We have recently learned that Warner Home Video will no longer distribute theatrical releases to libraries or home video rental stores until 28 days after they release the movies for sale at retailers. This Warner Home Video policy applies to all public libraries and video rental outlets such as Redbox, Netflix, and Blockbuster.
In addition to being released 28 days after the retail version, Warner’s rental version DVDs and Blu-rays will not contain bonus features or extras. However, we understand that there will be a significant price reduction for these products, apparently amounting to an average $4 per DVD title and $8 per Blu-ray title (see cost breakdown below).
Warner Home Video has announced that it may seek to enforce its new policy by auditing its distribution partners’ sales. Additionally, Warner may require retailers, like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target, to limit the number of copies of a new release that may be sold to a single customer.
Please note that Warner’s new policy will only impact titles that have a theatrical release, perhaps amounting to about 12 titles per year. Non-theatrical Warner releases will not be affected by this policy.
Below are the first three Warner theatrical titles affected. Note that Warner’s rental versions will feature rental artwork.
If your library had any of these titles on order previously, Midwest Tape will modify the order and adjust the pricing accordingly. If you do not wish to receive rental versions of these titles, please contact Customer Service at 1.800.875.2785 to cancel your order.
While we recognize this is Warner Home Video’s policy, feel free to contact us at 1.800.875.2785 or info@midwesttapes.com with any questions or concerns regarding this matter. You may also contact Warner Home Video directly at 888.383.9483.
You can also read more at Home Media Magazine: Warner Altering Distribution to Rental Channels?
Cost Breakdown
title | format | former retail street date | former retail SRP | former mwt library price | rental street date | rental SRP | new mwt library price |
Crazy Stupid Love | DVD | 1-Nov | 28.99 | 21.99 | 29-Nov | 22.99 | 17.99 |
Crazy Stupid Love | Blu-ray | 1-Nov | 35.99 | 26.99 | 29-Nov | 24.99 | 18.99 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 | DVD | 11-Nov | 28.99 | 21.99 | 9-Dec | 22.99 | 17.99 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 | Blu-ray | 11-Nov | 35.99 | 26.99 | 9-Dec | 24.99 | 18.99 |
Hangover Part 2 | DVD | 6-Dec | 28.99 | 21.99 | 3-Jan | 22.99 | 17.99 |
Hangover Part 2 | Blu-ray | 6-Dec | 35.99 | 26.99 | 3-Jan | 24.99 | 18.99 |
Fox Home Video will release Avatar on April 22, 2010 in both Blu-ray and DVD rental and retail editions. Because of the importance of this title to our customers, we’ve compiled this document highlighting the differences one can expect between these two editions. The main differences affect cataloging, availability before street date, and pricing.
Click image to enlarge
Content and Cataloging Concerns
In an online blog post, the Wall Street Journal (2010) quoted James Cameron as saying “‘We’ll do the Blu-ray and the standard def DVD April 22nd, that’s our plan as of right now, and that’ll be pretty much bare bones. And then we’ll do a value-added DVD and a 3-D Blu-ray in I think November sometime.’” Customers concerned about missing out on key bonus features in rental editions should be aware that these features are being reserved for a later special edition release. Furthermore, the rental edition is the same edition offered by NetFlix, Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, and other home video rental businesses.
Additionally, customers who prefer to select retail editions to avoid duplicate catalog records should be aware that both the retail and rental editions of Avatar will only be available for 60 days before Fox cancels them in preparation for the November special edition release.
Street Date Delivery and Pricing
Midwest Tape can only guarantee pre-street date delivery of the rental edition of Avatar. To ensure timely delivery and order fulfillment, we strongly urge libraries to order the rental edition of this title. Midwest Tape will ship all orders on a first come, first serve basis.
Large retailers, like Wal-Mart and Target, have “imposed strict limits on the number of [retail edition] DVDs any one customer can buy at a time, making it harder for movie-rental kiosks such as Coinstar’s (CSTR) Redbox to get their hands on large numbers of newly released discs” ( BusinessWeek, 2010). Due to reduced supply caused by these factors, customers who choose to order the retail edition should do so as early as possible because fulfillment of retail edition orders cannot be guaranteed.
In addition to the decreased supply, these limitations have lead to increased costs for library vendors who attempt to supply their customers with retail editions, leading some to discontinue the practice. Midwest Tape has decided to continue to offer our customers the retail edition, but it has become necessary to increase the cost of Fox retail titles by an average of $4–$5 per title. Essentially, we are buying indirectly to supply our customers with Fox retail DVDs.
We first tackled Fox’s retail/rental plan in an October News and Views story: 20th Century Fox Distributing Rental Editions of DVD Titles. Paramount also implemented a rental/retail DVD strategy in 2009: Paramount Experiments with Two-Tiered Pricing on Upcoming DVD Releases.
The pricing increase will be applied to all Fox retail DVDs announced after March 15, 2010. Retail editions announced before March 15, Fox rental editions, and standard releases will not be affected.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter. Please contact Customer Service at 800.875.2785 with any questions. You can also post feedback and questions here as comments.
Additional Reading
As studios look to maintain revenues during these tough economic times, more and more of them are offering rental and retail editions of select DVD titles. Rental editions are meant for any organization that loans their materials, whether home video rental businesses or libraries. Retail editions are meant for the home video consumer marketplace.
Similar to Paramount’s two-tiered releasing strategy (“ Paramount Experiments with Two-Tiered Pricing on Upcoming DVD Releases”), 20th Century Fox will also now offer rental and retail editions of select DVD titles. However, Fox’s strategy differs in that both the rental and retail editions of their titles will feature the exact same edits of the films and will be the same price. Additionally, rental editions will not contain any bonus features, but they will contain additional movie trailers and previews. Retail editions will have bonus features.
Libraries ordering rental versions will receive their orders before street date. Because shipping dates for retail editions from Fox can vary, customers who order the retail edition of a title are not guaranteed to receive it before street date. Midwest Tape recommends that libraries purchase the rental edition of Fox’s DVDs in order to receive them before street date.
As more studios follow suit in releasing different editions of select DVD titles, we’re developing ways to make these different versions even more apparent on our website. Starting today (Friday, October 9, 2009), when users search on http://www.MidwestTapes.com, any DVD titles that have retail and rental editions will be marked with corresponding symbols. Similar to our cart symbol, when a user mouses over the retail/rental symbols, text boxes will appear that provide general information of that particular studio’s rental/retail DVD release strategies. Additionally, the titles will feature in parentheses whether they’re retail or rental editions in their title lines. Please reference the screenshots below to view examples of these symbols and title line labels.
Retail Edition of Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian
Retail Edition of Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian with mouseover text
Rental Edition of Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian
Rental Edition of Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian with mouseover text
Below is a list of the current rental editions provided by Fox. We have moved all Fox retail edition orders to the rental editions to ensure deliveries before street dates. If you would like the retail versions of any of these titles instead, please contact Customer Service at 800.875.2785.
Title
| Stock Number
|
Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
| Rental: TWT2262514D
|
Retail: TWT2262512D
|
Aliens In The Attic
| Rental: TWT2261098D
|
Retail: TWT2261096D
|
I Love You, Beth Cooper
| Rental: TWT2261078D
|
Retail: TWT2261076D
|
Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian
| Rental: TWT2262590D
|
Retail: TWT2262588D
|
500 Days Of Summer
| Rental: TWT2263464D
|
Retail: TWT2263462D
|
If you have any questions regarding Fox’s (or any studio’s) two-type DVD strategy, the content of retail and rental editions, and/or the updates we’ve made to our website in regards to these two DVD types, please post them here as comments or contact our Customer Service Department at 800.875.2785.
Paramount Home Entertainment has introduced a two-tiered pricing model on select titles. Paramount is releasing some small box office as well as straight-to-DVD titles as rental versions. After unveiling the rental editions, Paramount will then release retail versions for the consumer marketplace.
The differences between retail and rental editions vary per title. While all rental versions are higher-priced and have earlier release dates than retail editions, some rental versions lack any bonus or special features. Additionally, ratings can differ between both editions. In some cases, Paramount releases Blu-ray editions for retail purchase on the same day as the rental edition.
Video Business notes that Paramount individually evaluates their titles and implements this pricing and releasing strategy on a case-by-case basis¹. Furthermore, as Paramount experiments with two-tiered pricing and releasing, other studios might test similar strategies as well. For instance, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment tried this strategy with one title, The Maiden Heist, a $20,000 box office title starring Morgan Freeman and Christopher Walken. When any studio experiments with this strategy, we’ll be sure to keep our customers informed.
Paramount first began this two-tiered pricing model on the small box office feature film, Dance Flick. On September 8th, 2009, Paramount released the Blu-ray edition and rental edition of Dance Flick. The rental edition did not include director commentary or bonus features. Intended for video rental, this higher-priced edition was not available for purchase in retail stores and had a limited availability. Roughly six weeks later, the retail DVD edition of this title—which features extras and commentary and is unrated—will hit retailers’ shelves on October 6, 2009.
In the future, Paramount will release a handful of other feature films using this staggered-release, two-tiered pricing model. Please reference the chart below for the titles Paramount is releasing under this strategy; (this chart also features Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s one title).
Title
| Stock Numbers
| Prices
| Street Dates
| Key Differences
|
Dance Flick
| Rental: PAR352604D
| Rental: $32.99
| Rental: 09/08/2009
| Retail edition is unrated and has bonus features. Blu-ray edition releases with Rental edition.
|
Retail: PAR352604RD
| Retail: $19.99
| Retail: 10/06/2009
|
Imagine That
| Rental: PAR7906806D
| Rental: $32.99
| Rental: 10/06/2009
| Both versions feature the theatrical edit of the film. Blu-ray edition releases with Rental edition.
|
Retail: PAR7906806RD
| Retail: $19.99
| Retail: 11/24/2009
|
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
| Rental: PAR7906726D
| Rental: $28.49
| Rental: 11/10/2009
| No corresponding Blu-ray release.
|
Retail: PAR7906726RD
| Retail: $17.24
| Retail: 12/15/2009
|
The Marc Pease
| Rental: PAR7906104D
| Rental: $26.99
| Rental: 11/03/2009
| Straight-to-DVD title. No corresponding Blu-ray release.
|
Retail: PAR7906104RD
| Retail: $14.99
| Retail: 12/08/2009
|
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
| Rental: PAR7906708D
| Rental: $26.99
| Rental: 11/17/2009
| Straight-to-DVD title. No corresponding Blu-ray release. Retail edition will include a “making-of” bonus feature.
|
Retail: PAR7906708RD
| Retail: $14.99
| Retail: 01/05/2010
|
Carriers
| Rental: PAR7907485D
| Rental: $32.99
| Rental: 11/24/2009
| Straight-to-DVD title. No corresponding Blu-ray release.
|
Retail: PAR7907458RD
| Retail: $19.99
| Retail: 12/22/2009
|
The Maiden Heist
(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
| Rental: COL30915D
| Rental: $34.99
| Rental: 10/27/2009
| Straight-to-DVD title. No corresponding Blu-ray release. Both versions have special features.
|
Retail: COL30913D
| Retail: $16.99
| Retail: 11/24/2009
|
Considering how this pricing and releasing experimentation affects our customers, we’d like to highlight a few points:
Customer Choice
While most customers prefer to obtain the limited-quantity, earlier-released rental version, others may wish to wait and receive the lower-priced retail version. No matter what route customers go, we offer both retail and rental editions of any title affected by Paramount’s two-tiered model.
Cataloging (MARC) Issue
Because these titles are different versions, rental and retail editions carry different stock numbers, ISBNs, and OCLC numbers. For questions regarding cataloging one or both versions, please contact our MARC Records department at 1.800.875.2785.
Limited Availability for Rental Edition
Quantities are limited for Paramount’s rental editions. Therefore, customers interested in this version need to pre-order titles as early as possible. After street date, there’s no guarantee that orders placed for rental editions will be filled.
The Difference on Web, Customized Standing Orders, and Catalogs
We will list both versions of any title affected by Paramount’s two-tiered pricing model in our catalogs (see snapshot below), and customers can view both editions on our website. However, because rental editions hit the market first, our customized standing orders feature this version.
If you have any questions regarding Paramount’s two-tiered pricing model and/or the content of retail and rental editions, please post them here as comments or contact our Customer Service Department at 1.800.875.2785.
As Paramount experiments with their two-tiered pricing model, they’ll release a rental edition of Imagine That (stock #: PAR7906806D) on October 6, 2009, which will feature the theatrical edit of the PG-rated film. This higher-priced edition will not be available in retail stores and is meant for video rental businesses. Because availability is limited, please pre-order this edition as soon as possible. Paramount will also release a retail edition of Imagine That (stock #: PAR7906806RD) on November 24, 2009, which will feature the same PG-rated theatrical edit of the film as the rental edition. However, this lower-priced version will hit retail outlets nationwide approximately seven weeks after Paramount releases the Blu-ray and rental editions. Therefore, customers who order this item will not receive it until the retail release date of November 24, 2009.
If you have any questions about the differences between available editions of Imagine That, please post them here as comments or contact our Customer Service Department at 1.800.875.2785.
Paramount Home Entertainment will release a PG-13 edition of Dance Flick (stock # PAR352604D) on September 8 th, 2009. This version will not include director commentary or bonus features. This higher-priced edition will also not be available in retail stores and has a limited availability. Because of these reasons, we advise customers who wish to order this edition to do so as soon as possible to ensure availability.
Paramount Home Entertainment will also release an unrated edition of Dance Flick (stock # PAR352604RD) on October 6th, 2009, which we’ll carry as well. This lower-priced version will be available at retail outlets nationwide and will contain director commentary and bonus features.
If you have questions about the differences between available editions, please post your questions here as comments or call our Customer Service Department at 1.800.875.2785.
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