Online Distribution by Jarrett Tan
One of the primary causes of the decline in box office and DVD sales has been piracy. The music industry has combated a similar problem with thousands of lawsuits, and legal music downloading sources like iTunes.
With broadband access increasing by the day, almost anyone is now able to simply download any peer-to-peer downloading software to download the latest movies and television shows within minutes or hours, depending on the individual’s internet speed. The movie industry has only recently begun their own preventive measures to combat piracy, and a number of legal digital movie distribution sources have emerged over the last few months.
Hollywood For Digital Distribution Part 1
Some major Hollywood studios have taken the first steps to full digital distribution of movies over the internet when they announced recently that films such as "Brokeback Mountain" and "King Kong" will begin to be sold on the download website Movielink.
Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM will offer some first-run and older titles, with new films being priced between US$20 and US$30 -- similar to DVDs -- while older titles will sell for US$10 to US$20. Some new films will be sold online the same day they become available on DVD, and most films will be made available within 45 days.
Unfortunately, the films can't be burned onto a disc for viewing on a DVD player. So far, the films you buy online can be stored indefinitely on a computer hard drive or transferred to as many as two other computers, and the movies can be played on a TV if the computer is part of a home network. A copy can be burned to a DVD as a backup, and discs can be played on up to three PCs authorised by Movielink, but cannot be viewed on a standard DVD player because of special security coding. The capability to transfer the films from a PC or laptop to a handheld portable viewing device should be available sometime within the next year.
I can understand the studios' caution about selling films online, because DVD sales produce more profit than box office receipts. But it's about time that they've started to make this option available, and they can make just as much money from selling films online as from selling DVDs. Already, films can be downloaded for free in just a matter of hours by anyone with Limewire and a broadband connection. However, many of these people would much rather have the legal option of paying for what they download.
I'm sure that one day soon, films will not only be available for download only at the same time the DVD comes out, but when the actual movie comes out. It's like adding another option to the Day and Date release strategy.
Info taken from here.
Hollywood For Digital Distribution Part 2
Another option that should please people looking for legalised movie downloads:
"Warner Bros. Home Ent. Group (WBHEG) signed a significant agreement with BitTorrent Inc. to leverage the company's peer-assisted delivery system for the electronic sell through of movie and TV content in the U.S. With this deal, Warner Bros. becomes the first major studio to provide legal video content via the BitTorrent publishing platform.
The announcement follows BitTorrent's agreement with the Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA) to prevent film piracy and promote innovation in online digital distribution of content. Content published with BitTorrent will be available on the BitTorrent.com website and feature downloadable programming. The distribution channel will leverage BitTorrent's revolutionary "file-swarming" technology, which enables the transfer of massive files from a website to a PC with the speed and bandwidth efficiency of peer-assisted transfers. This new method of delivery is the first peer-assisted network in the U.S. that combines guaranteed availability, high-quality video and rapid download rates.
BitTorrent will provide the first peer-assisted technology platform to offer U.S. consumers legal content on both a video-on-demand (VOD) and electronic sell through (EST) basis, day-and-date with the DVD release.
The service is intended to launch in summer of 2006 and will initially feature more than 200 Warner Bros. new releases, catalog favorites and TV series. Featured titles to be initially offered will include Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, and The Matrix. TV programming will include shows such as Babylon 5."
Thousands of people illegally download files from Bittorrent everyday, so this legal option is a step forward because it provides people with the legal download. However, the many illegal Bittorrent sites will continue to remain open, so I'm not really sure how well this partnership is going to work.
Info taken from Animation World Network.
Hollywood For Digital Distribution Part 3
Hot on the heels of news that Hollywood studios have joined forces with Movielink to offer legal downloads of movies, Disney and Warner Bros. have announced that they are teaming up with Cinema Now to offer up some healthy competition in the legal movie downloading business.
"The movie download sites are going to have to find new ways to compete, as they aren't going to be duking it out with boasts of who has what studio's films for much longer. Pretty soon both will offer the same movies from all the major distributors. Just one day after Disney announced that it would be releasing its movies on CinemaNow, Warner Bros. has made an announcement that its films will be available on the website, too. Warner Bros. is already selling movie downloads through Movielink, having joined in the original deal announced on April 3, and the studio now joins MGM and Sony as having relationships with both of the sites. Warner's titles, which include TV shows, went on sale today."
Soon, since everyone's going to be offering pretty much the same films, maybe the only ways that sites like Movielink and Cinema Now are going to compete is to see who can offer faster downloading speeds, and better prices.
Hollywood For Digital Distribution Part 4
Over in the UK, SkyTV has hopped on the movie download website bandwagon.
"Sky TV has launched a broadband service allowing its customers to legally download films from the internet.
Sky by Broadband provides 200 films free to digital subscribers, although they must have a broadband connection and a PC using Microsoft Windows XP.
The company says it hopes to supply more than 1,000 films from Sky Movies' back catalogue through broadband.
Sky Sports subscribers will also be able to download sports clips through the broadband service."
At the moment, most of the major players joining in on the movie download website action have been from Hollywood so seeing someone outside of the US starting up their own service is good news for everyone, as soon more alternatives in other parts of the world are sure to follow suit.
Hollywood For Digital Distribution Part 5
Last year’s box office slump was not all that worrying to movie studios, because for the past few years they were making their money on DVD sales. However, with DVD sales experiencing a slow growth period, one of Hollywood’s responses to the situation are DVD kiosks.
Blockbuster Video has apparently already been testing these DVD stations, and Wal-Mart and McDonald’s have apparently shown a keen interest in them as well.
"Jim Wuthrich, a senior VP at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment who handles digital distribution (I wonder if all the studios have this division now) says the kiosks will likely appear in 2007, and the only delay is figuring out some licensing and technology issues. Presumably, the kiosks will feature older titles while new releases remain available on the shelf."
The video rental stores are particularly interested in this service, because this is their answer to online movie rental services, where consumers can go online, order a DVD and have it delivered to them by post. The advantage for them would be this would appeal to customers who like to come in to a store to browse before choosing a title.
Read the rest of the story here.