In many ways it’s surprising it hasn’t happened more, but Paramount in the US has announced a decision to start staggering the DVD and Blu-ray releases of their films. One of the main things that helped DVD become the all conquering format it has been is that films were available on the format at the same time they came out to rent, while you’d have to wait months for the video, so it makes sense to try a similar strategy to promote Blu-ray, even if it will piss off some consumers.
Paramount has announced that in the US, Dance Flick will be available to rent on DVD and to buy on Blu-ray on September 8th, but the DVD retail version won’t come for another month or two after that. The studio says they believe, “that a DVD rental window will increase revenue in that channel and that releasing a Blu-ray exclusively for sell-through will help drive adoption of the format, so it’s a win-win scenario.”
Blu-ray sales are now what’s holding up the home entertainment industry, as during the recession DVD sales have dropped dramatically, while this has been partially offset by a rise in Blu-ray sales. As profit margins are higher on Blu-ray discs, it’s become even more important for Hollywood to push the format, and Paramount is doing that by trialling staggered DVD and BD releases.
They’re not the first, as Disney tried a similar strategy in American with Bolt and Bedtime Stories, although as there was only meant to be a few days between the DVD and Blu-ray releases, many shops ignored it and put the DVDs on sale at the time of the Blu-rays. However when Snow White his Blu-ray on October 6th, there’ll be an eight week gap between before a DVD version arrives on November 24th.
Although it’s likely to frustrate some consumers, we wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes more common in the future, as for the studios it is a good way to drive profits from rental and by encouraging people to take up Blu-ray. If the Disney and Paramount trials are a success, expect similar strategies to spread to the UK very soon.
Let us know what you think.