56 day rental delay for Warner titles

[digitalbabe]

Per Hacking Netflix:

Peter Kafka at AllThingsD reports that the DVD rental window, now 28 days, will double to 56 days for Warner titles at Netflix, Redbox, and Blockbuster.

A new deal between Time Warner’s movie studio and Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster will double the “window” for new releases. That means the services will now have to wait 56 days after the discs first go on sale to offer them to their customers, instead of 28 days.
The move is part of Hollywood’s ongoing campaign to bolster flagging DVD sales, and sources tell me the new deal is supposed to be announced at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Warner Brothers executives have already talked publicly about extending the current window.
​

If I want to buy a DVD or Bluray I'm going to buy it, and if it's not worth buying I'll rent it. Waiting is just annoying and a 56 day delay not going to get me to buy a copy of the Hangover Part 2.
Will a 56 day delay encourage you to buy more DVDs?
I'm wondering if a longer dealy will just encourage piracy for people that can't wait two more months for new releases.

 

[Ricker]

I know a lot of members are going to hate for this, but. If the studios are so concerned with a drop in DVD sales, then stop putting them in with the BR combos. I will never watch the DVD, I bought it for the BR. The only thing I do with my DVD's is loan it out to all the silly people who don't own a BR player. Why do the studio execs not see where giving the DVD's with the BR is cutting into DVD disc sales. They must be stupid.

 

[Horhay]

I usually tend to buy problem with me and renting is that I always forget I have them so it makes no sense for me to rent something for x amount of days and then return without watching. If it's a dud I'll give it away if not then I'll watch it 3, 4, 5 months later with no worries.

Did I mention I just watched Sherlock Holmes over the weekend? The first one that is, I bought it since release day two years ago lol so much for renting eh?

 

[digitalbabe]

Ricker, WB has had great success in boosting its DVD and Blu-Ray sales by creating the 1st 28 day window for rentals. This is just an extension of that.The 'combos' work for the majority of customers, because it allows them to buy into Blu and have the DVD for kids room,travel, etc. Plus, it seems most consumers on a 'value' in getting both +digital copy, and pay more 'overall'. Home Video sales had been in a slump over last decade, but BD is giving it a boost again-they don't want to give up opportunities for revenue, from customers who 'would' consider buying if they have to wait to rent. Most people that rent and can 'wait' are not the market they're after.

 

[Horhay]

I know a lot of members are going to hate for this, but. If the studios are so concerned with a drop in DVD sales, then stop putting them in with the BR combos. I will never watch the DVD, I bought it for the BR. The only thing I do with my DVD's is loan it out to all the silly people who don't own a BR player. Why do the studio execs not see where giving the DVD's with the BR is cutting into DVD disc sales. They must be stupid.

I am almost certain the context in which DVD is being used in the article refers to discs as a whole (including BR and DVD).

---------- Post added at 10:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 AM ----------

Ricker, WB has had great success in boosting its DVD and Blu-Ray sales by creating the 1st 28 day window for rentals. This is just an extension of that.The 'combos' work for the majority of customers, because it allows them to buy into Blu and have the DVD for kids room,travel, etc. Plus, it seems most consumers on a 'value' in getting both +digital copy, and pay more 'overall'. Home Video sales had been in a slump over last decade, but BD is giving it a boost again-they don't want to give up opportunities for revenue, from customers who 'would' consider buying if they have to wait to rent. Most people that rent and can 'wait' are not the market they're after.

I got an idea that will help them boost sales....make better movies.

Problem is that studios keep remaking movies at a ridiculous rate. Give us more Inceptions (I don't mean sequels just original ideas) for example.

This is the real problem, people aren't buying movies because they don't think they are worth the price. I certainly wouldn't pay the 24.99 for a remake of Clash of the Titans

 

[FabFlick5]

I've started buying new releases, watching them once and then selling them immediately on ebay. I usually lose around $5-$6 but I can watch it when it comes out without waiting and keep the digital copy without hurting the selling price much, if at all. Next I'm going to try giving the dvd to my sister, using the digital copy for myself and selling the blu-ray with case and artwork and see if the missing dvd subtracts much from the selling price.

I figure I don't lose much more than I would spend on a rental and I get rewards points for the purchase which eventually equals $$ back too. The key is selling them really quickly after release date because if you wait too long, it ends up being more like a $10 loss.