Are day and date Releases a win- win for the Video on Demand Industry?
Analysis of the shrinking release windows for movies from the perspective of Diva.AG, a European aggregator of independent movies.
(PRWEB) September 2, 2008 -- Traditionally the release windows for home entertainment have been five months after the theatrical release. VoD, if it was ever made available, followed another three months later.
These windows gave every player an exclusive time slot to exploit a movie without having to compete with other channels. For many years these clearly segmented distribution channels were both comfortable and profitable for producers, in particular the Studios. The main drivers for shrinking release windows are:
1.pirate versions of movies that are made available globally literally days after the first cinema release
2. the cost of multiple, window specific marketing campaigns for the same movie
Today it is widely accepted by the industry that younger consumers will find movies where and when they want them, irrespective of whether the source is legal or illegal.
Rather than fighting the trend Warner was the first Studio to collapse the Home Video and VoD windows into one. In trials they found that doing simultaneous marketing campaigns increased VoD rates by 50%, DVD sales by 50% with only DVD rentals down by 2%. Since the initial US trial in 2006 day and date releases have become a global policy for Warner.
Another strong proponent of day and date releases is Apple, actively sourcing contents for ist iTunes portal. Press releases confirm that Steve Jobs has managed to convince all major Studios to grant iTunes day and date releases.
The advantages for beginning to shift towards digital distribution are obvious:
1. the margins are larger than on DVD sales, no physical product needs to be created and shipped
2. consumers are increasingly equipped with broadband connections and simply demand the convenience of choosing a movie from home
3. consumer choice is deeper as digital storage costs decline
So where is the industry going? Steven Sonderberg, the filmmaker of hits including "Ocean's Eleven" predicts that by 2011 all release windows will have collapsed into one, giving the consumer the ultimate choice of channels. Until then there is sure to be a fair amount of upheaval in the industry.
About Diva
Founded in 2007 Diva is a leading aggregator of movies, TV series and short form contents supplying Video on Demand platforms globally. Diva's special focus are award winning independent films, true classics, horror and animation contents that are otherwise hard to find. These contents are taken to Internet platforms, telecommunications companies and cable companies in Asia, Europe, Middle East and the USA. Content selection, normalization, encoding and transaction reporting are handled by Diva's proprietary Daedalum™ platform. Privately held Diva AG is based in Zurich, Switzerland with representations in China, France, Germany, India and the USA. Contact: Natalie Farrell, Key Account Management, Tel: + 41-44- 586 66 32
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