Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Deluxe/EchoStar Inks Satellite Distribution Deal With Carmike Cinemas

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Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 05-05-2011, 10:47 PM:

Deluxe/EchoStar Inks Satellite Distribution Deal With Carmike Cinemas

Source: hollywoodreporter.com

quote:
Deluxe/EchoStar has signed Carmike Cinemas, the fourth largest exhibitor in the U.S., to join its satellite network for digital cinema content delivery in North America. Deluxe/EchoStar, formed in 2010, recently started deployment of its satellite delivery technology and services—with an aim at becoming the standard for digital cinema delivery by the end of 2012.

Today, digital cinema content is generally shipped to theaters on hard drives, though the industry has also been considering the use of satellite services. Deluxe/EchoStar suggests that satellite delivery could make the process faster, in that it could be used to transmit a movie on average in 5-10 hours, as well as cost effective upon widespread use, as for instance it would reduce traditional freight costs associated with shipping hard drives to theaters.

Carmike’s circuit includes 239 theaters, and its digital cinema footprint reaches 2,103 screens in 36 states of which 596 have 3D capability.

Deluxe/EchoStar is a joint venture between Deluxe Digital Cinema, a subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, and EchoStar Satellite Services, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corp. Its satellite services could be used to deliver 2D and 3D digital cinema content in 2K and 4K resolution formats.

“Deluxe/EchoStar is committed to building a satellite distribution infrastructure so that exhibitors can connect to all forms of entertainment content including current releases, classic films, and live events,” said Rick O’Hare, senior vp, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, and general manager, Deluxe/EchoStar.

Said Carmike Cinemas president and CEO David Passman: “We look forward to providing our valued cinema-going customers with cutting-edge experiences featuring a tremendous array of digital content through this important, mutually beneficial agreement.”

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 05-07-2011, 03:23 PM:

Im pretty sure that Carmike has been doing this for quite some time. The local one here got 3 satellite dishes installed very shortly after they went all digital about 4ish years ago and I know that they have received films and alt content over them

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-10-2011, 06:57 AM:

How much does it cost to ship a hard drive? Aren't we talking about 5 or 6 bucks? And how much does band width satelite time cost? I am sure Echostar isn't delivering this service for free, are they? In the end how much is Carmike actually going to save, given they don't have to pay for maintenance and gas for the UPS deliver trucks, but they will have to pay for maintenance of those satelite dishs, no? And if you can do this via satelite, how come you can't do it via secure internet?

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-10-2011, 07:36 AM:

I'm sure it's more than a few bucks to ship a hard drive, given what they must insure them for each time. Probably on the order of $60 bucks or so each, times say several hundred DCPs going out per given title. Every time I ship my color meter out (which is valued at around $7000) it costs a couple hundred to insure and ship.

The last time I looked (and it has been quite a few years) ad hoc satellite time was around $350/hour (there was a glut of empty transponders in orbit back then). Given those numbers I can see where using a satellite would be very much cheaper than shipping hundreds of hard drives each week.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-10-2011, 09:19 PM:

OK, but I would think purchasing insurance would be pretty much and unnecessary expense. Why bother -- the drive itself isn't worth much more than the given coverage you would get from UPS if they were to loss it. As for the content -- buying optional insurance makes no sense since the content is unreadable without a key. If it were lost, nothing valuable is at stake. So shipping would be just a matter of its weight. Would that be all that cheaper than satellite upload/download time costs? And then once again, why is the theatre footing the bill for satellite dish installation and maintenance and subscription to this EcoStar service so that the distributor saves shipping costs on shipping out harddrives? Will the distib share those savings with the exhibitor? Perhaps with a Virtual Hardrive Fee?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-11-2011, 03:29 PM:

quote:
I'm sure it's more than a few bucks to ship a hard drive, given what they must insure them for each time. Probably on the order of $60 bucks or so each,

Actually it can be much less than that, depending on how it's shipped. I just looked up the rates for shipping a drive from here back to Deluxe in Van Nuys..for ground, it's $8.65. 3 Day Select is $28.48. 2nd Day Air costs $43.61. It's only if you go Next Day Air that the cost gets over $60 -- it's around $72 for that.

The incoming drives here usually arrive by UPS or Fed Ex 2-day, and they all go back by UPS ground...does everybody get the same kind of service?

Keep in mind too, that Deluxe or Technicolor almost definitely get a MUCH, MUCH cheaper rate than what I've quoted here. These rates I quoted are from my day job, where we have a daily pickup account. UPS and Fed Ex commonly make much better deals for their bulk shippers.

Given all of the above, the shipping rate for drives isn't bad, and it's cheaper than with film. I would think that if we were to switch to satellite delivery, Tech or Deluxe would still charge a similar "delivery fee" or something so the cost would be about a wash. (Am I correct in this guess?)

Insurance -- I agree it's pointless. What's the drive worth, a hundred bucks? UPS gives that much insurance for free. But even if you insured it for $400, that still only costs $3.00.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 05-11-2011, 07:28 PM:

I wonder how long it will be before this is hacked, and you can watch first run movies in your living room before the theaters start showing them? So you say: just change the scrambling system. That will take several years, and in the meantime the system is hacked.