- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- Disney's CFO-Theme Park Chairman Executive Swap
- What to Expect From Disney Earnings?
- Ahead of Earnings Disney Restructures Studio
- Murdoch Lashes Out At Google
- Why Google is Paying $750 Million for Ad Mob
- Modern Warfare 2's Record-Breaking Launch
- Food Network, HGTV Drive Scripps Networks' Upside Surprise
- Disney's 'Carol' Tests Widest 3-D Release Ever
- Eyeing the Growth at CBS
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- Disney's CFO-Theme Park Chairman Executive Swap
- What to Expect From Disney Earnings?
- Ahead of Earnings Disney Restructures Studio
- Murdoch Lashes Out At Google
- Why Google is Paying $750 Million for Ad Mob
- Modern Warfare 2's Record-Breaking Launch
- Food Network, HGTV Drive Scripps Networks' Upside Surprise
- Disney's 'Carol' Tests Widest 3-D Release Ever
- Eyeing the Growth at CBS
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Share Their 'Optimism' With Eager Columbia Business Students
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Pharma & Social Media
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- China Fourth Quarter Growth Could Hit 10%: Official
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Limited Options To Boost Jobs
- Disney CFO and Parks Chief to Swap Roles
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
- Microsoft's Bill Gates Praises Apple's Steve Jobs For 'Saving the Company'
- Gold Is a Bad Inflation Hedge—Like Oil: Stock Picker
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- US 'Actively Working' on Weaker Dollar: Fund Manager
- Options Boil on Biotech Buyout Rumors
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- 5-Star Manager's 5 Stocks for Changing Markets
- What's The Forecast from Retailers? Proceed With Caution
- Job Market Politics to Keep Interest Rates Low
- AIG, Symbol of Crisis, Watches Its Stock Zoom Back
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Bill Gates Praises Apple's Jobs for 'Saving the Company'
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: The Real Reason Stocks Fell Thursday
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Few Options to Boost Jobs
Media Money
![]() |
Mark Lennihan / AP The Time Warner building. |
Warner Bros. will offer its DVD film titles on video-on-demand the same day they release the DVDs--what they call a "day and date" release in Hollywood.
Bewkes said on the call this morning that being the first studio to do this will help the studio "capture a disproportionate video on demand market share."
Time Warner tested "day and date" video-on-demand releases with Comcast[CMCSA
Loading...
()
] and Time Warner Cable [TWC
Loading...
()
] , and it worked. Of course margins are higher on Video-on-Demand (60 to 70 percent) because there are no physical DVDs to produce or ship to stores (where margins are 20 to 30 percent for physical rentals).
The big conflict up until now was angering retailers who want people coming into their stores, not pressing a button on their computer. Wal-Mart [WMT
Loading...
()
] is the movie studios largest customer, and for years they've been very wary about doing anything that would hurt Wal-Mart's sales. But apparently in the trials, offering Video-on-Demand actually helped DVD sales a bit during that trial period.
Now don't think this means you can order next week's new DVD release from the couch. The details are still being worked out, which means it could take a while. And of course when one company makes a move like this, you just know all the other movie studios will follow. The question is, can Wal-Mart and the other big box retailers really be reassured that they won't lose business? Does this indicate that Wal-Mart doesn't have the kind of leverage it used to?
What I'm waiting for is day-and-date theatrical movie and video on demand releases. Some day, you'll be able to buy a movie from the comfort of your couch the very same day it's available in movie theaters. Early experiments haven't worked, but I think the model hasn't been perfected yet.
There are certain movies I'd happily pay three times as much to watch opening night from home and I think some people would pay more to watch from home sooner rather than later. But we'll see.
Questions? Comments?










