Universal, Fox, Summit shut VOD-DVD window
Studios deliver on-demand simultaneous with DVD
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 2/6/2009
FEB. 6 | Add Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Summit Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to the list of studios shutting the window between DVD and video-on-demand as DVD sales weaken and more consumers warm to the idea of on-demand movies.
Oscar-nominated Changeling will be one of Universal's first day-and-date DVD/VOD releases.
Universal will give its first day-and-date release to Oscar-nominated Angelina Jolie pic Changeling and smaller drama Flash of Genius, both of which street Feb. 17. The films will be available as a rental on digital movie services including iTunes and cable VOD services nationwide the same day they hit DVD.
A spokeswoman for Universal said the studio is considering simultaneous releases on a title-by-title basis, choosing films that tend to perform stronger on rental than sell-through.
Summit’s tween star Twilight will be among the few blockbusters to get a day-and-date release when it debuts on DVD March 21. Summit has released all of its films simultaneously on DVD and VOD.
“We’ve done it from the beginning, because we had seen results from various tests that said that releasing it on VOD did not negatively affect DVD purchases and in some cases might have positively affected it,” Summit home entertainment president Steve Nickerson said.
Nickerson said Summit releases have so far done well on DVD and VOD.
“There’s no reason to think at this point we need to do anything differently,” he said.
In the past six months, Summit day-and-date releases have included Penelope, Fly Me to the Moon and Never Back Down. Twilight will be one of the first to also go day-and-date on iTunes and Blockbuster.com in addition to cable outlets as those deals weren’t in place for earlier releases.
Meanwhile, Fox, which gave M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening a simultaneous release in October, will do the same for Bottle Shock and The Secret Life of Bees, out Feb. 10, and Choke, out Feb. 17.
The studio wouldn’t comment on the releases.
Warner Home Video, the first studio to begin releasing films simultaneously on DVD and VOD in mid-2007, is still the only studio putting out the majority of its films day-and-date. The studio has said the strategy benefits VOD sales and DVD sales, while acknowledging that it can hurt physical media rentals.
Other studios are so far keeping the window open, though to varying degrees.
Lionsgate has shortened the DVD/VOD window to two weeks for some films. George Bush-biopic W., out Feb. 10, will debut on VOD Feb. 24, and horror flick Saw V will reach VOD Feb. 17, nearly a month after its DVD release.
On the other end of the spectrum is Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which has been sticking to a 30-day or longer window. The House Bunny, which debuted on DVD Dec. 18, didn’t reach VOD until Feb. 2. Pineapple Express had a similar window, hitting DVD Jan. 6 and VOD Feb. 20.
