Netflix Streaming Coming to PS3 Next Month
- Thread starter tha_con
- Start date
They have no reason to fund Blu-ray and assume that DVD will sustain them forever, especially if the Internet streaming side is not $ positive yet. They raised the BR price twice to cover for disc damages and perhaps more margin right ? The other business cost is the same as DVD rental business, so the basic fee should be able to cover the operation and make a profit.
The fact that Blu-ray subscription increased after price hike means that they made the right move (It was priced too low).
The fact that Blu-ray subscription increased after price hike means that they made the right move (It was priced too low).
Or they priced up to not loose money but to break even.
Even standard plans increased in price btw .
All this bluray spin reminds me of how great bluray sales are , so great they have to give away 2 extra copies of the movie. I don't remember dvd coming with a free vhs tape copy of the movie
To fund the streaming infrastructure ? The CEO has said that NetFlix will focus on combined disc and streaming service. That's where their sweet spot is. Would not make sense to price Blu-ray too low (or just break even) when it's the new/premium kid on the block.
Of course not. DVD is not backward compatible with VHS. And there is no memory-based portable player back then.
At this time, Blu-ray title is still expensive compared to DVD releases. If they want to appeal to the collectors (according to the DigitalBits link), they sometimes go out of the way to bundle other limited edition "toys" too.
Once the studios move away from these collector base, we should see them tweaking their strategies along the way.
specwarGP2
Regular
Do you have any evidence that their BD business is losing money?
What spin? Are you saying that BD sales aren't actually what the numbers say they are? Also, who's giving away 2 additional copies of their movie in addition to the BD?
No do you have evidence that the BD business is not breaking even or loosing money ? They had to increase the price twice in the last two years.
As for what companys are giving multiple copies away , well that be warners (they made the dark knight right ?) and disney.
I paid $23 for up with the bluray , dvd and digital copy along with an extra tin case for it at best buy
specwarGP2
Regular
So what? It could easily mean that netflix raised the price to capitalize on the demand for BD rentals. Netflix has come out on record to say that the streaming business makes no money. Have they ever said anything to lead anyone to believe that the BD business makes no money?
First of all you're wrong about Dark Knight. AFAIK none of the regular editions came with a DVD and digital copy. Maybe one of the collectors editions did, but in that case it wasn't free and you were paying for it. As for the digital copies... they're part of special editions (including DVD) that cost more, so they're not exactly free.
Now about Disney. I'm sure you don't realize that Disney is a VERY strong supporter of BD. They have all sorts of programs with incentives for consumers to migrate over to BD, one of which is to include a DVD in all Disney BDs going forward. If you look at the price of the BD, it is priced very close, if not the same as the deluxe DVD, and in some cases you cannot even buy the deluxe version DVD... if you want the extras you're forced to buy the BD.
Oh and btw, the reason why BD will last for a while is because of Disney's support. Disney's vault strategy relies on a physical media.
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I've never heard netflix come out and say what profit they are making on bluray ifany at all. i'm sure they would tout that if it was.
As for the dark knight mine came with a digital download. Thats two copies of the movie for $25 that i paid for it. disney putsout movies with 3 copies.
All it does is skew the picture of the actual demand of bluray discs. I know many people who have purchased bluray copies of disney movies because of the digital verison and costing sometimes jsut $5 more than the dvd.
The point of bluray as we've been told is to be able to sell the discs at higher prices and in turn make more money. Right now they are missing out on selling 3 copies of a movie while stuggling to get bluray to sell.
As for the dark knight mine came with a digital download. Thats two copies of the movie for $25 that i paid for it. disney putsout movies with 3 copies.
All it does is skew the picture of the actual demand of bluray discs. I know many people who have purchased bluray copies of disney movies because of the digital verison and costing sometimes jsut $5 more than the dvd.
The point of bluray as we've been told is to be able to sell the discs at higher prices and in turn make more money. Right now they are missing out on selling 3 copies of a movie while stuggling to get bluray to sell.
specwarGP2
Regular
So you dont really know for a fact that BD rentals make no money. We do know for a fact that the streaming business makes no money however. See the difference?
Whats your point? Dark knight special edition DVD came with a digital download too. The digital download isn't free like you think it is.
Those people did EXACTLY what Disney wanted them to do.
First of all people dont buy movies on BD to get digital download movies or a the movie on DVD. If thats what they really wanted they they'd just buy the DVD or download the movie from itunes.
second, If the studios want to give away extras (which they don't) why do you as a consumer even care?
Actually Blu-Ray is not as prone to scratching. That's pretty much common knowledge. They are far more scratch resistant due to the coating on them. Much much more durable.
They scratch just as easily from what i've seen with my old eyes and I've recieved tons of them scratched up from netflix where they wouldn't play anymore
You can resurface a dvd and i'm sure netflix has their own machines to do so. You can't resurface a bluray.
anyway its simple math. If they are charging $5 for 1 dvd out at a time and 2 hours of streaming then how is $2 going to cover that bluray disc ? As you go further up the chain even with $40 plans that $2 isn't going to suddenly make them money. Its the plans themselves already making money
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The NetFlix scratched discs article is here:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/cracked-netflix/
They estimated the occurrence at 1%.
As for NetFlix's Blu-ray business making money... as long as the discs get rented out enough times, they can make money. The raise in fees was to cover higher Blu-ray purchase cost, scratches/defects, and also "consumers are used to paying more for HD content in other channels".
EDIT: While we are at it...
New Blu-ray titles to fall below $20 at major retailers this fall:
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blu-ray-disc/stores-bringing-blu-ray-disc-prices-below-20-17556
I believe Amazon is selling Up for $19.99 now.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/cracked-netflix/
They estimated the occurrence at 1%.
As for NetFlix's Blu-ray business making money... as long as the discs get rented out enough times, they can make money. The raise in fees was to cover higher Blu-ray purchase cost, scratches/defects, and also "consumers are used to paying more for HD content in other channels".
EDIT: While we are at it...
New Blu-ray titles to fall below $20 at major retailers this fall:
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blu-ray-disc/stores-bringing-blu-ray-disc-prices-below-20-17556
I believe Amazon is selling Up for $19.99 now.
That won't be the case anymore once the new Zune Video Marketplace finally goes public. I wouldn't be surprised to see more services do this in the future. Either way I still think they are direct competitors.
Tommy McClain
specwarGP2
Regular
Does your simple math account for the fact that there is probably a large percentage of renters with BD access that simply no longer rent DVD and instead choose to rent BD exclusively?
I disagree. I don't rent films a there's a faf getting them (plus I don't watch many) whereas I would happily pay to watch a film I felt like watching. I've bought a few BRDs, but if those films were available to stream at the same quality, I wouldn't have bothered. The real market here is people wanting to watch films. Ownership is a secondary issue that plenty of people don't care about as long as the ability to watch whenever they want is there. So any form of distributing media has to be competition with other forms, as they're competing for our viewing time.
They are perceived that way, even by the consumers, partly also because of the selected library. Blu-ray library is newer, while VoD and DD libraries are older/catalog. Then again, the studios will also continue to experiment with the channels to maximize their profit.
There will be people who are in the middle, or switch sides depending on the price and other factors. However so far, Blu-ray's main driver has been the enthusiat market.
In the end, the studios will monitor both consumption pattern and volume to adjust the perceived value accordingly. As you see above, we will also see falling Blu-ray purchase price. The studios want to keep both healthy because they will have more options to play that way. The same for the consumers.
There will be people who are in the middle, or switch sides depending on the price and other factors. However so far, Blu-ray's main driver has been the enthusiat market.
In the end, the studios will monitor both consumption pattern and volume to adjust the perceived value accordingly. As you see above, we will also see falling Blu-ray purchase price. The studios want to keep both healthy because they will have more options to play that way. The same for the consumers.
Well, that's an issue with availability, rather than the notion of ownership. If people could Netflix a 1080p copy at the same time you could buy a BRD release of the same film, they'd be in direct competition, no? Of course technology has limits here, and streaming is a different experience to BRD. I'm not denying that. I just disagree that one is rental, one is ownership, and they don't compete. Each service is taking a chunk of consumer dollars away from the other service. No Netflix would mean more disc sales; no discs would mean more streamed movies.
In general, "no NetFlix" will mean Blockbuster takes up more Blu-ray renting. The renters will continue to rent, the buyers will continue to buy.
No streaming means (roughly) the same group of people will rent physical Blu-ray from NetFlix, Blockbuster or RedBoxes instead.
At the end of the day, the consumers are swayed not just by technical specs and benefits. Physical purchase can be convenient and cheap too (That's why kiosk rental is growing very very fast these days; people buy grocery, refill their gas every week). According to NetFlix, RedBox will be their main competitor by the end of this year.
EDIT: If people stop buying movies (DVD, Blu-ray or digital versions), it may mean Hollywood in general produces not-so-inspiring movies. If they decide to buy, Blu-ray may provide the most value so far -- especially if the studios pace the price, and continue to pack-in goodies.
No streaming means (roughly) the same group of people will rent physical Blu-ray from NetFlix, Blockbuster or RedBoxes instead.
At the end of the day, the consumers are swayed not just by technical specs and benefits. Physical purchase can be convenient and cheap too (That's why kiosk rental is growing very very fast these days; people buy grocery, refill their gas every week). According to NetFlix, RedBox will be their main competitor by the end of this year.
EDIT: If people stop buying movies (DVD, Blu-ray or digital versions), it may mean Hollywood in general produces not-so-inspiring movies. If they decide to buy, Blu-ray may provide the most value so far -- especially if the studios pace the price, and continue to pack-in goodies.
Extend it to 'no renting all' versus 'no option to buy', which was -tkf-s assertion, that these are not competing options.
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