Thursday
20Nov2008
More DVDs to Hit Shelves on Sunday Instead of Tuesday
Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 4:42AM
We wondered a couple of weeks ago why in the wide, wide
world of sports the
Kung Fu Panda DVD was being released on a
Sunday instead of the more traditional Tuesday. It seemed odd because it fell
between Election Day and Veteran's Day, which I guess could be hindrances, but
is making it available when people don't know to look for it a better approach?
Sony, on the other hand, is aiming for Friday, and the thinking there is that you'll become accustomed to swinging into the Target or the what have you on a Friday night and new videos will be waiting for you. The only flaw there is that if they're released on Tuesday, they'd still be waiting for you on Friday. Sony will see how it goes with The House Bunny on December 19th, which is at least smarter than the 28th. Anchor Bay is also choosing the 19th to release Traitor on home video.
But if distributors pick their own release dates, won't that be awfully confusing? Wouldn't it be better for you to know what day all the new movies are out, just like it is with theatrical releases a good 90% of the time? Tom Paine, owner of the chain DVD Now, has a common sense approach to all of this, saying, "Everyone will just have their own street date ... and if stores have their own dates, it will just be too chaotic."
But in the meantime, get ready for tons of experimenting. DVD is a huge part of the equation for studios, but they see that the world will be moving further and further away from that technology soon. So they're trying to keep you plugged in as long as possible, which means they'll be bending over backwards to get your attention. Everything, that is, but improving the overall product, which will still be saturated by sequels and remakes.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in DVD, Eagle Eye, The Duchess | Print Article | Email Article | Post a Comment | Share Article
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