Hollywood to withhold DVDs to rental companies for one month after release?

[posty]

http://consumerist.com/5402052/netflix-wil...the-right-price

 

Hollywood studios are sick of you renting their DVDs and want you to start buying them again. The way to trick you into this, they figure, is to withhold the discs from rental companies for a month, forcing you to get all antsy and run out and buy them.

 

What's frightening for customers is Netflix is willing to go along with this thick-headed plan, PaidContent reports, as long as the company gets its DVDs for half off.

 

If the deal goes through it will no doubt hurt both parties. Trashing the value of its service, Netflix will lose subscribers, and the studios won't see the sales bump they're hoping for since a chunk of otherwise honest would-be renters will either opt for piracy or just sit out the 30 days to rent the movies.

 

Netflix customers, will you be more likely to buy a DVD or Blu-ray if you're not allowed to rent it until a month after it's released? Will you stick with Netflix even if it stops offering new releases in a timely manner?

[Duchess Jack]

seeing as most of my netflix sit at home for a month anyway - I'll hardly notice.

[TimC]

You basically have to wait a month for a (popular) new release on Netflix nowadays. No big deal really. There aren't many new movies made that I can't wait for.

[darin3]

seeing as most of my netflix sit at home for a month anyway - I'll hardly notice.

+1 ... new releases sometimes have a wait period anyways

[Riffraff]

Netflix customers, will you be more likely to buy a DVD or Blu-ray if you're not allowed to rent it until a month after it's released? Will you stick with Netflix even if it stops offering new releases in a timely manner?

I don't buy many movies and I'd stick with Netflix because I watch seasons of shows. If I can wait over a year to watch a TV show, I can wait another month.

[AtomicCEO]

I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen a movie within 2 years of it's theatrical release over the last 8 years.

[keggerz]

I wait for stuff to come out on HBO so what does that tell ya

[REZ]

I already buy kids movies instead of renting them so no impact there.

I hardly ever rent movies so I doubt I'll notice that they are keeping them 30 days longer.

[WaterMan]

So really they are giving piraters more reasons to pirate.

[i_am_the_swammi]

Do people really buy pirated movies? I thought it was a Seinfeld parody.

 

Gimme a break.

[WaterMan]

Do people really buy pirated movies? I thought it was a Seinfeld parody.

 

Gimme a break.

 

I was referring to that and what Lord said about people downloading movies.

[cdrudge]

I really think the biggest reason for pirates to pirate is the 'challenge' or the feeling that they're getting away with something.

Big challenge. www.piratebay.org, type in name, click download torrent, wait. It's more of a 'challenge' to make a bowl of oatmeal in the morning.99.99% of people get away with it, so any feeling of euphoria by getting away with it can be also felt by speeding, checking your fantasy football team on company time, or not reporting every single nickle you made to the IRS. Everybody does it and almost everyone gets away with it...it's not a big deal if you get away with it too.

 

People pirate because they don't want to pay for it. Period.

 

But back to the original topic...I bet it doesn't really matter. If someone wanted to see the movie, they would have seen it in the theater. If they didn't want to pay movie theater prices and instead felt they could wait 3-4 months to come out on video, another month of waiting isn't going to kill them.

[WaterMan]

I've become completely desensitized.

 

[WJW]

The studios have been pulling this with Redbox for a while and Redbox has been fighting it in court. IMO the hollywood studios need to get over themselves. Any movie I have to see I do so in the theater, so I have no problem waiting for movies on Netflix. We rarely rent new releases anyway. But I don't agree with the studios limiting my ability to get what movie I want when I want it.

[Savage Beatings]

I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen a movie within 2 years of it's theatrical release over the last 8 years.

 

Ok sure, but how many fingers do you have on your hands???? We all know you gingers are genetic freaks.

[Skilly]

Here's a novel idea, Hollywood: STOP MAKING GOING TO THE MOVIES SO DAMN EXPENSIVE!

 

I don't claim to understand the financial aspect of making and releasing a movie, but I do know that if they dropped the admission prices to $5 and the cost of popcorn and a coke to under $5, I would go to a lot more movies.

[cdrudge]

Here's a novel idea, Hollywood: STOP MAKING GOING TO THE MOVIES SO DAMN EXPENSIVE!

 

I don't claim to understand the financial aspect of making and releasing a movie, but I do know that if they dropped the admission prices to $5 and the cost of popcorn and a coke to under $5, I would go to a lot more movies.

Movie theaters make essentially nothing on the admission to a movie. All their profit comes from concession sales. I don't foresee either side budging.