Netflix and Warner Brothers Reach Deal

[Sheep]

Sure, Temis, but you rent all kinds of films and regularly keep your queue stocked. You are a much different rental user than, say, someone of my parents' generation. And I think there definitely will be a backlash from those kinds of customers.

The average person doesn't have the slightest clue when DVD/BD release dates are unless they see it on TV, in which case it's in their memory for oh, another 2 minutes tops unless it's a movie/show they're interested in.

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that if you that if you asked 100 random people about the DVD release date for a popular recent movie, 90 of them or more would not know the answer. This 28 day delay simply isn't going to matter for the vast majority of people.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that if you that if you asked 100 random people about the DVD release date for a popular recent movie, 90 of them or more would not know the answer. This 28 day delay simply isn't going to matter for the vast majority of people.

Indeed.

I bet most people are aware of new releases only because they go to a store and see the "New Releases" shelf.

 

[Smiley]

How many movies fall into the category of being not good enough for movie theater prices but interesting enough to become must-watches on the first day of DVD/Blu-ray release? My guess is that this number is very small.

Also, is it possible that some of these new releases will be available as streaming video on the release date? That would mitigate any backlash from this decision.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I say it's a win-win-win, for the company, for the WB and for the users.

I love the fact they are expanding more movies on the Watch Now feature...and I have a feeling that the direction Netflix is really heading anyway...

So, awesome, Netflix!

 

[Captain Craig]

Seems based on this thread Netflix made the right call.
Even if someone had a Netflix membership and decided "I just have to see 'x' now" they might go to Blockbuster and drop $4 on the new release how often? Once? Maybe twice a year, by then they've spent the cost of a monthly membership to Netflix and only seen two movies.
It really is logical and an easy compromise to wait another 28 days. I'll not even notice it and apparently neither will any of us based on our comments here.

 

[barnaclelapse]

Sounds like a good deal for Netflix, and a good deal for Warner Bros. But this doesn't sound like a good deal for Netflix users. Having to wait a whole month before being able to rent 'new' releases? Well, Blockbuster could always use the extra business.

Agreed. I'm not sure how I the Netflix consumer will benefit from this at all.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Sounds like a good deal for Netflix, and a good deal for Warner Bros. But this doesn't sound like a good deal for Netflix users. Having to wait a whole month before being able to rent 'new' releases? Well, Blockbuster could always use the extra business.

Agreed. I'm not sure how I the Netflix consumer will benefit from this at all.

You benefit from having more choices from Warner Brother owned movies in the Watch Now feature. A lot more movies.

 

[RoJoHen]

Sounds like a good deal for Netflix, and a good deal for Warner Bros. But this doesn't sound like a good deal for Netflix users. Having to wait a whole month before being able to rent 'new' releases? Well, Blockbuster could always use the extra business.

Agreed. I'm not sure how I the Netflix consumer will benefit from this at all.

You benefit from the increased Instant Streaming library.

Now, if you don't really use that feature, you're not benefiting much at all, but that's not really Netflix's problem.

 

[Starbreaker]

The article says it costs a nickel to stream a movie. That could end up being thousands of titles.

 

[Harvey]

Sure, Temis, but you rent all kinds of films and regularly keep your queue stocked. You are a much different rental user than, say, someone of my parents' generation. And I think there definitely will be a backlash from those kinds of customers.

The average person doesn't have the slightest clue when DVD/BD release dates are unless they see it on TV, in which case it's in their memory for oh, another 2 minutes tops unless it's a movie/show they're interested in.

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that if you that if you asked 100 random people about the DVD release date for a popular recent movie, 90 of them or more would not know the answer. This 28 day delay simply isn't going to matter for the vast majority of people.

Here's how it works. You see a title for sale in the store, and think to yourself, I want to rent that. Then you try and rent it and Netflix says it is not available. Repeat experience often enough and you're going to lose customers. Of course, it's only one studio, and the instant streaming library is a nice off-set.

 

[stj]

Most of my Netflix queue is old movies and tv sets. If there's a popular new release I try to get the Redbox on Tuesdays. Or keep checking if I don't get there in time. I rarely Netflix a new release except by adding them long before release. True Blood season 2 and Dexter season 4 are already on my queue and they don't even have DVD release dates so far.

 

[RoJoHen]

Hell, Chuck Season 3 is on there, and that hasn't even started airing yet!

 

[Professor Zoom]

Sure, Temis, but you rent all kinds of films and regularly keep your queue stocked. You are a much different rental user than, say, someone of my parents' generation. And I think there definitely will be a backlash from those kinds of customers.

The average person doesn't have the slightest clue when DVD/BD release dates are unless they see it on TV, in which case it's in their memory for oh, another 2 minutes tops unless it's a movie/show they're interested in.

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that if you that if you asked 100 random people about the DVD release date for a popular recent movie, 90 of them or more would not know the answer. This 28 day delay simply isn't going to matter for the vast majority of people.

Here's how it works. You see a title for sale in the store, and think to yourself, I want to rent that. Then you try and rent it and Netflix says it is not available. Repeat experience often enough and you're going to lose customers. Of course, it's only one studio, and the instant streaming library is a nice off-set.

Many new releases, even when available, still sometimes suffer from long waits on Netflix, so I doubt most people would even notice the 28 day wait.

 

[Sheep]

Here's how it works. You see a title for sale in the store, and think to yourself, I want to rent that. Then you try and rent it and Netflix says it is not available. Repeat experience often enough and you're going to lose customers. Of course, it's only one studio, and the instant streaming library is a nice off-set.

I think you put a little too much weight on the whole instant gratification thing. If it were a big factor in people's movie rental habits, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video would be doing just fine (and Redbox too) and Netflix would be six feet under.

I'm guessing for those who join Netflix, they're sick of paying $5 for one rental and willing to trade a short wait (while the disc is shipped) for practically unlimited rentals at a low price. Most people I know who have Netflix have dozens if not hundreds of discs in their queues, so it's not like they're stuck with nothing while waiting for that new release to come out.

 

[Nerys Myk]

You gotta wait at bricks and morter too. Its first come first serve. I can recall some fridays nights where every copy of the big new release was gone and stayed gone for weeks.

 

[RoJoHen]

You gotta wait at bricks and morter too. Its first come first serve. I can recall some fridays nights where every copy of the big new release was gone and stayed gone for weeks.

And unlike Netflix, those stores aren't going to let you know when the movie becomes available again.

 

[Harvey]

Here's how it works. You see a title for sale in the store, and think to yourself, I want to rent that. Then you try and rent it and Netflix says it is not available. Repeat experience often enough and you're going to lose customers. Of course, it's only one studio, and the instant streaming library is a nice off-set.

I think you put a little too much weight on the whole instant gratification thing. If it were a big factor in people's movie rental habits, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video would be doing just fine (and Redbox too) and Netflix would be six feet under.

Perhaps. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. There are certainly many different kinds of consumers who use Netflix, and this change won't affect many of those groups. But we'll see.

 

[bigdaddy]

Netflix is still thinking that downloading and viewing online is the future, they don't seem to get the fact that people like owning something real and not some downloaded thing that the company can come back and delete.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Product that you own isn't really their niche is it? Their focus is renting. Streaming and downloading is another way of renting.

If you want own there are many places to buy online and offline.

 

[Amaris]

Netflix is still thinking that downloading and viewing online is the future, they don't seem to get the fact that people like owning something real and not some downloaded thing that the company can come back and delete.

Downloading and viewing online is the future. You're attached to physical media for now, but already the children of the current generation are already getting comfortable with it. Millions of computer users play a game that only works if you play it online (World of Warcraft) and pay a monthly subscription to play a game that they already paid $40-$60 to "own" even though the discs would be useless if the servers died. Sure, other people can start a private server, but even so, you have to have a server side to play the game. 10 years ago, people would have laughed at you for making such a "foolish purchase", but today, there are 13 million gamers who disagree.

To add to that, you don't even have to have the physical media anymore. You can have it installed to your PC from Blizzard's servers. It just installs, debits the $40-$60 from your account and you play. All for roughly $15 a month. Nowhere in the transaction did you ever even touch a single CD or DVD.