Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

That's just not true. I keep seeing people saying this but the assumption is based on their first pass at the business.

There is a reason that everyone and their brother out there wants you to sign up for subscriptions for nearly everything out there, from socks to meal kits to whatever else people can shove in a box and mail, and most software/etc. Subscription-based models are sustainable revenue with generally low turn-over, and in almost all cases people spend more than they would have to begin with.

In the case of streaming, the revenue is quite high - people spending for a year of Disney+, for example, is easily higher than the average they spent buying media before for the vast majority of customers.

The issue was that the streamers spent WAY too much money on new content, giving ridiculously high payouts to lure creators, and spent 100's of millions of dollars on shows that nobody watched.

The only reason streaming "doesn't work" is because they overspent a crazy amount trying to be "king of the hill". Once the dust is settled, and more of them combine into single services, the projections of profitability are still very strong - they just clearly need to correct how much they are spending on new content, or to license old content, depending on the case. Streaming subscriptions are just leaving infancy and growing into toddlers in terms of development of the format, but it will undoubtedly be the dominant revenue stream going forward.

yeah but nobody will subscribe to each studio's channel unless they overspend making new content

and if they all combine into one, then it is just back to Netflix again and most to all true studios will lose

none will make the billions they made before they sabotaged physical media

[dcx4610]

Originally Posted by sockableclaw

Putting this Best Buy thing aside, when do you all think the point will come where studios will just stop bothering to releasing movies on physical media period? In other words: new movies would simply come out on digital and not on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD at all. Is that going to become a reality anytime soon?

That's already happening to some degree. That's why boutique labels exist. They reach out to studios, license the movie and release it themselves.

That's why it's important to support boutiques like Criterion, Shout, Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, Second Sight, etc.

Yes, the prices might be more but they have to make a profit. Support them if you want to keep discs and collecting alive.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by Cliff

The studios aren’t ready to give up physical media (even Disney is making an about face) and have been (for a little while) trying to formulate how to pivot to different ways to distribute. If that takes the form of more direct to consumer (like Shout! and Vinegar Syndrome) or working more closely with Amazon (which is probably where most of us get non-exclusive releases now anyway) or even shoring up stronger alliances with the boutique retailers (like Bullmoose) is yet to be fully determined. It doesn’t mean physical media consumers are being abandoned… it just means we’re be redirected. That is all.

redirected to more online everything

pretty sad for actual real stores, getting to look over products in hand

Man I just hate online destroying everything real. There was something nicer about going out into stores, seeing products, other people, renting movies from a store, getting a nice surprise if someone came home with a rental, etc. online shopping and streaming just kill all of that. I know one area mall that is still packed, but the local one, which used to be hanging on better than most, has not yet recoved from covid shock on top of the online Amazon blow. It's a shame. Just gonna be all plugged into VR sets 24-7 sitting in a pod soon. And although everyone says they love the convenience of online and streaming and shopping for everything, nobody actually seems happier these days and everyone seems to value every movie and product less and less. (and I say this even as a computer and tech guy and an introvert, I think it's all sad and rather terrible)

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Man, why is this website trying to bury this news?
In the steelbook section they moved the post about this to the "steelbook galleries" subsection that nobody even knows exists. What does it have to do with "steelbook galleries"???

And now they move the posts out of the main blu-ray and UHD sections into this long "the sky is falling thread" that I myself have never even viewed before once.

Plus, the SKY IS FALLING, the last place that had any decent selection to view physical media in hand is gonna be gone. Physical retails stores SKY IS FALLING. This is not some fake chicken little nonsense, this IS REAL.

[KubrickKurasawa]

Originally Posted by sockableclaw

Putting this Best Buy thing aside, when do you all think the point will come where studios will just stop bothering to releasing movies on physical media period? In other words: new movies would simply come out on digital and not on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD at all. Is that going to become a reality anytime soon?

When/If The Playstation 6 drops a Physical Drive and the alternatives start at 500.00 or more I would think they will have a hard time selling media at that point. Might always be a Home theater enthusiast market though...not sure if the profit margin is wide enough though.

Simply start a collection today of your favorite stuff imho. That's what I've been doin the last 10+ years because Blu-Ray brough lossless audio and 1080p. 4K has juicy HDR/DV/HDR10+ with better compression, but you pay a lot for that sparkle when you have to import imho. But I like my collection and I'm a smart investor so every quarter I pick up the good ones.

Originally Posted by WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW

redirected to more online everything

pretty sad for actual real stores, getting to look over products in hand

Man I just hate online destroying everything real. There was something nicer about going out into stores, seeing products, other people, renting movies from a store, getting a nice surprise if someone came home with a rental, etc. online shopping and streaming just kill all of that. I know one area mall that is still packed, but the local one, which used to be hanging on better than most, has not yet recoved from covid shock on top of the online Amazon blow. It's a shame. Just gonna be all plugged into VR sets 24-7 sitting in a pod soon. And although everyone says they love the convenience of online and streaming and shopping for everything, nobody actually seems happier these days and everyone seems to value every movie and product less and less. (and I say this even as a computer and tech guy and an introvert, I think it's all sad and rather terrible)

Green is the future.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by sockableclaw

Putting this Best Buy thing aside, when do you all think the point will come where studios will just stop bothering to releasing movies on physical media period? In other words: new movies would simply come out on digital and not on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD at all. Is that going to become a reality anytime soon?

One way to fight it is to stop referring to downloads as "digital". That is what the studios did to try to kill physical media and push streaming and downloads and no solid user ownership, etc. They refer to downloads and streaming as "digital" making it sound like discs are some ancient analog, inferior tech when they are every bit as much digital, superior quality digital in fact. People need to stop using the terms marketing groups push and stop spreading the propaganda. Do you know how many Gen Z actually think blu-rays and UHD are old-fashioned lower quality than downloads and streaming? Many think they are analog like VHS.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by KubrickKurasawa

Green is the future.

except online shopping and streaming have been less green than what he had before so far

Originally Posted by CyberAthlete

Forgot to mention. Once they rid of the in-store section of movies, they don't have to manage the online component either. So that's also saving them time and money on something people aren't buying (buying at deep discounts doesn't constitute as supporting the company). When you are not giving them profitable business, it doesn't count as giving them business. Selling just to break even or go on a loss is not worth the time and effort to run that part of the business.

They've done the math and definitely looked at all avenues and aspects of the benefit and drawbacks it had on the company as a whole. And no matter how much people say well it is the reason I came to Best Buy, those people didn't buy too many of other things to where Best Buy thought that we should keep the movies.

I specifically would buy things at BB just to help out one of the last places still giving a real in person store experience. Without carrying discs, there is so little to bother to look at I'll barely ever go there anymore and have zero incentive to toss than any business of Amazon or anyone else.

[dcx4610]

Regardless of what happens, there is enough physical media to last a lifetime. If discs stopped being made tomorrow, most movies have at least a Blu-ray release. UHD is just icing on the cake.

I'd love to replace my entire collection with UHD but honestly, my backlog is so huge now that if I watched a movie every single day, it would take me over a year to catch up.

There's no way to spin the Best Buy news as good news and it might scare other retailers. As long as we have boutique labels and people buying physical media from them, we'll have movies to buy.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Although they often don't seem to get mentioned when it comes to movies, other than for the bi-annual Criterion sales. Barnes & Noble is actually now basically the only physical store that will have any decent coverage of movies. Their prices are usually pretty vicious for movies though compared to BB. Maybe they can replace BB as the place to go for in person purchase of discs now though? And now that I think about it, it is even more meaningful to keep a physical book store going than a BB type place.

I still don't feel like they seem to stock quite as many of the new titles though and especially not Arrow and Shout specials and such.

Target gave up a while back. I mean my local target how more vinyl titles than UHD titles in stock! And Walmart sections are not all that comprehensive and the stores are a mess, they also seem to care more about DVD than the blu-ray or UHD. My local Best Buy actually currently has almost no DVD, really only for things that are DVD only, and as much UHD as blu-ray.

[C.C. 95]

Originally Posted by El Rey

data shows otherwise

https://www.degonline.org/portfolio_...inment-report/

More DVDs, Blu rays and UHDs are being made in 2023 than any time in history.
Physical media is GROWING not dying.

The Last Physical Media Video You'll Ever Need To See (Unscripted) - YouTube

[314carpenter]

Originally Posted by C.C. 95

More DVDs, Blu rays and UHDs are being made in 2023 than any time in history.
Physical media is GROWING not dying.

The Last Physical Media Video You'll Ever Need To See (Unscripted) - YouTube

That's only if you are count bootleg releases, which is where those numbers are coming from. The bootleg market is what is actually growing rapidly. Read my previous post #10105 on the subject.

[cyclorama]

Originally Posted by ben6543

So when will Best Buy mass discount those ugly AF Disney 100 Steelbooks that plague their shelves cause nobody is buying them?

If they do then you will all be happier than pigs in s**t to own those "ugly AF Disney 100 Steelbooks".

[Phillip c. Niethe]

If we take all 335,000,000 people in the U.S. (and pretend they all watch TV and will stream) that would be 112,000,000 house holds (rounded up for some singles and assuming households of 3 family members each) at $20.00 a month streaming fees is 26,888,000,000 annually. Assuming streaming services use half that cash for employees and operations that leaves 13,444,000,000 dollars annually for new movies and shows to be made which if we just go with movies then that cash would be able to produce 53 $250,000,000 dollar tent poll movies or 106 $125,000,000 dollar low budget movies (over 200 streaming services are currently available) if we shrink that down to 10 streaming services that’s 10 services making 5 new tentpoles a year each or 10 low budget movies a year each and assuming that most people have 3 streaming subscriptions at just under $7.00 a piece that would leave viewers with 15-30 new films to watch a year of varying genres. Few enjoy all genres but let’s say you like half of all genera that would leave 7/8-15 new films a year that you would be interested in. But not even that really as with physical media content is voted on by your dollars so the streaming model will shift cash to content based off owner ideology and place in films all manner of agenda, casting based off company preferences, big business that is based off lean manufacturing models that make as few people as possible put out as much product as possible at the lowest cost possible. Where as physical media works off of capitalism in that the content is molded by supplying what people demand rather than supplying what management demands. Once physical goes belly up, I feel we are in for a bunch of out of touch content with a whole lot of agenda and grooming with craptacular sets, costumes, and subpar lighting and actor performances. Lots of product placements and forced commercials that eat up your data. There will no longer be an alternate option so price hikes are a definite. And all households tuning in for that new movie or show will slow streaming speeds to a lower picture quality or that wonderful spinning buffer image… the home entertainment industry is looking Apocalyptically depressing

[eiknarf]

Yup
Mainstream physical media is on borrowed time

Sad but true

[plissken99]

Ha, so in other words, without physical media, the future or streaming is its all going to become the middle 400 channels of Dish and DTV that we just got away from. Sounds right, evil and or mediocrity always prevail here.

[scififan73]

Originally Posted by VirtuaBranson

Time to sell everything and put it all towards my Apple TV. Its what the world wants I guess.

Interesting take.

My inclination is to accelerate purchases of perhaps even marginal, on the fence purchases since it seems there will indeed be a time when that option will be out of my hands.

[classicmaterial]

For what it's worth we've been a society of convenience for a while

Maybe this isn't the best example but it's kinda like tomato sauce

I'm sure most of us buy jars at the store

Some still make their own tomato sauce and will tell you it's better than any store bought sauce and they're probably right

But it's easier to just buy the jar

And so for the older people who used to have to make their own sauce, many are content with the ease of just buying a jar

While the younger crowd doesn't know a world without store bought sauce and might not see the point in making their own when the store bought stuff is normal to them

[bradnoyes]

Feels like it could be a bit of a missed opportunity to drop DVD/bluray and put at least a minor (I was going to say last gasp but really it would be more like first-and-only gasp) effort into pushing UHDs. It could be tied in with players, displays, and home audio hardware that Best Buy ostensibly still sells. There's clearly a lot of streaming fatigue going on right now and while physical will never overtake it, there are still a lot of people out there who have no idea what UHDs are and might be interested in getting the most out of their home theaters with physical media if there was even a minimal marketing effort. Maybe no one would care, but doesn't seem like BB would have much to lose at this point and potentially a bit to gain since I think there are a fair number of consumers like myself who will now have absolutely zero reason to set foot in a Best Buy store ever again.

[Chad Rouch]

Originally Posted by sockableclaw

Putting this Best Buy thing aside, when do you all think the point will come where studios will just stop bothering to releasing movies on physical media period? In other words: new movies would simply come out on digital and not on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD at all. Is that going to become a reality anytime soon?

Yes, it is. It will come a lot faster than a lot of us on this forum want to believe it will. It's just the next evolution though. Just like way back when the only way to watch uncut, full-length movies at home was on HBO. And then it was VHS. Laserdiscs tried to be a thing but they never went mainstream. Then DVD/Blu-ray upped the ante with regard to quality and electronics manufacturers were able to sell us increasingly sophisticated equipment.

Streaming is just the next natural progression. And its quality will improve. It already has over the last 10 years. It started with just SD streams and now can go full 4k with HDR and Atmos. Lossless audio will eventually come just like it finally came to the online music providers like Spotify and iTunes.

And then it will move on to the next natural evolution. Progress in inevitable and it should always be embraced, not feared.

[MuffySimba]

Originally Posted by CyberAthlete

Saw this coming a long time ago. End of an era. I will miss 3D releases the most. Those you can't even stream online.

It's only a matter of time before others follow suit. And prices for physical media may even hold if Amazon is the only ones selling them.

Movies/media takes up a lot of space on shelves. After the initial week of release movies aren't selling and they sit their taking up space unless there is a sale on them.

It's a huge chunk of the store they need to allocate to something else vs movies probably brings in a couple hundred worth of dollars of business a week, even if so. Unless there is a deep discount then they're either breaking even or losing money.

In the end, physical media does not appeal to most consumers, especially at $30 a pop for a 4k movie.

And tastes have changed. People don't like having a stack of movies sitting around, they like minimalistic settings. I know for a fact that all my friends who have bought houses in the last few years have all gone with the minimalistic aesthetic. It makes my basement look like it's from the movie show hoarders.

In my next house, I plan to do the same. Minimalistic aesthetic and put all my movies in the storage part of the basement where they can't be seen. They're hidden out of sight.

People will always show off physical books because they think it makes them look smart and sophisticated. Books have that kind of power. lol