Friday, April 25, 2008
Member since:
June 2006
June 2006
FYI...
> Studios Vary Pricing for Blu-ray Releases - 4/25/08 report from Video Business (trade magazine)...
~ By Susanne Ault
APRIL 25 | Blu-ray Disc won the format war. Now one of the next challenges for studios, wholesalers and retailers is how to best price the product to quicken consumer adoption and preserve profits. Retailers report some shoppers balk at paying $5 to $10 more for Blu-ray than DVD. It’s an even harder sell with catalog, say store managers, as Blu-ray releases can be more than double the cost of their standard DVD counterparts, which might have been repriced several times.
The last thing retailers want, however, is studios sending Blu-ray prices into free-fall. Partly due to stiff retail competition, standard DVD value has slid to the point where stores are lucky to break even on new release sales.
Blu-ray pricing is all over the place. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment marked Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story at $43.95, $14 more than its standard two-disc special edition, while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment listed Juno at $39.98, just $5 more than its high-end standard DVD. On standard DVD, new release pricing is more predictable—generally $28.99 to $29.99 for single-disc configurations and roughly $5 more for special editions.
“I don’t think studios have found the right price that works best yet on Blu-ray,” said Don Rood, director of business development at wholesaler VPD. “But I don’t think they will until the demand is there for the format. More consumers will need to adopt before studios can see what really is working. We just don’t want to see a race to the bottom.”
Earlier this year, Lionsgate became the first studio to permanently reprice a handful of Blu-ray catalog titles, according to retailers. Initially released at $29.99 SRP in 2006, Devil’s Rejects, Stir of Echoes, Total Recall and Terminator 2 are among titles that are now listed at $19.99. Titles are then getting turned around to customers for several dollars less, such as the $12.95 tag for the batch on Amazon.com.
Certain stores, such as Newbury Comics, applauded Lionsgate’s move for boosting the titles’ sales. In March 2007, Newbury sold six copies of Terminator 2 across its 27 outlets. After the price drop in March, the retailer sold 20 copies.
“This is a nice entry price, and Lionsgate is more of a catalog-centric label, so this is good stuff,” Newbury buyer Ian Leshin said. “It’s a common occurrence with Blu-ray catalog, where you can see something like Evil Dead 2 for $29.98 and the same title in standard-definition for $10 at our store. When consumers see that gap, they will consider a lot longer how much they need to have the high-def product. It would make me think twice if I can get the other version for a third of the price.” VPD’s Rood agrees, explaining, “Lionsgate helps us introduce customers to the format and get them behind it.”
Studios have offered a few titles that have closed that Blu-ray and standard-def gap. Warner Home Video tagged I Am Legend at $35.99, just $1 more than the special edition DVD, and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3D Concert, is $34.99 on standard DVD and $35.99 on Blu-ray. Lionsgate’s third season of Weeds is $39.98 standard, $39.97 Blu-ray and its first season of Mad Men is $49.98 standard, $49.99 Blu-ray.
Studios were not willing to comment on their Blu-ray pricing. But some sources acknowledge aggressively pricing titles to motivate purchasing. “We want to have a good value proposition,” said one studio executive.
Other retailers hope Blu-ray pricing maintains its premium over standard DVD, in order to get additional profit out of the high-def format. Some retailers, including DeepDiscount.com, wish studios would throw out more short-term promotions, such as buy one, get one free deals, to drive customers into stores.
“I am in favor of temporary deals, because that’s more of a call to action than if you just drop the price” permanently, said David T. Barker, VP of e-commerce marketing at DeepDiscount parent Infinity Resources. “If you tell customers you can get it at this low price and you only have two weeks to do it, then they will take advantage of the deal. I don’t think the solution is to drop the price across the board.”
Going forward on Blu-ray, Barker hopes studios and retailers can balance their own revenue needs with dangling the right carrot for customer purchasing.
“You want to get more people involved, especially on the Blu-ray catalog side, where some of the stuff is a challenge,” he said. “You have to be really creative to get people to buy again on Blu-ray. They’ve already converted these titles from VHS to DVD. But I think we have to be careful not to race to the bottom very quickly.”
-[END]-
> Studios Vary Pricing for Blu-ray Releases - 4/25/08 report from Video Business (trade magazine)...
~ By Susanne Ault
APRIL 25 | Blu-ray Disc won the format war. Now one of the next challenges for studios, wholesalers and retailers is how to best price the product to quicken consumer adoption and preserve profits. Retailers report some shoppers balk at paying $5 to $10 more for Blu-ray than DVD. It’s an even harder sell with catalog, say store managers, as Blu-ray releases can be more than double the cost of their standard DVD counterparts, which might have been repriced several times.
The last thing retailers want, however, is studios sending Blu-ray prices into free-fall. Partly due to stiff retail competition, standard DVD value has slid to the point where stores are lucky to break even on new release sales.
Blu-ray pricing is all over the place. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment marked Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story at $43.95, $14 more than its standard two-disc special edition, while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment listed Juno at $39.98, just $5 more than its high-end standard DVD. On standard DVD, new release pricing is more predictable—generally $28.99 to $29.99 for single-disc configurations and roughly $5 more for special editions.
“I don’t think studios have found the right price that works best yet on Blu-ray,” said Don Rood, director of business development at wholesaler VPD. “But I don’t think they will until the demand is there for the format. More consumers will need to adopt before studios can see what really is working. We just don’t want to see a race to the bottom.”
Earlier this year, Lionsgate became the first studio to permanently reprice a handful of Blu-ray catalog titles, according to retailers. Initially released at $29.99 SRP in 2006, Devil’s Rejects, Stir of Echoes, Total Recall and Terminator 2 are among titles that are now listed at $19.99. Titles are then getting turned around to customers for several dollars less, such as the $12.95 tag for the batch on Amazon.com.
Certain stores, such as Newbury Comics, applauded Lionsgate’s move for boosting the titles’ sales. In March 2007, Newbury sold six copies of Terminator 2 across its 27 outlets. After the price drop in March, the retailer sold 20 copies.
“This is a nice entry price, and Lionsgate is more of a catalog-centric label, so this is good stuff,” Newbury buyer Ian Leshin said. “It’s a common occurrence with Blu-ray catalog, where you can see something like Evil Dead 2 for $29.98 and the same title in standard-definition for $10 at our store. When consumers see that gap, they will consider a lot longer how much they need to have the high-def product. It would make me think twice if I can get the other version for a third of the price.” VPD’s Rood agrees, explaining, “Lionsgate helps us introduce customers to the format and get them behind it.”
Studios have offered a few titles that have closed that Blu-ray and standard-def gap. Warner Home Video tagged I Am Legend at $35.99, just $1 more than the special edition DVD, and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3D Concert, is $34.99 on standard DVD and $35.99 on Blu-ray. Lionsgate’s third season of Weeds is $39.98 standard, $39.97 Blu-ray and its first season of Mad Men is $49.98 standard, $49.99 Blu-ray.
Studios were not willing to comment on their Blu-ray pricing. But some sources acknowledge aggressively pricing titles to motivate purchasing. “We want to have a good value proposition,” said one studio executive.
Other retailers hope Blu-ray pricing maintains its premium over standard DVD, in order to get additional profit out of the high-def format. Some retailers, including DeepDiscount.com, wish studios would throw out more short-term promotions, such as buy one, get one free deals, to drive customers into stores.
“I am in favor of temporary deals, because that’s more of a call to action than if you just drop the price” permanently, said David T. Barker, VP of e-commerce marketing at DeepDiscount parent Infinity Resources. “If you tell customers you can get it at this low price and you only have two weeks to do it, then they will take advantage of the deal. I don’t think the solution is to drop the price across the board.”
Going forward on Blu-ray, Barker hopes studios and retailers can balance their own revenue needs with dangling the right carrot for customer purchasing.
“You want to get more people involved, especially on the Blu-ray catalog side, where some of the stuff is a challenge,” he said. “You have to be really creative to get people to buy again on Blu-ray. They’ve already converted these titles from VHS to DVD. But I think we have to be careful not to race to the bottom very quickly.”
-[END]-
Friday, April 25, 2008
Member since:
June 2006
June 2006
FYI... Update
> That sale last week on Blu-ray Music releases (on Amazon) is now also being repeated this weekend (now thru Sunday night) on J&R.com - VIEW HERE
Pick up several Blu-ray concerts at great prices - 11 titles from $8.99 to $14.99 (up to $10 off the usual discounted price!). Start buying...
-JIMI LOVE (the Voodoo Child)
> That sale last week on Blu-ray Music releases (on Amazon) is now also being repeated this weekend (now thru Sunday night) on J&R.com - VIEW HERE
Pick up several Blu-ray concerts at great prices - 11 titles from $8.99 to $14.99 (up to $10 off the usual discounted price!). Start buying...
-JIMI LOVE (the Voodoo Child)
Friday, April 25, 2008
Member since:
March 2008
March 2008
Charge 16.99 for a catalog disc. Charge 19.99 for a new release the first week it is out. And then after that first week,price it at 24.99. There....Blu-ray penetrates. It will rule the roost and make it's production costs back.(real quick). Dvd dies. End.
Once it beats dvd and becomes the "Standard" I dont see why prices can't drop even more.
[Post edited by bladerunner1 on Apr 25, 2008]
Once it beats dvd and becomes the "Standard" I dont see why prices can't drop even more.
[Post edited by bladerunner1 on Apr 25, 2008]
Friday, April 25, 2008
Member since:
April 2006
April 2006
I think it's a good strategy by Lionsgate (and any studio) to reduce MSRP prices of movies that have been out for a year or more, but it depends of course on how well they sell and if it 'has legs'. If the DVD version only costs six bucks, then it makes it tough for the Blu-ray version to sell well at the higher price. Perhaps if studios are really interested in getting Blu-ray into the mainstream, they should start subtlely increasing DVD prices in order to tempt consumers into paying a few bucks more instead of selling them on a format which costs 2-3 times more.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Member since:
September 2007
September 2007
Quote:
I think it's a good strategy by Lionsgate (and any studio) to reduce MSRP prices of movies that have been out for a year or more, but it depends of course on how well they sell and if it 'has legs'.
how does reducing the price on titles out for a year. make people go out and buy more dics? specially new ones?
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Member since:
January 2008
January 2008
That was a pretty interesting column, Hendrix. I have no idea that retailers were having a hard time making a profit on DVDs. I think the column did miss one point though, although it's a point that has been covered everywhere else. Blu-Ray won't see any huge adoption rates until some affordable players become available. But there could be a problem there as well. If the first affordable players aren't 2.0, then we're probably going to see quite a few pissed off customers. I highly doubt the average consumer knows anything about different BR profiles or anything like that, they just buy their new toys and expect them to work. If they spend $200 - $300+ on a player that isn't capable with every BR disc, then they could become jaded with the format as a whole, go back to DVD and never look back.
On the other hand, pricing is going to be a huge issue too. I don't mind paying more for HD movies, but I think they should have ALL the features of their most expensive DVD counterparts. All the extras and special features and everything that we pay premium for on DVD should be standard on Blu-Ray. They really need to stop releasing the same movies over and over again anyway, it isn't fair to the consumer. We're paying the highest premium to go Blu anyway, why shouldn't we get all the bells and whistles? However, $40+ is completely unacceptable. If the average movie costs that much, then Blu-Ray is as good as dead. The average consumer will never pay that much for a movie, especially not with America's economy the way it is these days. Hell, I'm a huge movie nerd and I would never even consider paying that much for one movie.
On the other hand, pricing is going to be a huge issue too. I don't mind paying more for HD movies, but I think they should have ALL the features of their most expensive DVD counterparts. All the extras and special features and everything that we pay premium for on DVD should be standard on Blu-Ray. They really need to stop releasing the same movies over and over again anyway, it isn't fair to the consumer. We're paying the highest premium to go Blu anyway, why shouldn't we get all the bells and whistles? However, $40+ is completely unacceptable. If the average movie costs that much, then Blu-Ray is as good as dead. The average consumer will never pay that much for a movie, especially not with America's economy the way it is these days. Hell, I'm a huge movie nerd and I would never even consider paying that much for one movie.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Member since:
April 2006
April 2006
Quote:
how does reducing the price on titles out for a year. make people go out and buy more dics? specially new ones?
It wouldn't be across the board, but rather with low sellers. They do the same thing with DVD, so it's nothing new really. Anyway, I think the studios probably know best on how to price their products and time price changes, since only they have access to accurate sales figures and profits.
