Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Jeff Kleist]

That's not it, it's a matter of money and resources, both on the studio and the consumer side.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Esox50

But I still say if people are happy with Alien and BttF, and having just those two...that's still rather pathetic, especially when theatrical releases of bigger blockbuster titles were fewer this year as well.

Well, my cup is runnething over with long-anticipated titles this year, so I'm beyond happy with the slate, but then almost all of the stuff on my want list wouldn't be defined as "blockbuster" by the conventional definition.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

That's not it, it's a matter of money and resources, both on the studio and the consumer side.

Ok, then i misunderstood your original post.

I could still kick some @ss over there though.

[johndoyle123]

do you guys know when paramount is going to announce there oct + catalog titles ...

maybe some classics would be nice

like chinatown woooh

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Esox50

No, I meant that by releasing fewer titles, that we will buy more of the lesser/marginal titles "just to get more titles". That may have been true in the early stages of the product life cycle, but I think the studios are mistaken if they think this will make the marginal catalog titles "more successful"...

But I still say if people are happy with Alien and BttF, and having just those two...that's still rather pathetic, especially when theatrical releases of bigger blockbuster titles were fewer this year as well.

I think we all know that BD is doing well despite the economy, but as Jeff said its a money issue on both sides.

I am sure the studios are trying to hold back some of their bigger titles for a time when consumer cash is flowing much more easily. The sad fact is that consumer spending may never approach what it was in the heyday of DVD. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why consumers are going to services like Netflix and Redbox. It's cheap entertainment without breaking the bank.

The real elephant in the room with BD is the fast expansion of streaming options. I know it does not approach BD quality yet, but when I can get unlimited streaming with BD rentals for under $12/month it just makes sense.

I have a feeling as the streaming becomes a larger part of Netflix that they will tier there streaming services by either tiering titles (A-list, B-list, D-list), capping download limits per month or both. Just because Netflix appears to be giving it away now don't expect it to continue.

I think what is extremely humorous in the whole thing is that the service providers thought that HD was going to be able to command high premiums for an indefinite period. Sorry but today's consumers have become much more savvy. I refuse to pay huge HD premiums for cable/sat and it appears the studios have finally realized that can't pull the same trick the recording industry pulled when CD was introduced (ie. jacking prices by 2x over a LP or cassette just because it was a CD). I won't pay over $20 for any single title and that includes new releases and they are lucky if I am willing to shell out more than $10 to $12 for run of the mill catalog titles. I have got a huge pile of unopened BDs. I can wait for the price to drop.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by CraigW

I think we all know that BD is doing well despite the economy, but as Jeff said its a money issue on both sides.

I am sure the studios are trying to hold back some of their bigger titles for a time when consumer cash is flowing much more easily. The sad fact is that consumer spending may never approach what it was in the heyday of DVD. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why consumers are going to services like Netflix and Redbox. It's cheap entertainment without breaking the bank.

The real elephant in the room with BD is the fast expansion of streaming options. I know it does not approach BD quality yet, but when I can get unlimited streaming with BD rentals for under $12/month it just makes sense.

I have a feeling as the streaming becomes a larger part of Netflix that they will tier there streaming services by either tiering titles (A-list, B-list, D-list), capping download limits per month or both. Just because Netflix appears to be giving it away now don't expect it to continue.

I think what is extremely humorous in the whole thing is that the service providers thought that HD was going to be able to command high premiums for an indefinite period. Sorry but today's consumers have become much more savvy. I refuse to pay huge HD premiums for cable/sat and it appears the studios have finally realized that can't pull the same trick the recording industry pulled when CD was introduced (ie. jacking prices by 2x over a LP or cassette just because it was a CD). I won't pay over $20 for any single title and that includes new releases and they are lucky if I am willing to shell out more than $10 to $12 for run of the mill catalog titles. I have got a huge pile of unopened BDs. I can wait for the price to drop.

I watched "The Ghost Writer" with a Vudu HDX download last week and the audio and video were damn good. It was worth the $5.99 rental fee for a movie I doubt I would ever watch again.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by CraigW

The real elephant in the room with BD is the fast expansion of streaming options. I know it does not approach BD quality yet, but when I can get unlimited streaming with BD rentals for under $12/month it just makes sense.

maybe you like it, but according to DEG (over last years first 1/2 of the year)digital distribution only grew by 23% while BD grew 84% I find it funny when opeople talk about it being an elephant and fast expansion when in reality it is barely growing

ps digital distribution also includes DC from BD disks and it is a big part of the growth

I have a feeling as the streaming becomes a larger part of Netflix that they will tier there streaming services by either tiering titles (A-list, B-list, D-list), capping download limits per month or both. Just because Netflix appears to be giving it away now don't expect it to continue.

agree (my guess is limits), I was trying to explain it to someone else that Netflix has to pay the studios and so there is a cost to it. Now that barely no one uses it they can afford the few "abusers" but as Netflix players become available (not many people have HTPCs connected to TVs) and BW grows, eventually they will need to limit it because the cost will be too high. They already did it on the lowest package

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

I watched "The Ghost Writer" with a Vudu HDX download last week and the audio and video were damn good. It was worth the $5.99 rental fee for a movie I doubt I would ever watch again.

I refuse to watch anything by the rapist anymore.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I refuse to watch anything by the rapist anymore.

Just don't throw out Chinatown with the bathwater. It's pre-rape goodness!

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I refuse to watch anything by the rapist anymore.

I had company visiting and let them pick the movie, but I agree with you. The guy's a turd and should spend some time in jail.

[Constitution 101]

Anyone know what's up w/ The Score?

[johndoyle123]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Just don't throw out Chinatown with the bathwater. It's pre-rape goodness!

as is rosemary's baby i believe

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

maybe you like it, but according to DEG (over last years first 1/2 of the year)digital distribution only grew by 23% while BD grew 84% I find it funny when opeople talk about it being an elephant and fast expansion when in reality it is barely growing

I am not saying I am huge fan of it, but it is extremely convenient especially for those older titles or titles that I really don't care if I see them in the best quality. Ideally everything would have BD quality, but I do think that Netflix will step up their game as demand for quality increase (at price increase of course).

It may look like it is barely growing, but many manufactureres are now incorporating the services and capabilities into their devices.

[Jeff Kleist]

The general concensus has been that physical rental is choking its last, but that when it comes to actually paying for something to OWN it, Physical is definately not dead or even hurting by a long shot, nor is it likely to be any time in the near future. People psychologically don't assign value to things they can't touch.

[AKORIS]

hey Jeff, when is the Bits going to have a daily posting-- nothing this week so far-- apologize in advance if I missed something saying why...

[Jeff Kleist]

Bill is on vacation, think he posted that last week.

[johndoyle123]

so indiana jones blu-ray release rumors for the star wars convention are flooding the web now

MAYBE PARAMOUNT WILL ACTUALLY RELEASE SOMETHING
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH


any news if paramount will actually have any classics for this holiday season
seeing as nearly EVERY other studio does ?

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Bill is on vacation, think he posted that last week.

yeah, of course I found that on the site about 2 minutes after I posted

thanks!!

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The general concensus has been that physical rental is choking its last, but that when it comes to actually paying for something to OWN it, Physical is definately not dead or even hurting by a long shot, nor is it likely to be any time in the near future. People psychologically don't assign value to things they can't touch.

I can agree with that Jeff. This whole idea of all your media being stored in the cloud sounds both Utopian and Orwellian at the same time. We have already seen people getting burned with 'unlimited use' files becoming useless because of services shutting down. Plus, we can't always be where we have access to the cloud. You technically can't resell it.

The list goes on.... meaning a ton of issues still need to be sorted out for the 'cloud computing' revolution.

For the record I am a huge BD fan and I don't want it to go anywhere anytime soon. As someone whose fascination started with VHS HiFi decks and software in the early 80s, I can truly say I never expected home entertainment technology would get this good and become this affordable.

[Banjo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The general concensus has been that physical rental is choking its last, but that when it comes to actually paying for something to OWN it, Physical is definately not dead or even hurting by a long shot, nor is it likely to be any time in the near future. People psychologically don't assign value to things they can't touch.

I'll have to agree with that one. Video rental stores are closing down everywhere. At least two major video rental stores closed down in the area this year.