Home Media Magazine - October 7-13, 2007 - (Page 20) COMMENTARY www.homemediamagazine.com THE BUZZ BY CHRIS TRIBBEY, SENIOR REPORTER Will High-Def Specials Deliver on Promises? T he promotional offerings from both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD backers have been coming furiously these past few months. Buy a set-top box, PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on and get three, five, 10, 50 free discs! Buy it at select retailers and they just might throw in a guided tour of the Universal or Sony lot and/or the store manager’s firstborn child (just kidding). A day after one high-def format comes out with an offer, the other expands its offer, slashes prices and extends the deadline. It’s brilliant: Nothing like price cuts and free stuff to drag in a consumer who’s been on the fence. One problem: Follow-through has been sketchy. Who knows how many hundreds, possibly thousands of attendees at this year’s Home Media Expo (July 16-19) took advantage of the HD DVD Promotional A DAY AFTER ONE HIGH-DEF SIDE COMES OUT WITH AN OFFER, THE OTHER EXPANDS ITS OFFER, SLASHES PRICES AND EXTENDS THE DEADLINE. IT’S BRILLIANT: NOTHING LIKE PRICE CUTS AND FREE STUFF TO DRAG [CONSUMERS IN]. Group’s “Perfect HD DVD Offer”? For $99 you got the HD-A2 and three HD DVDs. Audacious, considering the list price of the hardware ($299), and the fact the PS3 (at the time, $599) was the cheapest Blu-ray player. I know sources, co-workers and attending family who jumped at the offer, and wrote their checks the moment they got back from Las Vegas. The offer ended July 29. Usually things like this take 8-10 weeks to show up at your door. Nobody I know who took advantage has had his or her check cashed Chris Tribbey’s e-mail address is ctribbey@questex.com yet (as of Oct. 3). Maybe Toshiba was slow shipping the players. Maybe there’s only one guy working at the fulfillment house, banging his head against his desk screaming “why, why, why, why!?” while he stares at 1,000-plus HD-A2 orders. Whatever the case, I know retailers, writers and independent companies (who are mulling whether to go high-def) are wondering how they’ll watch the Transformers HD DVD. Blu-ray hasn’t done much better. I bought a PS3 right after the first price cut, and sent out for my five free BDs the next day. That was in early August. No Blu-ray Discs yet. Maybe they used the same fulfillment house. READERS’ FORUM I The following letter is in response to Stephanie Prange’s editorial “Extra, Extra — Extras Are Important” (HM Sept. 16-22, 2007), in which she said special features on discs should be mandatory by now: T H E Y SAI D I T “ONE OF [GOOGLE’S] UNOFFICIAL CORPORATE MANTRAS WAS ‘DO NO EVIL’; HERE’S A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION RIPPING OFF SMALLER MOVIE STUDIOS. WE THOUGHT, ‘THAT’S WRONG; THAT’S EVIL.’” NLPC chairman Ken Boehm, on sending lawmakers notice informing them of pirated films available on Google Video. Extras are Part of the Video Experience As a regular reader of Home Media Magazine and a veteran DVD content producer, I wanted to personally thank you for your editorial this past week, “Extra, Extra — Extras Are Important.” As the studios’ budgets have tightened, they increasingly scrutinize how valuable DVD extras actually are to the success of a release. I’m grateful that you were able to remind the home video community what many people do enjoy, and look forward to, about experiencing a DVD, especially when deciding to purchase one. I am a fan first and foremost when it comes to the development and production of DVD extras. I always want to make sure I can help create entertaining and compelling content that not only celebrates a film, but also enhances the overall viewing experience. I’m glad you and your family enjoy the work and effort that goes into producing DVD extras. Jeffrey Lerner New Wave Entertainment Burbank, Calif. I The following letter is in response to Thomas Arnold’s editorial “The World’s Not Yet High-Def” (HM Sept. 9-15, 2007), in which he said high-definition discs still aren’t appealing to consumers: Country Folk Could Care Less About HD I work for a regional video chain called Movie Starz Video in Virginia and Tennessee. I like to think of my customers as the average renters — basically, I think we have a good handle on what the general public wants. There are a LOT more people in this country who live in rural areas than live in large cities, and for the average renter, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are not what they’re looking for. For most, DVD is plenty. I still have people several times a week asking to rent a new release on VHS, and they were put out of production a year ago. Regarding this line, “Sure, the HD picture was better, but the DVD looked fine to my eyes, unless I was about three inches from the massive HDTV screen”: I own an HDTV and a standard DVD player with HDMI output which converts my DVDs to 1080i. But guess what? I can’t really tell the difference. The average consumer does not really see the difference in 1080p and their standard cable unless they are placed side-by-side. I also hear several times a week and read countless threads in discussion forums that one reason the manufacturers and studios are pushing HD on us isn’t because of the quality, it’s because they are running out of continuous revenue from DVD. A few months ago, someone wrote a column mentioning that studios are running out of catalog titles and TV titles to put out on DVD. The surge in revenue from VHS to DVD spoiled these companies, and they’re hoping to cash in again. There is a gigantic difference between VHS and DVD — I don’t have to explain the much better picture, sound and control that DVD has afforded us over our watching habits in addition to the tons of special features it allowed us to add when, on VHS, they were nearly non-existent. The differences between DVD and HD DVD/Blu-ray aren’t so clear to the average consumer. And the ones who know about it really don’t care. The only reason Blu-ray has taken off is because it’s bundled and force-fed with PS3. Were HD DVDs bundled with the Xbox 360 two years ago, Blu-ray would have never even gotten half of the marketshare they have now. Most people who have chosen Blu-ray have done it because of the convenience of it being with their PS3. Basically, I wanted to let you know that, as an average video store clerk and as part of a chain which is just now starting to rent out Blu-ray discs through Rentrak, you completely hit the nail on the head. Industry insiders are missing the fact that consumers aren’t excited about HD. They don’t see the advantages, and even I am somewhat failing to understand why the advantages of HD costs us $500 a pop, so I know that John Q. Public isn’t interested in breaking his wallet for a technology that he doesn’t really find necessary. Jay Cash Movie Starz Video Wise, Va. “FORMAT WARS ARE A FOOLISH WASTE OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS. IN MY UTOPIA, THE COMPETING COMPANIES WOULD ALL GET TOGETHER, PUT THEIR EGGS IN A SINGLE BASKET, AND GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.” Director Mick Garris We Want to Hear From You! Please send letters to: Editor, Home Media Magazine 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707 E-mail: HomeMediaMagazine@questex.com Fax: 714.338.6712 Include name, business address (city and state) and telephone number. Letters are subject to editing. Join Us Online: www.homemediamagazine.com Visit our Web site to participate in discussion boards and weekly polls on the latest industry issues. 20 Home Media Magazine October 7–13, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.