How will the studios adapt to changing distribution markets?
At ScreenDaily.com, Mike Goodridge suggests it’s decision time for studios’ distribution strategies. How will they adapt to new digital markets? Will they embrace transmedia? Food for thought:
Would you pay $250 to have Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen delivered to your living room on the same day it is released in theatres?
D-Day for US studio model
8 October, 2009 | By Mike Goodridge
That is a new technology scenario being touted to the major studios as they struggle to cope with the fast-collapsing distribution windows that have been the bedrock of their business models for decades.
Then there’s a premium VoD option that could come in just four weeks after theatrical release in the $30-$50 price bracket.
“US films still dominate, but within a very short period, studios won’t be able to monetise their expensive product the way they are used to”
Exhibitors may not be thrilled to hear of these developments but with the contraction of the DVD market and the dramatic erosion of income from pay-TV deals, the studios are desperately trying to carve out new windows and revenue streams.
Ultimately, new windows might just be a stopgap before the studios’ movies are released day and date in all media and all markets. That sounds like an option with terrifying consequences if the film doesn’t work – ie, it is immediately dead in the water with no chance of compensation from ancillary platforms – yet some would argue that we are already at that place. If a film disappoints in its opening day in the US, the global industry has decreed whether it is a flop by weekend’s end. Continue reading →