price (I beleive it would be even more).
DVD Equation: $20 x 10,000 sales = $200,000 or $5 x 100,000 sales = $500,000
CD Equation: $15 x 10,000 sales = $150,000 or $4 x 100,000 sales = $400,000
How stupidly greedy are these media executives?
I have worked with all of the studios on these issues in the past. Its an economic justification that will exist until the death of the plastic dvd. That said, as I posted back in March, Blockbuster is still smoking crack. They missed bus a long time ago.
http://williams...once=cab296f5da
I just can’t understand the reasoning behind this. The only thing keeping from pirating 100% of the movies I watch at home is my conscious and the fact that companies like Netflix (or LoveFilm the UK equivalent) are able to get these movies to me relatively fast.
To be honest, the only reason I have an account with LoveFilm is so I can feel I’m paying for something. Afterall it’s all readily available on the net and without any waiting time. Another month of delay would probably mean the end of that arrangement for me.
heres a great idea…how about accepting the fact that making over $10 million in profit per movie for the producer, actor, dresser, stylist is a absurd idea
First, you’re just plain wrong. Dressers and stylists don’t make anywhere near that kind of jing. Hell, most actors don’t make that kind of money per appearance.
Movies, like it or not, pump a lot of money around the economy. It’s generally a good thing. And people are lined up to see them.
If they’re so bad and so crappy all the time, why pay to see? Why bother to pirate? Are you happy to just take whatever’s given to you?
Finally, if you can make millions without hurting people or breaking the law, why wouldn’t you?
But maybe you’re right. Maybe we should all have our earnings capped at $40,000 per year, all drive government issued cars, live in government issued housing and have our weekly food rations delivered. It’s worked so well elsewhere.
Hate the game man, don’t hate the player.
Work hard, be smart, work on your personal appearance and maybe you’ll have a shot at high-earnings.
Seriously?
Netflix sends it to me when it’s available. I don’t care how long that takes. I’m certainly not going to hurry to Blockbuster to get it sooner.
Do people really sit around and stress about DVD release schedules? Who are you people? The movie will be just as good 30 days later, I promise.
Movie studios need to wisen up. They’re taking the wrong fork here. Blockbuster has for years. Redbox Has a specific non-Internet market and only has Bruckheimer and Tyler Perry movies. This may be sustainable for that market for some time but will fail in the end.
Netflix is the only company doing anything intelligent. Notice their push to stream more and more movies (saving on DVD, envelopes, and postage) and get their service on more devices (Xbox, Wii) and would be interested to hear their plans for mobile. I would poop myself at a ‘Netflix for iPhone’ announcement.
Studios need to wake the fuck up. They’ve been protected (somewhat) from widespread piracy as MG said because of bandwidth and such but that is nearly moot these days. Piss off the public and the backlash will be huge (as witnessed by this post getting more comments quicker than most TC posts).
They need a new business model. Why not let the DVDs out on Netflix on release day but work out a revenue share with Netflix? Or as another commenter mentioned save the money on printing, packaging and shipping and fucking sell them to us online for a reasonable price. Or hell, sell us digital shelfspace in the cloud. There’s room for some cool innovation here.
Studios better wake up.
And we need to wake the fuck up and get the word out on inequities like this in the marketplace (thanks for shedding light MG). I’m tired of corporate consortiums leveraging shit like this and then sitting back and saying “just free market economics, man.”
The above “Great Idea” is more about earning more rather than solving the piracy problem, which is not going to disappear unless there is no Internet. In my opinion, people keep watching movies illegally mostly because a given premiere takes place in their country even two/three months (or longer) after the original show in USA for example, and that’s the point here I believe.
Lol, this is increadible. They honestly think piracy has something to do with netflix/redox?
Piracy happens at the manufacturing level, the movies spread on the internet usually 1 week – 1 month before it hits retail dvd.
I love it how these guys are so ignorant.