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View Full Version : 20th Century Fox removing special features from rental dvds


number8
03-12-2009, 07:46 PM
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6642010.html


20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, in an effort to invigorate slack DVD sales, is creating two classes of discs: premium versions with added-value material such as digital copy for the sell-through market and stripped-down offerings for rental.

Starting with March 31 releases Marley & Me (http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1650000165/post/1130040513.html) and Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire (http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1650000165/post/920041492.html), wholesalers will be “authorized to sell rental accounts only the rental SKUs and to sell retail accounts only the retail SKUs,” according to a letter sent to accounts by Fox senior VP of sales Don Jeffries and obtained by VB. Fox will impose the same restrictions on direct accounts, according to the letter.



You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Sycophant
03-12-2009, 07:50 PM
Well... that makes enough sense to me?
number8
03-12-2009, 08:00 PM
Well... that makes enough sense to me?

No, it's backwards. You never create incentive by taking away existing products. If they think this is actually going to increase DVD sales, they're dreaming. Half the people who buy DVDs don't care about special features, they just like the movie. The other half buy them because of quality editions. Nobody is going to buy a DVD out of pure curiosity for the special features.

They're punishing renters for something that wouldn't fix their problem.
Fezzik
03-12-2009, 08:23 PM
No, it's backwards. You never create incentive by taking away existing products. If they think this is actually going to increase DVD sales, they're dreaming. Half the people who buy DVDs don't care about special features, they just like the movie. The other half buy them because of quality editions. Nobody is going to buy a DVD out of pure curiosity for the special features.

They're punishing renters for something that wouldn't fix their problem.

Maybe if they put out better movies, people would buy them?

Just sayin...
Russ
03-12-2009, 09:14 PM
I'm with 8: ie, they don't have fucking clue.
Ezee E
03-12-2009, 10:18 PM
Fox puts out pretty crappy features anyway, right? Some company does.
Kurosawa Fan
03-13-2009, 03:17 AM
I don't watch special features, so I'm apathetic to this news. I'm also apparently pretty bored.
[ETM]
03-13-2009, 04:22 AM
What this'll do is increase downloading, not sales. Stupid.
MadMan
03-13-2009, 04:57 AM
I don't understand why they are doing this. Or if it will do anything. Its just weird to me.
Sycophant
03-13-2009, 05:04 AM
I'd imagine the basic idea here is to cut down on the previously viewed sales the rental chains rake in.

Admittedly, I don't know all that much about the revenue distribution in these matters.