Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Wendell R. Breland]

The MPAA continues the same stuff as the DEG. To their credit they do include traditional pay TV revenue, PDF here. At least they show EST vs physical use on page 41.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Meanwhile on the streaming front it looks like Google and Amazon have done a deal, Amazon on Google and YouTube on FireTV here.

DEG continues their slant by posting “DEG: Home Entertainment Spending Posts 7% Gain in First Half of 2019” while ignoring the loss of traditional pay TV revenue. Story here. These folks need to learn that DirecTV and Dish Network were digital delivery since day one and most traditional pay TV has been digital for several years.

Lumping SVOD revenue in with EST has got to be one of the craziest things I have seen an industry do. Who do they think they are fooling?

You want names? I could give you some pretty easily.

The first half of 2019 was a slow period for big new releases, but a great time for catalog releases. Disc sales, all formats combined, were down 21% in the first half of 2019 as compared to the first half of 2018; declining DVD sales are probably the biggest cause as usual. A breakdown of disc sales by format would be more interesting. Hopefully, the second half of 2019 will improve those numbers.

EST, or digital, was nearly flat, just up 3.3% over the same period.

Subscription buffet style streaming, which is analogous to pay TV, is where the growth lies and it is up 22% over the same time frame. Many people prefer an all you can eat service to outright purchases, regardless of whether those purchases are physical or digital.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The MPAA continues the same stuff as the DEG. To their credit they do include traditional pay TV revenue, PDF here. At least they show EST vs physical use on page 41.

The only thing that I take I exception to on page 41 is that they lump EST and VOD together. VOD is a short term rental, not a purchase.

Page 31 points out that pay TV, cable and satellite combined, generated $218 billion globally in 2018. Global streaming (which in these figures included sports subscriptions) was just $39 billion. Pay TV made 5.6 times as much as streaming did showing that pay TV is still the big gorilla in the room.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Without discs, digital copies will cost about what discs do now.

Without disc there is no telling what the content owners would do. We already know what they did with DIVIX DVD and proved they would charge for each subsequent viewing. The good part is content owners know that EST is a failed approach, the bad part is they are moving on to SVOD.

As long as disc are still being made I will be happy.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Without disc there is no telling what the content owners would do. We already know what they did with DIVIX DVD and proved they would charge for each subsequent viewing. The good part is content owners know that EST is a failed approach, the bad part is they are moving on to SVOD.

As long as disc are still being made I will be happy.

I am fairly well stocked myself and getting more so with each passing week. If I gave up what little streaming that I do, I could live with just my mobile internet plan and tell my ISP to shove it; it is sure is tempting to tell them just that.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Without disc there is no telling what the content owners would do. We already know what they did with DIVIX DVD and proved they would charge for each subsequent viewing. The good part is content owners know that EST is a failed approach, the bad part is they are moving on to SVOD.

As long as disc are still being made I will be happy.

As I stated several years ago, it was obvious EST wasn’t going to happen in any significant numbers. It’s just ‘there’ lol.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by CV19

That's the way to do it mate, get everything in one go. I still have movies to watch that I bought about 2 months ago, including the Jose Larraz boxset and the House set (both from Arrow), plus a whole load of stuff from Indicator. I really must make more time.

I’m becoming less snobbish as I get older. I’m enjoying big dumb blockbusters like Hobbs And Shaw far more than I used to. Having said that, my tastes are very broad. I like every genre except ‘romance’ and even then I have a few guilty pleasures like ‘Dirty Dancing’!

Arrow are great, as are Vinegar Syndrome. I have one or two indicator titles, but I’m waiting to see if they ever give us a U.K. 3D release of The Mad Magician. The chances are slim, I know.

Like you say though, it’s great having a huge backlog just sitting there ready to be picked off the shelf!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It's a start.

Mine is not as big as yours!

[Vilya]

I think I will just leave that one alone....

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I must disagree. Getting 52+ deliveries a year is much more fun than just one big delivery once per year. It's Christmas every week here.

My buying patterns vary enormously if I'm totally honest. If there are titles I want really badly, or have been waiting for a while, then I'll buy them straight away even if it's just one or two of them. However I quite often let about a month or maybe two months worth of titles build up, and then order them all in one swoop....it depends really. You're right though, once my order arrives it's like Christmas every time.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Arrow are great, as are Vinegar Syndrome. I have one or two indicator titles, but I’m waiting to see if they ever give us a U.K. 3D release of The Mad Magician. The chances are slim, I know.

There's been all sorts of rumours about The Mad Magician. I'd snap this up in an instant as Vincent Price is right up there as one of my favourite actors of all time. We can only hope that it sees the light of day eventually.

As for Dirty Dancing, well I'm not a fan of the film but it does remind me of my youthful years. I did take a girl I was going out with at the time to see this film. On the plus side, one thing led to another...….well, we won't go into too much detail.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by CV19

There's been all sorts of rumours about The Mad Magician. I'd snap this up in an instant as Vincent Price is right up there as one of my favourite actors of all time. We can only hope that it sees the light of day eventually.

As for Dirty Dancing, well I'm not a fan of the film but it does remind me of my youthful years. I did take a girl I was going out with at the time to see this film. On the plus side, one thing led to another...….well, we won't go into too much detail.

I own this one:

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I own this one:

I'd love the Twilight Time release, as it's also region-free if I'm not mistaken. I have seen it on Amazon from third party sellers for eye-watering amounts of money, but as some of the UK indie labels like Eureka and Indicator have often released titles previously available from Twilight Time, I'm hoping one of them can get the rights to The Mad Magician as well.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by CV19

I'd love the Twilight Time release, as it's also region-free if I'm not mistaken. I have seen it on Amazon from third party sellers for eye-watering amounts of money, but as some of the UK indie labels like Eureka and Indicator have often released titles previously available from Twilight Time, I'm hoping one of them can get the rights to The Mad Magician as well.

There are no region codes on the package, so that implies region free. It also includes two Three Stooges shorts in 3D: Pardon My Backfire and Spooks!

You should get a player that is modified to be region free; being able to shop the entire planet is amazing!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by CV19

There's been all sorts of rumours about The Mad Magician. I'd snap this up in an instant as Vincent Price is right up there as one of my favourite actors of all time. We can only hope that it sees the light of day eventually.

As for Dirty Dancing, well I'm not a fan of the film but it does remind me of my youthful years. I did take a girl I was going out with at the time to see this film. On the plus side, one thing led to another...….well, we won't go into too much detail.

I hear ya!

Yes, it was one of my most stupid moves sitting on that 3D title. I had a bunch of other stuff to buy and I delayed it a few months. Next thing I know, it’s sold out. Only got myself to blame. It would have made a perfect double bill with my House Of Wax 3D Blu-ray!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I own this one:

Show off!

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Show off!

3D is so much fun and it is another area where streaming and digital utterly disappoints. I still buy a 3D blu-ray edition over a 4K edition almost every time as I enjoy it that much.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Vilya

There are no region codes on the package, so that implies region free. It also includes two Three Stooges shorts in 3D: Pardon My Backfire and Spooks!

You should get a player that is modified to be region free; being able to shop the entire planet is amazing!

I do have quite a number of Twilight Time titles and the ones I have are all region free, but I was advised by another member on the TT thread that some of their very early releases were region-locked.

However, you're right about the region free player, and I've been telling myself for a long while that I need to get one. The danger on the other hand is that I may need a larger house as well to accommodate all the extra titles I would end up buying.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

3D is so much fun and it is another area where streaming and digital utterly disappoints. I still buy a 3D blu-ray edition over a 4K edition almost every time as I enjoy it that much.

Tell me about it. When it’s firing on all cylinders it’s delightful.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

3D is so much fun and it is another area where streaming and digital utterly disappoints. I still buy a 3D blu-ray edition over a 4K edition almost every time as I enjoy it that much.

Oh yes, we have been doing the Hobbit series in 3D, just finished Ghost In The Shell 3D, next up is Hobbit 3, Alita, Blade Runner and Wonder Woman in 3D. I will take a 3D BD with immersive audio over UHD BD on any day. But alas, some titles only have immersive audio on the UHD BD, those ****ards .