Movies Features

Movie downloads an evolutionary idea?

By Scott Rosenberg Apr 4, 2006, 12:16 GMT

I have a bad feeling about this article – it is going to seriously date me. Yesterday, five of the major Hollywood movie studios announced that consumers could download movies from the internet – for a price and with restrictions, but never-the-less an evolutionary move.Movielink and CinemaNow will offer download-to-own sales of feature films at the same time as the studio’s pre-established home video release window.Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, MGM and Lionsgate titles will be available on CinemaNow. Movielink has agreements with those studios as well as with Paramount Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and 20th Century Fox. In Europe, the "download to own" services are LoveFilm and In2Movies.Prices will be roughly comparable to DVDs -- $20 to $30 for new releases, $10 to $16 for catalog titles.Now doesn’t that bother some of you?I’m sure it bothers exhibitors, those that own multiplex cinemas.As a matter of fact, at the recent ShoWest confab in Las Vegas, THE annual show for exhibitors from across the USA and the world, John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) said: “If people know that DVD is out at the same time or that they can find it also on internet as well as in the theater, why is the picture still important?He was really speaking to proponents of day and date release who claim they want to increase consumer choice: that is release in movie theaters, on DVD, internet etc. on the same date world-wide.Fithian commented, “A simultaneous release would actually reduce choice in a number of ways. Filmmakers and producers think in different creative categories. There are films made for the cinema and theatrical release, those that are going direct to-video and straight to DVD and, perhaps movies made for television.”“Our patrons know that they are different. If simultaneous release occurred across the industry, product would become homogenized. Cinemas would be doing little more than television movie of the week on the big screen.”And to carry that thought one step further, why go to the movies at all if we can download the movie on our home computer screens?You know, I remember (very vaguely) the switch between black and white television and color television in the 1950-60’s. I remember the “I Love Lucy” show going from B&W to color – what a strange sight that was to see Lucy’s outrageously colored costumes. Color added a whole new dimension to TV.I don’t remember but I am reminded that in 1953, Hollywood hyped CinemaScope – wide screen projection, in a hope to counteract TV. By 1954 54% of all American families had TV sets and television industry revenue surpassed radio revenue. In 1958 videotape went color which allowed a whole new world of TV production to start. That year also saw the first stereo LPS go on sale. Looking back, ’58 was a monumental year, packets of “data’ were moved speedily along regular phone circuits, broadcast was bounced off a rocket – the first pre-satellite communication, 5,000 drive-in movie theaters existed in America, Arthur L. Schawlow published the theory that started laser research, experiments began on something which has become known as “the modem”, the US Defense Department created ARPA- the forerunner of the Internet and last but not least, the Smurfs were created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo . In ’59 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments built an integrated circuit, Seymour Cray at Control Data built a transistorized computer and the microchip which enabled the computer revolution was developed.1962 saw touch tone phones a hit at the Seattle World’s Fair: ’63 Phillips of Holland developed the first audio cassette, instamatic cameras hit the market place and who can forget the Beatles?In 1966 the fax machine was born. In ’67 Dolby did away with audio hiss and IBM created the floppy disc. Also in 1967, for the first time, pre-recorded video tapes were sold while the “digital” age was born as touch tone phones went on the market and newspapers began using computers.As ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ hit the movie screens in 1968, there were 200 million TV sets world wide, Intelsat completed the first global communications satellite loop, and magnetic-stripe credit cards were introduced. This was also the first year that a drop in cinema attendance was noticed – 20 million tickets sold weekly: TV was to blame.Appropriately one year after ‘2001, A Space Odyssey’ was released man took “one giant step’” onto the Moon and CompuServe went into business.The 70’s saw the introduction of bar codes, IMAX big screen projection and drop in cinema ticket sales from 3+ billion in 1950 to under 1 billion in 1970.1971, was another watershed year. Intel built the 4004 microprocessor, "a computer on a chip," the cell-phone was invented and email was sent for the first time. Also the Wang 1200 - the first word processor was born.The first video game – “Pong” was released by Magnavox Odyssey in 1972 and Sony sold the first home videotape system - the Betamax. HBO started the home cable TV revolution that year as the movie “Deep Throat” catapulted the porn industry to prominence. The first “laserdisc” was released but it could play - not record. 1972 also saw the first television broadcast by satellite.1973 computers became de rigor in news bureaus while competing video formats forced many manufactures out of business.In 1974 the word "Internet" entered common language and in 1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen started a company called Micro-Soft while the first computer store opened in Los Angeles.In 1976 Betamax and VHS formats battled for market share – Sony’s Betamax lost.1977 saw Nintendo sell the first computer game while in Chicago, AT&T transmitted the first telephone calls by fiber optics.In 1979 Japanese electronics were the rage with the first Sony Walkman release. Also in Japan the first cell phone network was established.1980 saw the release of Pac Man, startup of CNN and the 3M Post it note.(Wait a minute- what does the Post-it note have to do with the advancement of technology and downloading movies on internet? Nothing! It was just fun to write)The first laptop computer was introduced by Tandy in 1981 and the computer “mouse” was also introduced. Digital photography was introduced a year later. In 1984 portable compact discs were introduced while CD-ROMS were developed that could hold 270,000 typewritten pages of data.’85 - cell phones were in cars, Microsoft Windows version 1 went on the market while in Japan 3D TV was introduced (it never went anywhere!).1987 saw the first Japanese ‘anime’, ‘The Simpsons’ were introduced on TV and in 1988 the sale of CD’s outsold vinyl records while 98% of American homes had at least one TV set.By 1990, most 2” video-tape machines were gone and the videodisc returned in a new laser format.In 1991, the Motion Picture Association of America said only 16% of movies made in Hollywood were fit to be seen by kids under 13 while in Europe, Internet sites more than tripled in one year, passing 100,000. This was also the year recordable compact disc drivers, CD-Rs, reached the market.Also that year, 3 out of 4 U.S. homes owned VCRs: the fastest selling domestic appliance in history.In 1992, 65 million personal computers had been sold and more than 1,000,000 Internet hosts existed. AOL reported over 200,000 subscribers and Delphi offered the first dial-up service to the Internet.Text-messaging on cell pones began in 1993 while Intel introduced the Pentium chip and HTML became the code of choice for Internet programming.1994 Internet growth mushroomed as almost 1/3 of all American homes had computers.In 1995 CD-ROM discs could carry a full length feature film, ‘Toy Story’ was the first all digital movie and “internet addiction” is coined. Flat TV sets are invented and web site “address” go on sale.1996 saw the typical modem at 14.4K bits/sec., but new sales were for 28.8K.The year 1997 was another year to remember: more than 4,000 ISP existed in the US and Canada alone, DVD players and DVD movie software became popular sales items, more than 50 million North Americans used Internet while nearly 8 in 10 US public schools had Internet access. The first “blogs” appeared while spam began to mean more than canned meat. 43% of US homes now had computers and the Fox film ‘Titanic’ cost US $300 to make and market while earning back more than twice that.In 1998, the estimated number of WWW pages is 300 million while it is estimated 1.5 million are added every day.Even with the proliferation of Internet, Americans are buying an average of 8 books a year, 3 times the pre-WWII level.In the year 2000, 8.2 billion e-mails are sent worldwide, more than 3 million blank, recordable CDs were sold monthly, 65% of all people in Finland own mobile phones, they led the world. And in 2001 the average American adult watched 4 hours of TV daily while Americans spent more on electronic games than on movie tickets but still box office receipts in the U.S. climbed to $8.4 billion and more than half of all Americans now used the Internet.The year 2002 saw DVD sales pass VCR sales, 40+ million U.S. homes had DVD players. There are nearly 21,000 DVD titles in circulation, 7,000 introduced in 2002 alone. DVD burners had become popular for downloading movies.In 2004, 1 in 5 people under 30 said Internet was their main information source. A survey showed that US women spent more online game time than men and teens. $21 billion was spent on online ads in the US alone as 1.5 billion cell phones were in operation worldwide. This brings us back to 2006 and Hollywood studios buying into the “download to own” concept. What this does is solidify acceptance by the studios that Internet “makes a difference” and it is the next evolutionary factor in the advancement of technology and in their marketing programs.The studios hope more people will want to own digital copies of movies, just as more people pay to download songs than sign up for online music subscription services that have a monthly fee.

Download sales have been discussed for several years in Hollywood, but the studios have been spurred to action by the success of television programs sold through Apple’s iTunes Music Store.

"The Internet has really come of age now, and it is a viable method of distributing our content," Rick Finkelstein, president of Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal told the New York Times. He added that sales through iTunes have been much greater than he expected.

Through research, Universal showed that most iTunes downloads were watched on computer screens, not video iPods, indicating that people are willing to watch video on their PCs.

Again from the New York Times, Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, said Sony's policy was to charge the same wholesale price for DVDs and downloads. "We have always had a level playing field for retailers," he said. “But given how chain stores use low-cost DVDs to draw in customers, much of the market for downloads may turn out to be older, difficult-to-find titles.” Hmmm, fifty years later watching Elia Kazan’s ‘On the Waterfront’ on my computer screen after putting US $10 on my credit card for the privilege. Will it be the same as seeing it on the big screen? Certainly not!Is it good for a cozy night with a loved one in a candle lit room with some excellent wine? I don’t think so.Maybe I should go out and buy the DVD!
A hearty “thanks” to The Media History Project ‘Time Line’ - hosted by the University of Minnesota for their look back at technological advancements. They can be found at http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/century.html

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DemonApr 4th, 2006 - 13:45:25

I am glad to see that the movie industry has become aware of the situation. I can't remember it was but in the last 3 months or so M. Knight Shamlayan came and spoke to the theatres about this exact thing - He said he wouldn't release a movie on DVD or over the Net at the same time it hits the theatre because it takes away from the theatre.

Once this hits the Internet at the release date 'they' will find ways to rip it, crack it, and distribute it. DVD security protection doesn't stop people from taking movies now - why do these Companies put the movie in a format directly on the computer and not expect the pirating to grow exponentially?

I enjoy taking my wife to the theatre to watch the new movies - we might be a dying breed but it is more fun to go see a show then to spend the same amount of money on a DVD that we're not sure we are going to want.

The Theatre's will need to more direct in their communication because when this new form of release hits the net - its gonna spread like wildfire!

(The betamax issue now makes incredible more sense out of the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray fight that is currently going on! Sony doesn't want to loose this one again.)

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