Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Which way BD pricing?
April 17, 2008

Still looking for a trend in Blu-ray pricing, and thought we found one recently with several high-profile new releases tagged the same, or just a dollar or two more than their standard DVD versions. 

For instance, Lionsgate's Mad Men: Season One is priced at $49.98 on DVD and $49.99 on BD (what's the penny about?), with Disney's National Treasure 2 at $34.99 SRP for both the two-disc DVD and BD version, and the studio's Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds at $34.99 on DVD and $35.99 on BD. Is there an effort by these studios to fuel format adoption by keeping the price even with good old DVD?

Well, maybe... Studios aren't anxious to discuss pricing on the record. 

Of course, Sony went the opposite with with this month's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, which at $43.95 on BD is $14 more than the highest-priced DVD version. Given, the title has BD Live features, but $14?

It should be said that most BD releases are priced between $29 and $39, about $5 to $10 more than their standard counterparts. And retailers are discounting just as heavily as they do regular DVD -- the Amazon price on the Walk Hard BD is $23.95, bringing the difference between it and its standard DVD versions to just $4 to $5. 

But studios are apparently doing some experimenting...

Posted by Marcy Magiera on April 17, 2008 | Comments (0)