Film-Tech Cinema Systems
  Home     Products     Store     Forum     Warehouse     Contact Us    
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » DVD sales going south? (Page 3)

 
This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4   
Author Topic: DVD sales going south?
David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

- posted 04-27-2007 11:37 AM      Profile for David Stambaugh   Author's Homepage   Email David Stambaugh   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have *lots* of DVDs that I've never watched. Some of them are movies, some are boxed sets of TV shows. Some I bought, some were gifts. At the point I realized this was happening (duh!) I cut *way* down on the purchase of new DVDs, and I asked family members to stop gifting me with them too. I'll buy one every once in a while now, but it's "must have" titles only, which I generally watch immediately. Examples are "Borat" and "World's Fastest Indian" (yes, there's no accounting for taste).

I really think there's a whole lot more competition for people's leisure time now, what with the Internet and all (lol) and attention spans are getting shorter all the time. It seems almost like a waste of my time to sit in front of the TV for 2 hours watching a movie I've probably already seen, unless it's something that I really like a lot. Going to a movie at a theatre is a different issue for me: That's more an "event".

 |  IP: Logged
Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

- posted 04-27-2007 05:08 PM      Profile for Jesse Skeen   Email Jesse Skeen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
As much as I hate to support Wal-Mart, I've gotten a lot of good (and bad) DVDs from them for under $5. Every few months they'll put out a pallet of discs usually from one studio (usually Paramount, but they've done this with Fox, Universal and Sony titles too) priced at $4.88 or in some cases $3.88. It's usually a mix of movies from the past couple years and a few classics. Usually I'll pick up anything that I'm even remotely interested in. Sort of like the days of the cutout laserdiscs at Camelot Music stores, only a lot fewer direct-to-video junk titles.

The bad side of this, for the studios, is that it's really de-valuing DVDs for a lot of people. When you can get something for $4, you're reluctant to pay $20 or more for other titles, especially when they might reach the bargain bins too in a short time.

I've never bought a used DVD to save money, in fact I usually laugh when I see used copies of titles selling for more than what I paid for them new. I also don't rent, mainly because in the beginning they were threatening to price them the way VHS tapes were priced for rental stores- meaning most new releases would be priced around $100 because most copies would end up being bought by video stores to rent out. Thankfully that never happened, and it's probably too late to do that now. A few chain stores had already said they'd be very angry with the studios if they went that route, and with DVDs being so easy to copy now they would just be asking people to do that.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 04-27-2007 09:13 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm still amazed that the studios haven't figured out a way to get a piece of the rental action from the video stores. Forget piracy...they should be getting 50% of all those rentals.

But, in a few years when on-demand puts all the rental stores out of business, they'll get 100% of it, I guess.

 |  IP: Logged
Cameron Glendinning
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 845
From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia
Registered: Dec 2005

- posted 04-27-2007 10:30 PM      Profile for Cameron Glendinning   Email Cameron Glendinning   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Is this just because the same crap movies that did no business at the cinemas are now being released on DVD?

 |  IP: Logged
Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

- posted 04-28-2007 12:01 AM      Profile for Daryl C. W. O'Shea   Author's Homepage   Email Daryl C. W. O'Shea   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mike Blakesley
I'm still amazed that the studios haven't figured out a way to get a piece of the rental action from the video stores. Forget piracy...they should be getting 50% of all those rentals.
When it really boils down they already do. Rather than waiting for each rental, though, they get it all up front.

Of course there's Rentrack too... which, depending on how big you are and your volume, could end up with them getting 50% or more. I'd imagine studio revenues would account for a significant slice of Rentrack's fees.

 |  IP: Logged
Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

- posted 04-28-2007 05:47 AM      Profile for Jesse Skeen   Email Jesse Skeen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
With VHS, some of the rental stores had a deal called "revenue sharing" where they'd pay less for the tapes in exchange for giving the studios a portion of the rental income from each one. I think some are doing that with DVDs now too, though thankfully they haven't seen the need to screw over those who'd rather buy them. Netflix has some sort of deal with many studios, some of their discs have "Netflix" printed on them presumably to stop people from keeping or selling them.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 04-28-2007 09:42 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea
When it really boils down they already do. Rather than waiting for each rental, though, they get it all up front.
How do you figure that? They sell a video to a store for 10 or 15 bucks and then the store rents it a hundred or more times over the next year for 3 bucks a rental.

That'd be like a movie theatre only paying film rent for the first day's ticket sales.

 |  IP: Logged
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 04-28-2007 11:14 AM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The video stores have to pay more for those DVDs than we do. They can't simply purchase their rental copies from Wal-Mart, Circuit City or any other retailer.

Remember back in the 1980s and early 1990s when many VHS releases had "rental pricing," where the movies often cost $70-$90? Six months later their prices would fall down to $20-$30. I don't know what the current "rental pricing" is on DVDs currently, but it's certainly more than the $20 average we pay at the store.

Major video store chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video and online services like Netflix can negotiate better deals for themselves on a movie by movie basis. Still, the movie distributor has to get their cut of rental action by getting all the money up front in selling their wares to the video stores.

A few years from now when Internet bandwidths allow it to happen, the movie studios will likely have their own video on demand services where you simply log into their servers, pay a fee and then watch the movie stream to your TV set in 1080p in real time.

 |  IP: Logged
Patrick de Groot
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 161
From: Sprang-Capelle, Netherlands
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 04-28-2007 11:39 AM      Profile for Patrick de Groot   Email Patrick de Groot   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
DVD's for the consumer market normally have a text at the back of the box and on the DVD itself that says its prohibited to show it in public or use it for rental services. You won't find that last one on DVD's from your local rental store.

[text added]

[ 04-28-2007, 01:54 PM: Message edited by: Patrick de Groot ]

 |  IP: Logged
Paul Gordon
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 580
From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Aug 2005

- posted 04-28-2007 01:20 PM      Profile for Paul Gordon   Author's Homepage   Email Paul Gordon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'll download a film or go to the cinema before I pay $6.00 (CND) for a new release at block buster. Rip off!, and BTW Video stores can buy their DVD's where ever they like... who checks anyway?

 |  IP: Logged
Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

- posted 04-28-2007 01:44 PM      Profile for Daryl C. W. O'Shea   Author's Homepage   Email Daryl C. W. O'Shea   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mike Blakesley
How do you figure that? They sell a video to a store for 10 or 15 bucks and then the store rents it a hundred or more times over the next year for 3 bucks a rental.
When I last had a lot of involvement in rentals about 6 years ago now, most DVDs cost way more than $20 (like upwards of $50 or more) and daily rentals were less than $3. Some B and other crap can usually be found cheap though.

Taking those costs into account and realizing that your average rentals per copy is usually under 50 (after which you sell them all off for super cheap and rent your remaining couple of copies another 50 times if you're lucky) you see that the studios' (or at least video distributors') share is not insignificant.

 |  IP: Logged
Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 04-28-2007 03:37 PM      Profile for Gordon McLeod   Email Gordon McLeod   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Paul Gordon said "who checks anyway?"
Actually the RCMP does [Smile]

 |  IP: Logged
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 04-28-2007 03:43 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Paul Gordon
I'll download a film or go to the cinema before I pay $6.00 (CND) for a new release at block buster. Rip off!, and BTW Video stores can buy their DVD's where ever they like... who checks anyway?
Just as movie distributors have "checkers" who visit commercial movie theaters to make sure the right trailers are being run (among other things), they do have people who make field visits to see if any video piracy is occurring.

High profile chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video really have no way to surreptitiously buy retail DVDs and then rent them without the studios quickly getting wise to it. Small mom-and-pop chains might be more likely perpetrators of such schemes, but they would likely get found out very quickly. Management at rival stores in the same town might even turn them in to the studios.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 04-28-2007 08:51 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Bobby Henderson
I don't know what the current "rental pricing" is on DVDs currently, but it's certainly more than the $20 average we pay at the store.
I work at a store during the day where we sell CDs, DVDs and so on....and I can tell you that for a typical new release "standard" edition of a movie we pay usually around $15 to $19. Less if it's on sale. If we were a big store we'd buy case lots and get 'em even cheaper. I doubt vid-rental stores are paying any more than we do.

quote: Bobby Henderson
The video stores have to pay more for those DVDs than we do. They can't simply purchase their rental copies from Wal-Mart, Circuit City or any other retailer.
There's a video rental store in a neighboring town -- an independent -- and that's exactly what they do...they visit Costco each week and pick up the new releases cheap.

 |  IP: Logged
Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

- posted 04-28-2007 10:59 PM      Profile for Daryl C. W. O'Shea   Author's Homepage   Email Daryl C. W. O'Shea   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mike Blakesley
There's a video rental store in a neighboring town -- an independent -- and that's exactly what they do...they visit Costco each week and pick up the new releases cheap.
Lots of rental outlets do that, but by then the higher priced rental release window has ended (given that they're picking the product up on sell though).

 |  IP: Logged


All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4   
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
- Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.