Why are theaters protected?
A refreshing article about the possibility of releasing the DVD of a movie at the same time it's released to theaters. This sounded wacky to me for a moment, but then they pointed out that when you hear a song on the radio, you can buy the CD at the retail store at the same time. Could be that movies are the only medium being marketed this way. The theater owners complaining that this will ruin the theater industry are only announcing what a lousy business model they have. Evidently the only thing they have going for them is that they get the content first.
I like decisions that give consumers more choices. When industries whine about protection, that usually means they can't compete. Like the US auto makers that made the government limit the number of imported cars because they couldn't make cars that good. That was bad for the consumer.
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5 comments:
Interesting. I'd only worry that profits per movie for the maker might shrink, and drop the budgets available for making a movie. But what do I know about that business model.
That last example of the article is bogus. In many areas, the pro-sports folks have deals where if the stadium doesn't fill, the game can't be shown on TV.
And let's not get started on Syndex.
I agree with Chuck's points, but some of the logic being used in the article to say this will be good for theatre owners is faulty, IM(A)O.
When you hear a song on the radio it's free and often mixed or talked over. You pay for the genuine article on CD. With pricing as it currently stands, as soon as you have two people assembled to watch a movie, it would be cheaper to buy the DVD than go to the theatre.
Theatre prices are simply too expensive; I don't go any more unless I have a free ticket. I do, however, enjoy the theatre experience because of the sound systems and the size of the screent - two elements that aren't terribly feasible for many of us yet.
That being said, I hope the DVDs DO start to come out at the same time as the movies. Maybe the theatres will take a look at their pricing and figure out a way to make their product better/more competitive. Because although I enjoy the experience I'm certainly willing to live without it (as I do the vast majority of the time).
I think one should consider that radio play is subsidized by advertising.
So in order to make this model work one would need to place advertising in the movies. i.e. placing breaks during the movie for those ads, which will then begin to feel like TV only with a much larger screen better sound system and 150 or your closest friends.
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