Hollywood studios are sick of you renting their DVDs and want you to start buying them again. The way to trick you into this, they figure, is to withhold the discs from rental companies for a month, forcing you to get all antsy and run out and buy them.
What’s frightening for customers is Netflix is willing to go along with this thick-headed plan, PaidContent reports, as long as the company gets its DVDs for half off.
If the deal goes through it will no doubt hurt both parties. Trashing the value of its service, Netflix will lose subscribers, and the studios won’t see the sales bump they’re hoping for since a chunk of otherwise honest would-be renters will either opt for piracy or just sit out the 30 days to rent the movies.
Netflix customers, will you be more likely to buy a DVD or Blu-ray if you’re not allowed to rent it until a month after it’s released? Will you stick with Netflix even if it stops offering new releases in a timely manner?
Netflix Wants 50 Percent Discount Under Release Delay Scenario [PaidContent via TechCrunch]
(Photo: Great Beyond)
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ha ha movie studio = us car companies.
short their stocks now.
must own gi joe movie
must own mall cop movie
must own ugly truth movie
must acquire more worthless junk
must eat poor nutritional foodstuffs
must die of clogged arteries and weakened heart due to immobile lifestyle.
god bless rush/beck/fox america
If this were something the studios did unilaterally, then it would be unfair to blame Netflix — but if Netflix is a party to it, why should anybody give them a free pass? If they’re getting 50% off the cost of the disks, wouldn’t it be fair to cut their membership prices 25% across the board (because of course they have costs other than the price of the DVDs)?
buy it? heck no.
95% of the movies I watch through netflix are old anyways. I’ll stick with netflix and those movie companies ain’t gettin a penny outta me until they release a quality movie without all the garbage.
For me, stuff “comes out” when I get it in from Netflix. And most of my queue is old B movies and anime anyway, and the wife’s romcoms(so if they take an extra month to come in that’s a bonus!!). So I’m cool with it.
So Netflix gets their movies half off in return for them not being available for 30 days? I fail to see a problem with this. Who really has new movies so high up on their priorities list that they can’t wait? I would think those would be the same people who would buy the movies anyway.
So in effect, it will not boost the sales of movies at all. All this will accomplish is getting a deal for Netflix. Hey, maybe they’ll pass the savings on to us.
If Netflix really wanted to bend ‘em over on this one, they should have required that all movies be available on instant watch 90 days after rental disc purchase (by Netflix). I think it would be a fair agreement, studios would still sell the DVDs at retail and then rental rates, and I’d get Instant Watch full of movies that aren’t terrible.
In reality, this is all about injecting another release window. Since studios know “We make $X million in the first release window (theaters), and then 30% less in each subsequent window, inserting a new one will net us $Y hundred thousand more!”. Because they’re doing financial projections with Excel, it makes perfect sense to them to insert another window. In reality though, they’re just spreading the same amount of money around.
I keep my Netflix list at about 60 movies. Perhaps 2 of those will be in their “released in the last 6 months” category. Not an issue to me, like most here, I have Netflix so I can watch obscure Japanese horror movies with my son. I run through about 3 a week, so the list rolls over fairly quickly. Last time I bought a new release was when True Blood season one came out.
Uhhh, if i didn’t watch it at the cineplex while it was there for 3 months, I don’t think making me wait another 30 days is going to entice me to make that oh so important purchase.
If this is the best dirt The Consumerist can dig up to try to make me stop loving NetFlix, you should know it’s a big old FAIL. I will never turn on them. Never.
Were this a question about Gamefly rather than Netflix, yeah, I can see it being a problem for many people. A game isn’t in a arcade or something first then premieres on disc that you can rent/buy. Movies though, you may have already seen in the theater, and if not, these ‘windows’ for release are so ridiculously long anyway, whats an extra month? Its not like I was anticipating it anyway; I didn’t even know when it would be out to begin with.
I think most people, based on the comments, don’t have lives that revolve around seeing the latest movie on DVD as quickly as possible every single time. Sure, sometimes this will be inconvenient, like when you’ve been anticipating a DVDs release, but that’s why Blockbuster still exists.
There are only certain movies that I would go out and buy. Half the time my wife and I show any interest in a movie we see advertised on TV we just say “Eh, we’ll wait for Netflix.” Movies that I thought were exceptional or that I just really enjoyed I usually buy the first day they’re out. For example I will be picking up a copy of Star Trek next Tuesday. Otherwise, I can wait.
If only there was a way to conveniently download movies from an international series of tubes we wouldn’t have to deal with this BS from Hollywood monopolies.
This is unbelievably lame, but to be honest if I want to see a film OMGRIGHTNAO when it’s released, I’ve already pre-ordered a copy from Amazon anyhow. Netflix is for things I want to see once, things that are difficult to get, or their TV seasons on streaming video, not new releases.
Right!!!! Like I’m going to fork over and buy the movies directly…nothing of value has come out for years. I’ll just wait the extra month and watch classics that were actually good in the meantime.
Get off Netflix’s case! It’s, without a doubt, the best value on the Net today.
All the Movies, free streaming videos and TV shows(Nova,etc)you can possibly watch for $10 bucks a month.
I use Netflix as a streaming service. In fact, I wish there was a way I could remove the DVD part of my subscription. So this doesn’t affect me at all.
The latest DVD releases are available as DVDRip Torrents days or weeks before they get to Netflix. It seems like the studios are operating without this knowledge, eliminating more ways for consumers to legally pay to see movies in a timely manner.
I would probably stick with netflix. But the only reason I have netflix is to make DVD rips myself, so I don’t think it’s quite a victory for the MPAA.
Netflix is behaving like a child anymore. You give the kid candy and it wants more, more and more. I’m beginning to think that Netflix wants to control it’s customers rather than serving it’s customers. This won’t shrug me off from using their service, but I’m thinking that it won’t be around much longer if Netflix keeps up this sort of crappy service.
What’s Netflix? I’m waiting to rent movies from a Blockbuster SD Card Kiosk. It’s DivX for the 21st century.
Do the Movie Studios execs have two brain cells that they can rub together to create an intelligent thought. Do they think holding off new releases for 30 days is going to help purchases, do they realize that a quality DVD rip of a new movie is usually available(via bittorrent or other ways) before the release date. This stupid idea will just get more people to pirate the movie, since most people will not watch a movie more than once(would you watch ‘The Love Guru’ more than once, since once was probably too much). So to be able to see it in the first 30 days will require the purchase of the movie. I am just hoping one day that the movie studios and music studios will get a clue and figure out their business models from yesteryear….DON’T WORK ANYMORE, and customers want their product a different way(digital download or some other way). Completely Ridiculous.
Yes, I am NO genius. Sometimes it takes twice learn my lesson. I became a member of Netflex for a “Free” month. Well, after a month, I canceled and they charged my credit card for $25.00 saying “they never got back one of the discs”. Well, I thought “I sent it back maybe the mail lost it. I will write the good people at Netflix and tell them”. Their reply “We have no record of receiving it so the charge stands”. I didn’t know about challenging through my VISA at that time.
Well, a year later, here I go again. Thinking that was just a real slip-up on USPS’s part I signed up with Netflix again for a “trial” month. Duh! Guess what? Yep, they did the exact same thing to me again down to the same form letter email.
It is a sleazy outfit and I was not educated enough on my protections and was too busy working at my job to worry about it. However, I learned my lesson. I wonder how many people they did this to and got away with it?
…and, no, I don’t think it was a coincidence.
I don’t have Netflix. But I do buy movies.. after they’ve been released on DVD for a year and they’re selling for $5 in the bargain bin at Best Buy. LOL.
OK, I’ll bite. How is NetFlix “screwing” us?
Their main supplier of inventory wants to change when they get that inventory and so NetFlix is screwing us?
If NetFlix started this conversation by approaching the Studios and asking for a discount on DVDs in exchange for waiting to rent them for 30 days after they were released to the general public to purchase, I might concede the point.
But that is not what is going on here. It is the OTHER WAY AROUND.
The studios are ones TELLING NetFlix that they are not going to get ANYTHING unti after 30 days. NetFlix’s reply to them is that this alters the “value” of the rental product ENOUGH that they should get a discount on the purchase of the DVDs since they MAY see a decrease in rentals if people BUY the DVDs. Whether this is true or not is immaterial, it is just negotiation.
I certainly don’t see how you get off thinking NetFlix is screwing consumers by this. If the studios hold back the movies by 30 days no matter WHAT, how is this NetFlix screwing the consumer? Who cares how much NetFlix pays for their inventory? I couldn’t care less if they got it for free. In this rapid-changing world I would like to see them survive as long as possible FOR MY OWN BENEFIT.
Any savings they get from purchasing inventory will hopefully be applied to keeping the company going and improving their service FOR MY BENEFIT.
I am not a Shareholder of the company.
Why do people think that all consumers are somehow part of a profit-sharing plan with companies.
and could you elaborate on “their past business practices”?
You imply they are some sort of shady outfit.
pretty much everyone in thread seems to LOVE NetFlix and their customer service.
Mailing prices have gone up the last 2 years, my NetFlix account price has not changed. They have ABSORBED the price increase and not only that, they DROPPED the price of my monthly by $1.
I love this actually. Netflix is aiming to get a concession from the MPAA for something that will probably not help DVD sales at all. I bet they look at their rental data and say “So they want to delay rental release? Lets see what we can get for that.”
I’d be happy if they passed on some of the savings to the customers. But that might be a lot to ask.
I’m a librarian. They do this with books too. We have new releases sitting on our processing shelves with post-it notes and scary warnings via publishers saying we can’t put them out for loan for a month after we buy the book. And no, libraries don’t get the special secret early edition.
Considering I put holds on movies with Netflix when they’re still in the theater, I can wait a month longer. I usually forget about it until I get it so it’s like a surprise.
Way to be unnecessarily alarmist.
1) I have no problem waiting
2) If Netflix were to pass at least SOME of the savings on to the consumer, or use the savings to research new streaming techs (subtitles and special features would be awesome) or subsidize the Roku player to make it even more affordable, then I don’t have any problem.
Hello, Redbox
Considering that the last DVDs my husband and I viewed on Netflix were of British sitcoms older than we are, I think we’ll be fine. If Netflix can benefit from another company making a stupid business move, more power to ‘em.
Considering my Netflix queue is like 250 dvds long, I dont think having to wait an extra 30 days is going to matter.
“What’s frightening for customers is Netflix is willing to go along with this thick-headed plan, PaidContent reports, as long as the company gets its DVDs for half off.”
What matters is that the trade to the 30-day wait is Netflix having less of a reason to increase subscription costs any.
I’d only agree with this if there is a subscription discount or current new releases were still available via streaming only.
This is getting lost waaaaaaaaaay down on page 7, but I bought a movie today (UP) because I saw it on Netflix yesterday.
The smart studio will get Netflix to include coupons toward movies you watch.
Red Box is for new releases. Netflix is for the older stuff. So I still won’t buy the DVDs, no matter how long the wait is.
Netflix isn’t in the wrong, as far as I can see, for this, but I will say that this is a specifically targetted greed measure on the part of hollywood’s studios.
What I can also say is that this sort of thing is what makes piracy thrive, and what gives people even more reason to commit such acts.
Hollywood, that taste you’re gagging at right now? That’s your foot.
honestly? There haven’t been that many movies that I get all excited over seeing in the theaters, so why would I sit and freak over a wait in my DVD rental? Plus my queue is large enough that even if there was a 30 day wait on the release… I have a ton to watch without feeling deprived or whatever.
So really the article headline should read, “Hollywood Will Screw You For The Right Price. Hardly think Netflix has any control in this as Hulu or any other service would be in the same boat also. As for whether I will begin buying again? No way. Not interested in having a stack of dust-gathering plastic sleeves littering my rooms. I went through this era with video cassette tapes and I ended up throwing them out with the trash nine years ago.
With Netflix you don’t care about the dates. My queue has been full for the past 8 years and have ignored nearly every single release date except for the very, very few movies I actually buy.
i still would not buy it, if I could wait 6 months, I can wait 7 months for the movie. Just shows how retarded the MPAA really is. I am also disappointed in Netflix for caving. Go Redbox!! lol
It’s rare when I buy a movie to begin with, and it’s even more rare when I don’t wait for it to go on sale or show up at the local used media store.
I do think it’s kinda funny though… Back in the day of beginning to rent VHS, I seem to remember not being able to buy a movie before it came out for rental, and if by some twist of fate you WERE able to do so (buy as/before it was rentable), you were charged about $150 for the privilege to do so.
This is Netflix we’re talking about. More then any company, I don’t think there out to screw us. They’ll probably compensate us somehow – hopefully we’ll get more new releases in the instant viewing area.
Netflix should sign the deal, they are a good company and deserve to increase their profit margins. The idiots that can’t wait the extra 30 days to see transformers 14 will just go get ripped off at bestbuy. In the meantime i will easily occupy the 30 days with a few of the other 1,000′s of stellar viewing options on netflix.
If they’re getting DVDs for half off, shouldn’t a drop in membership price reflect this savings?
/not a netflix customer
it’s okay I have 499 other movies on my list which need to be rented first, I also have something like 5,000 that I can stream. It’s not like I am going to miss anything anyways, all “new” releases which are on my list are always short wait the day they come out, I’d rather sit back and watch a season of something than getting angry about missing GI JOE 2: THIS TIME MARLAN WAYNES DIES
This is what I sent Netflix cncerning this issue, doubt they would care ut im serious:
It is my understanding that Netflix has made a deal with Hollywood studios concerning the delay of new releases to end users of 30 days in exchange for purchasing those films at a discount. Giving retailers a customer-purchase advantage over renting. This is a complete slap in the face to the Netflix renting customer, and you certainly will not be passing this cost savings to us, instead you have down graded our service to a point that makes using your service for the speedy delivery of new releases utterly impossible and therefore no longer needed. If this actually comes to fruition, not only will I cancel my subscription but also get rid of all shares and abandon this organization as I am 100% positive a large percentage of your customers will end their subscriptions once they notice these huge delays. This decision to screw your customer base to save a buck will cost you more than your going to save I assure you.
This is the kind of BS that happens when a company becomes a de-facto monopoly. They forget the customers and do everything to maximize profits. I thought Netflix was different but they are just tools.
If I’m going to buy a movie I’ll do it the moment it comes out when it’s on sale everywhere. If I am not going to buy it, I’ll just throw it onto my 100+ title Netflix queue and get it when I get it. It’s not like you’re guaranteed a new release from Netflix anyway, those titles can be pretty high demand.
For the most part, I simply don’t need or want to buy DVDs anymore. I don’t watch any movie a dozen times.
I used to be that guy. But usually (now) I only buy a dvd if it’s A)on sale and B)I can’t rent it (alternatively C)It’s one of the tv shows I need to own).
I finally picked up season 12 of the simpsons (and the newest season of family guy) when target had them for 13 bucks a pop. Good deal to me as I generally use the seasons as background “music” for work.
But still, the only thing that affects me is REDBOX because I only rent from them…and they don’t really have a good stock of new non-hollywood releases (recent notables include: mutant chronicles and trick r treat) which means I have to goto ebay or retail. Usually I can get away with buying dvds at blockbuster for the 4 for 20 deal which isn’t too bad if it’s something I’m going to watch. Can’t live without Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo.
If it’s not a movie I was going to buy anyway, I can wait the 30 days for it to come to Netflix. Sorry studies, if I don’t care enough to see it to buy it when it comes out, forcing me to wait to rent it won’t change my mind. I have a long enough queue on Netflix I won’t have a shortage of stuff to watch until then…especially now that I have my PS3 streaming disc.