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Video stores, union reps rally against buck-a-night DVD kiosks like Redbox
Yahoo! Tech News ^ | 9/8/2009 | Yahoo!

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 ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: redbox; union; unions; videostores
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1 posted on 09/08/2009 2:07:51 PM PDT by wrrock
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To: wrrock

Hollywood’s own birth was among thieves. Karma happens.


2 posted on 09/08/2009 2:09:11 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Proud Sarah-Bot.)
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To: wrrock

The unions would have fought to ban cars to save their jobs at the buggy whip factory.


3 posted on 09/08/2009 2:09:49 PM PDT by TankerKC (USAF...retired.)
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To: wrrock

100 years ago: Buggy whip makers, stablehands rally against new Model T Horseless Carriage.


4 posted on 09/08/2009 2:11:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I will raise $1 million for Sarah Palin if she runs; What will you do?)
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To: wrrock

They going after BlockBuster too? My local BB rents for $1 a night.


5 posted on 09/08/2009 2:11:48 PM PDT by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: TankerKC

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.


6 posted on 09/08/2009 2:13:16 PM PDT by abb ("What ISN'T in the news is often more important than what IS." Ed Biersmith, 1942 -)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Gotta admit I love Redbox. It's a block away, I can order whatever movie I want from the website and it's there in a day, and they're a buck a night.

Now that I know the Hollyweird crowd hates it I'll stop by an extra time or two.

7 posted on 09/08/2009 2:13:20 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: wrrock
During the summer we cancelled Netflix and used Redbox occasionally, but I wasn't really happy with it. You can't cancel a movie you accidentally reserved online, even to replace it with another, and one time they charged my account out of the clear blue sky for no apparent reason.

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.

8 posted on 09/08/2009 2:14:24 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: wrrock

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.


9 posted on 09/08/2009 2:14:24 PM PDT by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: wrrock

Netflix was killing the mom & pop stores long before redbox.


10 posted on 09/08/2009 2:14:31 PM PDT by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: wrrock

If unions hate Redbox then it must be good.


11 posted on 09/08/2009 2:14:58 PM PDT by pnh102 (Regarding liberalism, always attribute to malice what you think can be explained by stupidity. - Me)
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To: wrrock
than the $3-$5/night prices charged by the average video store, according to Video Business.

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.

12 posted on 09/08/2009 2:15:16 PM PDT by KarlInOhio ("I can run wild for six months ...after that, I have no expectation of success" - Admiral Obama-moto)
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To: Little Pig

Competition is awesome when left alone.


13 posted on 09/08/2009 2:15:22 PM PDT by Orange1998
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Hollywood’s own birth was among thieves. Karma happens.

Yep.

14 posted on 09/08/2009 2:15:53 PM PDT by Mr_Moonlight
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To: Hodar
Right now the studios are pushing Redbox and Netflix for a revenue sharing plan above and beyond the disk purchase price. I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of it where the studios sic their union goons on companies that aren't "giving their fair share".
15 posted on 09/08/2009 2:17:20 PM PDT by KarlInOhio ("I can run wild for six months ...after that, I have no expectation of success" - Admiral Obama-moto)
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To: wrrock

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.


16 posted on 09/08/2009 2:19:04 PM PDT by pallis
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To: Little Pig

My local BB went out of business as it couldn’t compete with the likes of NetFlix.


17 posted on 09/08/2009 2:21:58 PM PDT by bagman
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

What you are doing is highly illegal (and immoral).


18 posted on 09/08/2009 2:22:09 PM PDT by rom (Israel got Saul before they got David. Where's our David?)
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To: Little Pig
They going after BlockBuster too? My local BB rents for $1 a night.

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.

19 posted on 09/08/2009 2:22:22 PM PDT by Mr_Moonlight
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To: wrrock

“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.


20 posted on 09/08/2009 2:22:41 PM PDT by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
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