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Disney CEO Bob Iger made some interesting comments on his company’s recent quarterly financials call regarding the decline of DVD sales, blaming the drop not on the recession but rather on shifting consumer preferences and an abundance of choice.
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Said Iger:

“On secular versus cyclical and the overall question about DVD trends, I’ve been pretty vocal about that business, suggesting that while many believe that we are seeing cyclical trends that were due to the downturn, that we thought that they were secular trends that were also impacting the business due largely to just more competition for people’s time more than anything else.”

Unlike other studio heads, Iger refrained from blaming Redbox, Netflix, etc.for a role in the decline of DVD sell-through, a stance consistent with his previous comments.

Iger went on to discuss his company’s expectations for its blockbuster new release, Toy Story 3. The ever-circumspect Iger said he expects the title to do “quite well”, but says that if you were to compare Toy Story 3‘s numbers to “what films we did just three, four, five years ago, you’d be sobered by those numbers.”

Can anything break the DVD out of its sales funk, Insiders? One guesses from Iger’s tone that he suspects the trend of declining disc sell-through to be a permanent one.
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Do you agree?

(via GigaOm)

62 Responses to “Disney CEO: DVD Sales Drop “Sobering””

  1. Visitor [Join Now]
    Consumer [visitor]

    The reason DVD sales are down is a three fold reason.
    1. Pricing Competition. Whether it is Redbox at $1 per night or Netflix later on in the cycle you can’t get away with charging $16.99 anymore and just expect the consumer to buy it.
    2. The economy. It’s tough out there. No more explanation needed.
    3. The efficiency factor. Time, effort or need is factored into this. DVD’s are no longer collector items for people.

    Three things that the media companies can do to increase their DVD sales.
    1. Bring the titles out earlier after theatrical. In today’s society no consumer likes to wait. No later than 3 months after street date is when a title should be released.
    2. 28 to 60 day delay for all studios from Redbox, Netflix and VOD. This is hard to swallow but in order to keep the cheap price, Redbox and Netflix need to agree to do this. And the studios release VOD way too early. Plenty of consumers will wait and those that don’t will be forced to buy.
    3. Make the DVD a better deal. Either put more material on the DVD (special features, Digital Copies) or reduce the price to $12.99 or less. Do both even to drive sales.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      firstlawofnature [visitor]

      No need to blanket all movies from a studio with and without delays. Some movies benefit from a delay while others don’t.

      DVD is an old technology. It should be cheap.

  2. Visitor [Join Now]
    John Small [visitor]

    Iger is in complete denial about the negative impact of Redbox.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      firstlawofnature [visitor]

      Blaming redbox for whats going on in physical media is simply foolish. That’s why most CEOs won’t do it. Sort of like blaming the 3rd base coach for a losing season. There are much bigger factors at play.

      • Visitor [Join Now]
        John Small [visitor]

        Wal-Mart has some blame to be laid at their feet as well for devaluing the DVD but a large chunk of the sales drop can be attributed to the loss-leader rental pricing at Redbox.

        • Visitor [Join Now]
          rb [visitor]

          Definition of Insanity: doing or ‘saying’ the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result each time. John Small, you’ve been ‘saying’ this same Redbox ‘devaluing’ phrase repeatedly on this site for like 2 years thinking/expecting each time you repeat it ‘one more time’ you expect a different result: to change the opinions of all others that differ than yours of this site. Isn’t it time to give it a rest, or are you that ‘insane’ to continue to repeat it expecting a different result each time?

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            Consumer [visitor]

            rb, you are a fool if you don’t think that Redbox has devalued the rental value of a dvd. It has!

            Now, I am not saying that it’s a bad thing for the consumer (hence my name.) It’s a great thing. A major theatrical $200 million dollar production for only $1 (or $1.50 blu-ray) is a massive consumer hit. And no one else has matched that kind of offer for the consumer.

            But the perceived value of owning a dvd has gone down as well. To put it in a financial perspective ratio, to match the cost of a $1 dvd rental a studio would need to charge $4.99 to $6.99 for a new dvd to match Redbox in relation to price. This is why studios are not happy with DVD sales.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            firstlawofnature [visitor]

            Redbox is one of about 50 things ‘de-valuing’ the DVD. Here are some others…ipod, ipad, smart phones, facebook, black ops, FIFA world cup, crappy mgmt at BBI, farmville, the weak economy, lack of wow in bluray, netflix, youtube, VOD, Obama, goldman sachs…should I go on? Anyone that thinks its just redbox is playing by a 10 year playbook.

            —- Added the last two just for fun.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            John Small [visitor]

            RB, I’ll agree with your comment only insofar that you are the one who continues to deny the truth and the facts and thus you are the insane one.

            The professionals agree that I am correct. The numbers agree that I am correct. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make you right.

            Be careful, the next knock on your door may be the men in white jackets waiting to take you away.

        • Visitor [Join Now]
          firstlawofnature [visitor]

          Wal-mart essentially distributed an extremely profitable product for the studios for free. With little to no mark-up the DVD was priced to move and it worked like a charm for over a decade. The ride is over though and blaming wal-mart, like redbox, is just foolish. If anything blame the consumer who finally decided paying $15 to own wasn’t a great deal.

          Riddle…how do you get consumers in masse to start paying $15 or more packaged product again? If you can solve that you can be a studio head. I don’t think there is answer for now.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            John Small [visitor]

            Wal-Mart took a popular and profitable product and used it as a loss leader to drive traffic to their stores devaluing the product in the process.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            firstlawofnature [visitor]

            That is nonsense. From a store/vbg centric world it would have been great if walmart marked up the price by say a 1/3 or 1/2 because there would have been more renting transactions. The studios however weren’t crying because they got paid the same whether a customer paid $15 or $20 at retail. From the studios perspective they were far better off with a lower ticket at retail so they could drive unit sales further. Walmart in essence allowed the studios to sell far more DVDs than they would have otherwise (selling DVDs more profitable to studios then renting as we all know). What the studios didn’t like was the influence walmart had and how their aggressive pricing consolidated sell through dramatically. Screw the studios on this point…they wanted walmart pricing to move units but didn’t want such a strong selling partner. Net net they made a great trade with walmart as they minted money from selling DVDs for over a decade. Blaming walmart (or redbox or netflix) for the current woes of the industry is for old fools. Window jockeying will not return the industry to its glory days.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            John Small [visitor]

            Not nonsense in the least. I’m not saying that the studios are not their own worst enemies but the historical facts are undeniable on this point.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            firstlawofnature [visitor]

            That’s all you can come up with? Yawn.

            Who cares why the DVD is getting de-valued anyway. The fact of the matter is that it’s wal-mart’s job to provide low prices to it’s customers. Same goes with redbox. It’s survival of the fittest in the jungle. Wal-mart and redbox are engaged in legal activities. If their clout leads to the de-valuation of another’s product so be it. That’s life in the jungle.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            rb [visitor]

            I think the people have ascertained the value of a dvd rental–and that value is around $1. Why just the other day I was watching Big World Little People on TLC and brothers Jeremy and Jacob got out of the car, Jacob holding a Redbox dvd rental. They are brothers in the pure Roloff family who live out on a farm, grow their own veggies, attend bible school, etc and have been raised to know the value of a dollar. Redbox, Netflix, etc. also know the value of a dollar–studios NOT SO MUCH!

  3. Visitor [Join Now]
    Kathy [visitor]

    Who needs to own a movie? Why have all those DVDs cluttering up your home? I have so many old VCR movies that I wish I could just throw out, but I think about the money I spent on them, so they just sit around in my house. It’s much better, I think, to rent a movie for a night, then take it back. What’s even better is being able to download it from your TV. Then there’s no physical product at all. My cable company offers that, but you still pay $4 of $5 per movie for the privilege. I’d like to see more and more movies being offered for a $1 download. No driving, standing in line at the box, or having to return the DVD.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      rb [visitor]

      I don’t care for the idea of ‘downloading’ a movie instead of renting the dvd for $1 at Redbox. A lot of times you may rent a dvd and then take it over to a family or friend’s home to share/watch it. Can’t do that with a movie ‘downloaded’ on ‘your’ tv–especially if the family/friend’s home you’re going to doesn’t have the ability/service to download a movie for all to watch. Now if the download price only would be $1 and your only intent is to watch it at your home, then yeah, that would be okay. Still prefer a rental though that can take to anyone’s home to share/watch as probably like 95% of people now have at least a dvd player in their home to watch the dvd.

  4. Visitor [Join Now]
    John Doe [visitor]

    ….duh, maybe it is because there just ain’t very many good movies out there,
    just mass-produced junk! ….dime a dozen movies all the time and Hollywood
    actually expects people to buy them??

  5. Visitor [Join Now]
    Elric 301 [visitor]

    1.) Truth be told, many of the movies coming out just aren’t worth OWNING. Renting, yes. But they’re not keepers.

    2.) VOD is available pretty much day and date with the DVD/Blu Ray. Sometimes earlier. Despite the much higher rental price this is KILLING the market, imo. Much more then Redbox or Netflix.

    3.) The economy. Disposable income is at an all time low. Everyone is looking for bargains.

    4.) Regarding DVD specifically, I also think because many people who have the money are switching to Blu Ray. Problem is, due to a lot of misinformation, they are confused and are sort of sitting on the fence, deciding when and how to make the big plunge. Hence, much more rentals then sales of either format.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      Champion [visitor]

      People deciding to take the Blu Ray plunge? Wrong by miles. People are tired of being screwed by Hollywood – screwed over by VHS doing the dinosaur, and now DVD being edged out.

      The only Blu Ray buyers will be those who haven’t been burnt before. And that number will be so low that Blu Ray sales will never come close to what DVD or VHS did.

      Blu Ray will not be a success now or in the future. The Hollywood greed (includes studios, actors, exec’s, producers, etc.) have done it to themselves.

      • Member [Join Now]
        alans613

        I refuse to buy a Blu Ray player for this exact reason. Blu Ray, please go away!

        • Member [Join Now]
          ChadCronin [chadcronin]

          I respectfully disagree. I’m sorry but I want HD. While I disagree with the DRM used on those discs seeing as loading time is long and sometimes upgrades are needed, I just am not seeing an easier way to get it. Cable is also expensive and the bit rate is not as good. Downloads can take time and again not as high quality and more cable companies are putting restrictions on amount you can download in a month. DVD quality is not good enough, and there are more and more movies @ Walmart are only $8-$10 on Blu-ray.

  6. Member [Join Now]
    alans613

    I’d still rather have the physical product in my hands where I can watch it when I want to without having to wait for a download to complete or for a movie/TV show to go into “Retrieving” mode, which is EXACTLY what happens when I stream anything from Netflix through the Wii, let alone waiting for the movie/show to start(Usually around 5 minutes each time).
    As far as sell-through goes, the problem isn’t Redbox or Netflix, it’s the bullcrap that Hollywood is producing. Blaming either is like, for instance, blaming Blockbuster back in their heyday when everyone went there to rent. Everyone has always had the option to rent or buy, and when the movies were good, people rented and later bought, now they’re skipping the “bought” stage and just renting. Why buy something you’re only going to watch once, and fill up shelves full of movies you’ll never watch again? Hollywood needs to admit that the “Gravy Train” days of the DVD sell-through business are history.
    Also, didn’t John Small used to post on here as “FoxWins”? I thought we ran off all those fools long ago. Dude, either you work for a movie studio or a video store. Admit it, Redbox, and to a lesser extent, NCR’s BlueBox Express, whether you like it or not(Not, since you work for Blockbuster or Family Video or a major Hollywood studio)is here to stay.
    One final note…let those idiots at the studios increase the delays all they want…28 days, 60 days, it’s not going to matter. My wallet wins out over having the movie day and date anytime. I used to wait 6 months in the VHS heyday, surely I can wait that amount of time now.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      Beetels [visitor]

      John Small is an A-Hole. No one should waste any time on this losers comments. He probably lives in his mother’s basement at age 59.

      • Member [Join Now]
        alans613

        HILARIOUS! You’re exactly right!

      • Visitor [Join Now]
        The Situation [visitor]

        John Small hates redbox. It’s the same crap over and over again with this guy. He devalues this website. Where’s Laurie been big boy?

      • Visitor [Join Now]
        John Small [visitor]

        Um, I think you just posted your own profile Beets. Thanks for letting us know all about yourself.

        • Visitor [Join Now]
          The Situation [visitor]

          I don’t think anyone thinks that was funny John, only you little guy. Anyways, I thought it would be interesting to point out why you are the biggest troll on this site. In my eyes, the defining characteristic of a troll is ones unwillingness to acknowledge or accept any information that runs contrary to the object of their infatuation (in this case, your hatred towards redbox). Even FLON and RB will acknowledge a good point contrary to their own agenda when such a point is presented, because they aren’t trolls and act like mature adults. We’ve heard your same crap stories over and over again. It is really old already. Do you sit in your home (on your island) and knit little socks that say “I hate redbox” or “blockbuster rules” all day, just waiting to come on here when a story presents you with a negative thought to post? You are a sad and pathetic “small” man. Then you disappear every time you are wrong, or just ignore the posts because you have the argument mentality of an eight year old. Redbox rules, prices won’t go up, because they do care about consumers.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            John Small [visitor]

            Nonsense Sitch. The reality is that I don’t spend my life on this board like FLON trying to pump up a stock he owns or RB trying to get as many cheap movies as he can. I don’t bother trolling back through the threads to see who said what when.

            You don’t like the facts. That’s fine with me. Deny all you want be the reality is that I’m correct and the experts agree.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            justme [visitor]

            The “reality” is ALL 3 of you guys spend your lives on this website!! John Small, The Situation, and First Law Of Nature… you are ALL TROLLS!! All you guys do all day long is troll on this website looking for something to argue about. It’s TRULY PATHETIC! Why don’t y’all get outside once in awhile, there’s a great big world out there outside of your mother’s basements! This website would be a MUCH better place if ALL of you were gone!!

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            The Situation [visitor]

            John, you just made my point about the troll. Look John, I’ll say that you have made many valid points. I’m arguing that you think every single one of your points are valid and the best. You’ve shown me to think “outside” the box from time to time. You have the same amount of bias as FLON but you seem geared towards sabotaging anything positive about a good company that cares about the consumer being redbox. Iger seems to see the bigger picture.

            Justme, Whens the last time I posted before these posts? It’s been months. Sounds like you are sexually frustrated. Your posts never contribute to the conversation but more or less cut people down. This makes you a hypocrite and everything you just claimed us to be. Keep using those capital letters and exclamation marks, because some people might not see how passive aggressive you are. I don’t spend nearly as much time on here as these guys. In fact, I would say that you (Just Me) have commented on this site more frequently than me lately. So you really just identified yourself haven’t you? You just told everyone you live in your mothers basement. I hope there is heat down there, it will be a cold winter this year. Bundle up!

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            firstlawofnature [visitor]

            I admit I work out of my mother’s basement. I attend a support group where other men in my same situation discuss the indignity of our plight. The cookies and milk from mom ease the pain somewhat. Offsetting that is the fact that because I haven’t paid rent for over 20 years and get DVDs from redbox I could buy you all out 10x over.

            Sitch,

            You are not as bright as I thought if you don’t detect a difference in my posts vs JS.

            John ‘just the facts’ Small,

            Cheap pathetic loser. Nuff said there.

            Justme,

            It’s a blog that encourages comments from visitors. If the administrator told me I didn’t add value or was overly biased I would cease participating.

          • Visitor [Join Now]
            rb [visitor]

            Dilemma: Is it the accessible ‘gun’ or the ‘person’ who uses the gun to kill that is responsible for a murder? Some might believe and argue that it is the gun because had the gun not been made available/accessible the murder wouldn’t have happened. Others believe and argue that it is ultimately the person who “chooses/decides” to USE the gun who is responsible for the murder. No different than how some here, John Small and others(?), believe that it was the accessible/convenient/inexpensive $1 REDBOX rental that devalued/killed/murdered dvd sales,…while myself and others believe it was ultimately the PEOPLE who chose to use/put in their hands the Redbox $1 rental because they decided that the $1 price was the correct value of a dvd rental for a movie that they may or may not eventually decide to buy. My point with the ‘insanity’ definition is that it becomes insane to continually repeat your Redbox devaluing & killing dvd sales argument/force feed it to others over and over again (like for 2 years John) thinking/expecting that with each new repetition you are going to change others’ opposite view. Just ain’t gonna’ happen here and it’s ‘insane’ to think or expect it to happen. Just have to agree to disagree. And yeah, I do come to this site to give opinions/movie reviews/ and to see if anyone found/shared new promo codes, or other deals to get some Redbox rental codes–just as I come to this site to share Redbox codes when I find them. Everyone loves a good bargain,..or didn’t you notice like the 3,000 responses for the free holiday dvd/dvd codes/gift cards on this site last week? I did, and Heidi with Shirley Temple was my favorite Xmas movie!…Just love it when she says ,”Grandpa, ..Grandpa” in the movie :-)

  7. Visitor [Join Now]
    Jon [visitor]

    I still buy Dvd’s but I rent them first then only if it is a great movie will I buy it. I buy used which play as well as new in most cases. I now have a Blue ray player and really like the idea of a blue ray containing a dvd version as well. Since I do not have a blue ray player in my bedroom which is where I watch half of my movies. I also think people are now waiting to buy to see if 3d tv’s take off and are waiting for 3d releases of movies. I agree with some of the comments here that if they want to sell more dvd’s they are going to have to come down in price.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      Thicker [visitor]

      Seriously? Why would anyone even think of wasting any money on 3D? What’s the TV program library or movie library of 3D selections? Less then .001 percent of a percent?

      3D is a scam and will never amount to anything more then that.

      Anyone who has already bought a 3D set is either (1) a Hollywood mogul (2) has money to burn (see 1), or (3) is dumb & dumber.

      • Member [Join Now]
        alans613

        I just received a Crutchfield magazine in the mail last week and saw some of the ridiculous prices on those stupid 3D TVs…upwards of $4,000+! Who besides the ultra rich has that kind of money to blow on a TV? Also, the glasses are $150 a pair…and that’s the cheap kind! 3D is Hollywood’s latest joke that they’re trying to throw onto movies to try to get folks to go see their crappy movies for double the admission price! 3D can’t cover up the crap they’re putting out. Try again rich Hollywood idiots!

  8. Visitor [Join Now]
    redroover21 [visitor]

    I quite buying movies unless it is something I really want and then it has to be under $15 dollars. Most of the time I wait till I can find it for under $10. I will not spend more than $15 on a movie that probably only cost them 2 or 3 at the very most to make. They are all greedy with prices in the high 20’s and 30 dollar range for a movie. That is just pure crazy. I will not do it and if people would wake up and stop buying them the price would probably fall. When will they lean. I would buy several moves under $10 but with the price as is they lose all my business. Lower prices means more sales and higher profits but greedy businesses don’t seen to understand that. It’s all or nothing with them.

  9. Visitor [Join Now]
    Aiden [visitor]

    Did you guys see that Walmart is going to have DVDs for $1.99 and $3.99 for the holidays? And good stuff, too!! THAT is a big problem– the race to the bottom. That is what is devaluing the DVD. And we have all of those studio heads who bemoan the loss of business to thank for it.

  10. Visitor [Join Now]
    JoeSixPack [visitor]

    The studio heads are thinking consumers are continuing buying them, and put them on display in big houses that only the rich people can afford. DVD is competing the little spare time we had with the smart phones, internet, and games. After spending a lot of money on ‘collectible’ DVDs that end up on the buying. Yet the studios are producing mediocre movies with corny dialogs, annoying characters and familiar themes. They believe we will be thrilled to shell out $16 for everyone of them, and watch all the specials. It is not the case any more. They blame on netflix and redbox for the problem for slowing the DVD sale, instead of recognizing the paradigm shift in consumer preferences. It used to be an awe factor to show friends of your DVD collection, and now you may hear comments such as ‘did you really watch all these’, ‘you are running out of space’, ‘you spent a lot of money on DVDs’ or comments that sound like compliment that actually means ‘are you still doing this?”

    I am willing to pay a reasonable amount to watch movies but not the exorbitant
    price that is being charged. It is good business for everyone to keep the movie business going, only if the price is fair.

    My wise friend said, “When you blame something for the problem, you are not taking the responsibility of solving the problem.” How true it is.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      firstlawofnature [visitor]

      A-f-ing-man bruther. Sweet comments.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      John Small [visitor]

      The solution is coming soon. 45 to 60 day windows for kiosks and rent-by-mail. If that doesn’t work, expect 90-120 days.

      • Visitor [Join Now]
        firstlawofnature [visitor]

        Work around keeps studios honest. If they push too much we go to no delays with diverted product. Logistically challenging but certainly doable.

      • Member [Join Now]
        starfire008

        John, On Nov 2nd, you said 60 days would be pushing too hard. So by that logic, you must believe along with the rest of us that they are insane if Studios go with 90-120 Days delay. I have included your Nov 2nd comment to refresh everyone’s memory:

        Hollywood Bosses: Blu-ray Sales and Delay Windows Likely to Grow (Nov 2nd)

        John Small [visitor]
        2 6November 3, 2010 at 9:26 am
        I don’t think Redbox has any option but to go 45 if the studios ask them to do so. The workaround was not working before and it would be even more difficult now.

        Just be happy if they only ask for 45 days. The studios will love this because they can supply Redbox with the non-sale returns from Wal-Mart, Best Buy and other sellthrough retailers. 60 days would make this even easier but I suspect that would be pushing too hard.

  11. Visitor [Join Now]
    Hurley [visitor]

    Speaking of the bargain bin, I was over at Big Lots (for those not familiar, it’s a discount chain) and saw both $3 and $5 DVD displays. Some of the DVD’s were only dated as of 2008. Not all of them sucked too.

    There was this 3-pack of ESPN-like DVD’s that sold for $3. Just think of how it was originally and even more, how much the studio heads had hoped this arrangement of plastics was to earn them!

    If you’re willing to wait it out, you too can get entertained for next to nothing.

    As long as you all everybody are willing to dig through the discount dollar bin (y’know the one that also stocks the “SuckShaft” CD)

  12. Visitor [Join Now]
    Movie Buffer [visitor]

    Disney had a brilliant idea with the Toy Story 3 release. If they can’t generate BD sales, then fake it. Disney had a printable coupon for $8 off the BD/DVD combo pack. After applying the coupon, the BD pack was only $1 more than the single DVD and it came with a digital copy disc. I could care less about BD and bought the ‘cheaper’ pack only for the DVD. Then when Disney stats come out for this quarter, they can artificially boast that BD sales obliterated DVD sales. Not really. They just manipulated the consumer into buying more for less, hoping to argue the extinction of DVD and forcing the consumer to buy BD in the future.

    • Member [Join Now]
      ChadCronin [chadcronin]

      You go on and keep enjoying your low resolution product. I on the other handle will enjoy my movies in HD. Your example weakens your arguement of the studios by making them look very nice to be offering a much high quality disc and digital download @ a fair price. Allowing yourself to be burnt and throwing out theories does no good and is not gonna stop progression.

  13. Member [Join Now]
    tlochner

    netflix is cheaper than redbox. if redbox has hurt sales, what has netflix done to it?
    i pay nothing for my netflix subscription but if i did … id pay about 18 a month
    i get 9 a week in the mail, sometimes only 6. i have to drive them 1/2 mile to the post office by 5pm the day i get them to make this work.

    all in all, it is cheaper … aprox .75 a movie. that is cheaper than RED!
    now add in blu-ray at netflix $3 more/33 or so on avg per month and that is about .10 a disk more. redbox charges .5 extra premium.

    now you can beat this price …. you sign up with new email and credit card
    and rent movie online.. you get credit for 1.5 blu-ray on the 2nd one you rent.
    so now you can get 2 movies, 1 dvd, 1 blu, for just $1! or .5 a movie.
    tony

  14. Visitor [Join Now]
    UBM [visitor]

    “Why can’t consumers just pay through the nose for our precious Movies?”
    Whine the studios.

    I’m going to come at this from the Consumer standpoint, since everyone else
    is arguing about the Studio’s standpoint.

    Consumers are cheap b!stards. Consumers, in this economy have become even cheaper. Ask the guy who now delivers pizzas for $10 an hour, when he
    used to make $50k a year in middle management.

    So let’s look at my options from a consumer’s stand point:

    I want to watch a movie tonight, how shall I do it?

    A. Download it from Torrent sites ( legal/illegal status not withstanding) cost: Free selection: Great (thanks to Google!)

    B. Rent a DVD from my local Library: cost: Free selection: Somewhat good

    C. Rent a DVD from Redbox / Blockbuster kiosk: cost: $1 selection: Better than library

    D. Rent a DVD from my local bodega / handypack/convienence store chain
    cost: $1 to $1.50 selection: Better than Library

    E. Rent a DVD from my local Mom/Pop Video Chain: cost $2 selection: Great

    F. Rent a Movie through VOD on Cable: cost: $4 -5 selection: Good

    G. Rent a DVD through a “name brand” Video Chain: cost $5 selection: Good

    H. Rent it through iTunes / get it on Amazon VOD: cost $5 selection: Good

    I. Go to WalMart/ BestBuy/ Target and buy it: cost $15 selection: Good

    ( I didn’t include Netflix, because this is related to getting a movie within less
    than 12 hours. US Mail, although good, can’t get a movie from Netflix’s
    queue to you in less than 12 hours).

    That’s NINE different ways to get a movie TONIGHT, if you just got home
    from work, there’s nothing on TV / Cable but re-runs of crap, and you
    have no premium channels.

    The Studios created this mess, pure and simple.
    The only way to fix it so that Consumers pony up the cash is to eliminate eight
    of the NINE ways to get movies, and make it so that there is only one
    way to get movies. Convienence has made movies accessible, and accessibility
    has brought out the Bargin Side of the consumer populace.

    No way in heck is anyone going back to $15 a movie. Give.It.Up.

    • Visitor [Join Now]
      rb [visitor]

      That reminds me, just the other day my local library that always offered free dvds to borrow sent a letter to all patrons that due to budget costs etc., they are now forced to charge $1 per day to borrow a dvd. Blame the bad economy because due to budget costs also within the patrons’ households, the patrons will have to cut ‘borrowing’ from the library.

  15. Visitor [Join Now]
    pootroot [visitor]

    I was feeling a little low today so I got on to Insideredbox for a pickerupper. John Small does it for me absolutely every time. He is just so funny. Thanks Johnnie boy.

  16. Visitor [Join Now]
    Deann Micheal [visitor]

    Many thanks for yet another valuable post – an ideal deal appreciated. If I could +1 rep you I might, lol.

  17. Visitor [Join Now]
    VCR to DVD Converter [visitor]

    Could I take my VCR wedding and reception cassette and transfer it to a Dvd?