Movie Rentals, Special Features No Longer A Match
Alyssa Weinstein
Issue date: 3/24/09 Section: Entertainment
Imagine sitting down at home to watch a movie you just rented from Blockbuster or Netflix list. You watch the movie and then click on the "Special Features" button to see a deleted scene, a gag reel or commentary.
Think of your surprise when you in fact see that there is nothing.
Starting with the March 31 release of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is creating two types of discs for the paying customers: the type we see now- versions with added material such as gag reels, directors commentary and deleted scenes while another will just have the movie.
The purpose of this is, of course, to boost the sales on the retail DVDs. Studios have to add value to have customers to buy these DVDs, and it seems right now that no one is buying. Numbers have been falling for some time now, and Fox is the first to try to prevent the freefall.
Yet lot of special features that DVDs do have sometimes don't even seem worthwhile and take up space that can be filled by creating better special features that attract the customer rather than ones they wouldn't be interested in. That is, after all, one of the main perks in owning the DVD.
Fox senior VP of sales Don Jeffries said in a press release, "We have developed product variations to feed different consumer consumption models and behaviors. For rental customers, we're delivering a theatrical experience in the home while promoting upcoming releases. For retail customers, we're offering a premium product that expands the entertainment experience of that particular property to further enhance ownership."
It appears that the movie companies want the viewer to get what they are paying for: the actual movie and then the special features. If the average renter can get all the special features as well without having to buy the actual DVD, then it is the studio that absorbs the financial hit. Rental services like Netflix are so convenient to some that many viewers think of them as giant collections, and makes owners not see the need to buy.
Think of your surprise when you in fact see that there is nothing.
Starting with the March 31 release of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is creating two types of discs for the paying customers: the type we see now- versions with added material such as gag reels, directors commentary and deleted scenes while another will just have the movie.
The purpose of this is, of course, to boost the sales on the retail DVDs. Studios have to add value to have customers to buy these DVDs, and it seems right now that no one is buying. Numbers have been falling for some time now, and Fox is the first to try to prevent the freefall.
Yet lot of special features that DVDs do have sometimes don't even seem worthwhile and take up space that can be filled by creating better special features that attract the customer rather than ones they wouldn't be interested in. That is, after all, one of the main perks in owning the DVD.
Fox senior VP of sales Don Jeffries said in a press release, "We have developed product variations to feed different consumer consumption models and behaviors. For rental customers, we're delivering a theatrical experience in the home while promoting upcoming releases. For retail customers, we're offering a premium product that expands the entertainment experience of that particular property to further enhance ownership."
It appears that the movie companies want the viewer to get what they are paying for: the actual movie and then the special features. If the average renter can get all the special features as well without having to buy the actual DVD, then it is the studio that absorbs the financial hit. Rental services like Netflix are so convenient to some that many viewers think of them as giant collections, and makes owners not see the need to buy.
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