Posted on 09/08/2009 2:07:50 PM PDT by wrrock
The $1 movie rentals available through DVD kiosks like Redbox could spell "disaster" for the film and video industries—or at least, that's the argument of representatives for video stores and Hollywood unions, who want movie lovers to dump Redbox and return to their corner "mom-and-pop" DVD rental outlets.
Video Business reports that the Video Buyers Group, a trade organization for some 1,700 independent brick-and-mortar video stores, is prepping an ad campaign that'll paint Redbox as a threat to the film industry as we know it. Why? Because its $1-a-night rental rate is "generating less revenue" for Hollywood studios than the $3-$5/night prices charged by the average video store, according to Video Business.
Indeed, the New York Times quotes Video Buyers Group president Ted Engen as saying that "those machines"—think Redbox and its ilk—"are to the video industry what the Internet was to the music business—disaster."
Also on the attack against DVD kiosks: Gary Cook of UA Local 87, the union that represents movie studio plumbers: "It's going to kill the industry," Cook warned the Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.yahoo.com ...
Hollywood’s own birth was among thieves. Karma happens.
The unions would have fought to ban cars to save their jobs at the buggy whip factory.
100 years ago: Buggy whip makers, stablehands rally against new Model T Horseless Carriage.
They going after BlockBuster too? My local BB rents for $1 a night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddites
The Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the early nineteenth century who protested—often by destroying mechanized looms—against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their entire way of life.
Now that I know the Hollyweird crowd hates it I'll stop by an extra time or two.
We just resumed Netflix last week, and I like it much better. You can get blank DVDs for 20 cents apiece now, and if you burn and return as soon as you get them you can easily burn 24 DVDs a month on their $18 3-disk at a time plan.
Ok, color me confused.
What is the difference if I rent a movie and pay Redbox $1 to watch it, or if I rent the same movie and pay Blockbuster $4 to watch it?
Either way, Hollywood sold a DVD to the kiosk, or to the store. If I rent it, and I like it; I will meander to Wal-Mart and buy my own copy.
So, how exactly how does Redbox hurt Hollywood?
I would argue that I watch movies from my RedBox kiosk for $1, that I would NOT even consider renting from Blockbuster at a higher cost.
Netflix was killing the mom & pop stores long before redbox.
If unions hate Redbox then it must be good.
How many charge $3-$5/night? I've seen that much for a few days of rental, but never just one night. I suppose they hate Netflix too, because if you get maximum throughput of 3 days per disk (mail 1, watch 1, mail 1) you can get below $1/day.
Competition is awesome when left alone.
Yep.
I don’t see less revenues for Hollywood as a bad thing. Let them tighten their belts and experience the low quality, cheap, mostly filth movies of the pop culture they worked so hard to create. The B class crowd seems to flourish with $1 dollar rentals. One dollar is too much to pay for most of the crap passing for new movies.
My local BB went out of business as it couldn’t compete with the likes of NetFlix.
What you are doing is highly illegal (and immoral).
My local Blockbuster just closed down, and good riddance to 'em!
Years ago I returned a DVD a day late, so figured they'd just hit me with a late charge .. instead they popped a $6 'renewal' charge and then refused to give me the DVD back to use for another 3 days. I walked out of the place in a huff and never went back ... screw 'em.
“those machines”—think Redbox and its ilk—”are to the video industry what the Internet was to the music business—disaster.”
Uh, no - the internet is to the video “industry” what it was/is to music industry. Already people are downloading pretty much anything they might want, often including movies that are still running (or haven’t even started running) in the theatres.
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