Hollywood still has a chance to prevent itself from losing customers and face from an unwillingness to embrace the Internet. Whether its $30-a-time movie rental service ‘Home Premiere’ is the way to do it is unclear, but it’s at least a start, right?
Online Video Vs. Hollywood
Like every other industry who product can be digitized and shared on the Internet, the movie industry has suffered as a result of piracy and file-sharing. It hasn’t suffered as badly as many on that side of the fence would have us believe, but it has suffered nonetheless.
Unlike the music industry, which was slow to react and continues to fight the inexorable march towards everything being available on the Internet, the movie industry still has a chance to evolve its business alongside the needs of its customers. If it so chooses to.
$30 ‘Home Premiere’
The newly-announced ‘Home Premiere’ is, I guess, the first sign of that willingness to change. First revealed in September 2010, ‘Home Premiere’ is a premium VOD service which offers brand new movies for $30 a pop. Renting, that is, rather than owning.
Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, and 20th Century Fox are all on board and preparing to offer their new movies for rental for $30 just 60 days after they make their theatrical debut. The time between theatrical release and home release on physical formats is currently around 120 days (four months).
The ‘Home Premiere’ service will begin on DirectTV and through Comcast in the near future. Although $30 sounds a lot of money (and it is), it may work out to be a fair price for a family of four or more who would otherwise have to pay not only for tickets but the price of parking and concessions as well.
A Right To Moan?
To be perfectly honest my position has changed somewhat on this plan. I still think the major Hollywood movie studios are charging an extortionate rate for their content, especially in the face of the continuing popularity of piracy. But those of us who don’t want to pay $30 for a one-off movie rental don’t have to, so in effect it won’t affect us.
It’s actually movie theaters that will be the hardest hit here. They’re seeing their release window narrowing once again, dropping from 120 days to 60 days. And with many homes now having big-screen TVs, going to the theater may therefore become a thing of the past for all but the most ardent movie lover.
[Via Variety]
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