Remember the neighborhood video store?
Every technological change in film distribution calls for an evolutionary step in how we get films to audiences. Broadcast television, VCR, Cable, DVD, VoD, DVR, and now internet streaming: what do these changes point to in relationship to our audience? Simple: audiences want the power to choose how, when, and where they engage content.
From The Buffalo News:
Home movie future fuzzy
By Stephen T. Watson
Updated: October 28, 2009
On a recent episode of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the host offered a “New Rule” for home entertainment.
“Blockbuster cannot announce it’s closing 960 stores. Where will I go to rent a movie in 1988? And how do they still have 960 stores?” Maher quipped, to laughter from the audience.
It’s been a hard fall for Blockbuster — from world-beater to butt of late-night jokes — but this is a sign of the state of flux that the home-entertainment industry finds itself in today.
Competition from Netflix, the online rental powerhouse, and Redbox DVD-rental kiosks — not to mention the channels available on digital cable — has walloped Blockbuster.
“Blockbuster is like the Spanish Armada. It’s out there, and the wind isn’t blowing, and everybody is taking shots at them,” Continue reading →