Netflix Takes a Bow and Delays WB Releases a Month
Engadget has a story noting that Netflix has just agreed to delay new releases from Warner Brothers for 28 days after they are released for sale before offering them up to subscribers. Netflix is expected to settle for similar agreements with additional studios soon as well. Now the rumor is that these agreements are in order to allow a much greater selection of titles to go direct to instant streaming, but that is not confirmed yet.
So the question is, which would you rather have? The new release movies as they are released? Or would you rather wait a month to have it available for streaming instead? I don’t think this would be as bad of a deal if we could cut the time between when a movie is released to theaters and when it is released for sale. I, personally, hate watching movies at the theaters. Especially if they haven’t upgraded to digital. It would be nice if the blu-ray discs were released in sync with the theatrical release. Then, I could see waiting a month for them to get to Netflix.
How are these deals going to affect Netflix’s customer base? Are we going to accept this quietly or are we going to raise a big fuss? “They” always bring the piracy question, so let’s ask it. Will the additional titles available make up for the additional wait time? I think that for the most part, the majority of the Netflix customer base will not even notice the extra delay. Those that notice it will end up doing one of three things:
- Go along with it, accepting the additional month,
- Return to piracy to obtain their new hit releases or,
- Switch from Netflix over to Blockbuster Online
You can find the original post over at Engadget.
Tags: blockbuster, netflix
Posted January 6, 2010 by vidkun under General
January 8th, 2010 at 17:02
Unfortunately, this is something no amount of bitching or moaning will stop. Even if Blockbuster hasn’t “bent over” yet, they will follow when the production studios decide how smart they are in making Netflix agree to this.
Honestly I don’t care too much about the timeliness of releases, I can be patient, especially if it means I can stream it. However, this is just a step in the wrong direction. How long until we can pay $.99 to rent it the day it gets released to brick and mortar stores, or face waiting 6 months to stream it?
Movie studios need to understand the only way to stop piracy, and to make their customers happy is to sell them what they want, when they want it, and in the format they want.