iTunes kills remnants of DVD market; Warner goes day-and-date with VOD
Apple has struck a nail in the coffin of the DVD markets, signing deals with most every studio to offer movies through iTunes on the same day they’re available on DVD.
Fox, Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate and New Line are all expected to be announced as participating. The deal marks a major victory for Apple, which has struggled in signing movie studios at the same time it’s done pretty well with television networks.
The deal will make new release titles available for purchase, probably at something around the $15 is currently charges for new releases.
I kind of just want to breathe a sigh of relief. It’s about time. The studios have been waiting for the bottom to fall out of the DVD market for a couple years now and this is a strong move to stem the bleeding a bit.
At the same time as this, Warner Bros. announced it will make its movies available through video-on-demand the same day they’re available on DVD. The studio had done some limited testing on this and found that the increased profit margin for VOD cancelled out any cannibalization of DVD rentals that might have occurred.
Oh, in case you were wondering, that sound you just heard was Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and even Netflix having a simultaneous stroke. I’m not saying these announcements are going to kill anyone, but it will certainly up the pressure on these players that still largely rely on physical disc sales and rentals to innovate and accommodate in an effort to retain customers.
I’m not sure why, but I’m all of a sudden struck with the urge to pull out my Edward G. Robinson “Where’s your messiah now, eh?” voice. Hmmm.
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I dunno, if the studios are charging the same price for a 1GB download that they currently charge for an 8GB DVD — and not that much less than they charge for a 25GB or 50GB Blu-Ray — I can’t imagine the downloads taking off all that quickly. Inferior picture quality? No bonus features? Only works on Apple products? And all for an almost identical price? I know I’d be sticking with physical discs, for now.