Posted by reserviordog at dialn-async495.dial.net.nyu.edu on February 22, 2000 at 19:19:20:
In Reply to: Question for Vincent : RE: DVD Debacle posted by Mr. T on February 22, 2000 at 14:21:09:
I think it's unlikely. If it does happen, however, expect to see catalog (older titles) released in spades. Also, the DVD's will likely not have any features. We're talking pan and scan, non anamorphic prints here. Working at a video store in the past, I can't tell you how many people brought back DVD's complaining that "part of the picture is missing." Morons, I tell you.
Rental pricing, I think, will blow up in their face. Besides running DVD out of some stores, particularly in rural areas, big chains like Blockbuster will decide that it's not profitable, because customers won't take care of the discs. If only they'd designed the format with a disc caddy. If this happens, and the chains decide that DVD isn't as profitable as it is for them, they may drop the format. This, in turn, would cause the movie industry to drop the format. After all, if Blockbuster doesn't carry it, it isn't worth releasing. Eyes Wide Shut, anyone? Plus, rental windows cause the hype to die down, resulting in lower sales. The only people who want rental pricing are the rental stores, (because they don't want anyone to buy movies, just to rent them over and over) and the studios themselves. This is not in the best interest of the consumer, and the studios will realize this. Just because times are slow for the rental industry, the customer doesn't need to suffer.
What we may see is something along the lines of software licensing. The big chains pay for a number of licenses, and they get a larger number of discs, because many will inevitably get ruined, and this way they can put a replacement disc on the shelves quickly. But expect these to be non-OAR, non-extra discs, because that's what Joe Rental wants.
We may also see "Collector's Editions" released months later, for (duh) the collector. They'll have the extras the consumer, not Joe Rental wants, and will be released to get those of us who rented it to buy it. After all, DVD is a format designed to be purchased, not rented, the complete antithesis of VHS.
BTW, Blockbuster doesn't pay $100 for a title. They pay about $20 in exchange for profit sharing with the studios. Other chains, such as Hollywood and EVERY smaller store are forced to pay the full $100. Blockbuster is currently being sued for this business practice, under some sort of monopolistic clause.
As the consumer, you vote with your dollars. If DVD becames a pan and scan, no extra format with bad transfers because the rental dolts want that, don't buy them. The studios will get the point, and they're not in the business of hurting profits.
Rental pricing will hurt DVD market penetration. The Matrix broke every sales record imaginable, because it had an MSRP of $24.95, and you could pick it up most places for less than $20. Sell-through has made DVD what it is. I heard someone put it thus: "The paradigm has changed. The days of traditional VHS renting are on the wane, and DVD, in the meantime, was intended as a medium for purchasing. The playing field is different; the old business models are not adequate."
If rental pricing happens, say goodbye to special editions, 16x9 anamorphic prints, and say hello to previews before the movie.
At least until the rental window is over.
And even then, expect the previews to remain.