Blockbuster Using Its Deal With Warner Bros. To Mock Redbox And Netflix
from the getting-desperate? dept
You may recall that, at the end of March, Warner Bros. studios did a new deal with Blockbuster that seemed likely to confuse the hell out of consumers. That’s because Warner Bros., in its backwards-looking wisdom, had already done deals with both Netflix and Redbox to not make new release movies available to rent until 28 days after their release. There is no good reason for this, other than it pisses off customers all around, and makes them less interested or inclined to bother watching Warner Bros. movies (hint to WB: you have competitors).
But the Blockbuster deal seemed confusing — because most consumers wouldn’t be following these silly deals and wouldn’t understand why a movie had been “released” but wasn’t available via their favorite rental service. Apparently, Blockbuster’s answer to all this is to mock Netflix and Redbox for not carrying new releases. Seriously. Reader Daylyn sends in the following ad he recently saw that points out that Netflix and Redbox don’t carry this movie:
Filed Under: delays, dvds, rentals
Companies: blockbuster, netflix, redbox, warner brothers
Comments on “Blockbuster Using Its Deal With Warner Bros. To Mock Redbox And Netflix”
Saw this today...
Saw this at a Brick and Mortar store and I couldn’t believe it. The sign at the store has more “mocking” but I don’t remember what it said…
Re: Saw this today...
to be fair, if NetFlix and RedBox signed a ‘delay 28 days’ deal WITHOUT the guarantee that nobody else would have the movies either is really really stupid of them.
Re: Re: Saw this today...
you just said what I was thinking.
Re: Re: Saw this today...
Wrong. The whole point is that Warner is withholding the films from their least-favored distributors.
Redbox doesn’t want to delay, but Warner won’t sell them the disks.
Re: Re: Saw this today...
Actually, before the ‘deal’ Warner refused to sell their movies to the companies directly. This forced the them ot outright purchase the movies at full price…get it
Last gasp from Blockbuster, imo. Give it a year and Redbox’ll be all that’s left. Every Blockbuster in a 20 mile radius is either out of business or is in the process thereof.
Re: Re:
How’s Hollywood Video doing? ‘Cause they were my local vendor. Now it’s not even Redbox, it’s DVDplay.
Re: Re: Re:
If my local market is any indication, not well. All the ones in my area have closed up shop. 1 was evicted and the building remains vacant, the other seems to at least be rented to a pet store now.
Re: Re:
Yup, the blockbuster in my area closed, and the liquor store next door bought it.
I prefer the super-liquor store anyway…
Re: Re: Re:
I visited my old home town in the UK a few weeks ago, and from the outside it appeared that the local Blockbuster had all but given up on movies and were concentrating on video games…
No help
This is unlikely to change much in the long run. Blockbuster will continue its decline. The few extra rentals BB gets won’t save it. And of course, Warner will continue to look foolish for embracing a backward-looking strategy.
The last words from Blockbuster includes Netflix and Redbox. Poetic.
This is funny b/c WB is really stupid for dealing with Netflix how they did (but it will probably lead to the the demise of Netflix) and they’re equally as stupid for thinking they will make any money off of a deal with BLOCKBUSTER!?!?! All of the blockbuster stores in my area have closed, i actually thought they went out of business until i read this. I used their online renting service before i used Netflix and the simple fact that they could only receive a DVD one day, then wait until the next day to ship my next movie was enough for me to cancel it. Netflix ships the same day it receives a movie…. bye bye blockbuster
Re: lead to the the demise of Netflix
How do you figure this will lead to the demise of Netflix?
Re: Re:
I don’t see this killing Netflix. They’re still convenient and easy and have a wide selection of videos for rental and streaming. I don’t even notice when new movies hit DVD any more, so the fact that it hits Netflix a month later won’t matter.
Alas, poor Blockbuster, I knew it well, and watched its original owner both give us a baseball team and gut it. Nothing good ever came out of that blue and yellow POS. I’ll be first in line to dance on its grave.
Re: Re:
Nothing good, you say? How about some heavily edited for content releases?
I still remember their version of “Once upon a time in America”…
Re: Re:
And what about that weird, magnet-based lock they put on some DVD boxes?
I busted out the tools and worked one for 30 minutes before I got the DVD I paid to rent out of it. They were not happy when I returned the mangled box. Guess who refused to pay any penalty for their forgetting to unlock it?
Re: Re: Re:
Erm, you attacked a box with tools for 30 minutes rather than simply returning it and refusing to pay for the rental? Then you were surprised when they complained about the now vandalised product? Forgive me if I think this rather foolish.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Let’s just call it…focused.
At no point in the 30 minutes did I think it would take more than “just another minute”. I probably wouldn’t have tackled it if I knew how diabolical the locking device – hence my props to them above for inventing it.
And it’s over 15 minutes to the store, which was closed since I often work until midnight before starting a film.
Vandalize a product? Really? I rented a DVD, not a box. I should be able to assume access to the DVD, no?
Last argument: I couldn’t care less about “refusing to pay” a $5 rental fee. My plan for that evening was to watch a certain movie. Getting my $5 back achieves that goal exactly how?
Deceptive Advertising
I would hope that most people are intelligent enough to see how deceptive and immature this latest advertisement is.
Amazon video has the movie available for streaming and so does pay per view.
But the deceptive Blockbuster poster doesn’t bother to mention that now, does it?
Re: Deceptive Advertising
What’s deceptive about that? You’re saying if they don’t mention EVERY competitor, they’re lying to you? They say they have it for rent now, and Netflix and Redbox don’t. As far as I can tell, this is accurate.
Re: Re: Deceptive Advertising
Umm, did you read the article? It wasn’t talking about deception..only mocking. Or was that your attempt to include your pre-law college education? Good job
Re: Deceptive Advertising
Really? Deceptive Advertising… It didn’t mention the other people that had, just called out who didn’t. Why should they tell you where else to get it?
Re: Deceptive Advertising
As much as we might like to think that Blockbuster will get tarred and feathered for this, they won’t. Most people will see this and take it at face value and view Blockbuster as “superior”. They will have no awareness of the underlying shenanigans.
Perhaps they might not care and still patronize Netflix and Redbox based on price alone. They won’t do so out of any sort of enlightened sense of outrage.
New Sign....
Available via Torrent – Check
Available via BB – X
Available via Netflix – X
Available via RedBox – X
[GET IT]
This drives me nuts as all it does it force people that would buy (or rent) into the “underworld”.
I’m starting to see the eBook world do the same thing as the music and movie industries. My wife wants to do the “right thing” on eBooks, but the pricing makes no sense to her. They talk about them being cheaper, but that is in reference to a hard back book and not a paperback version. Less rights, no real ownership and more expensive than a paperback has my wife scratching her head. She won’t deal with the torrent sites, so she just reserves the book at the library and waits it out. However, if it was less than $10, she’d just go ahead and buy it for the convenience – even with all the current restrictions.
And I think that is where the core issue is with these industries. They over value their product and over value the pain of getting their product through unauthorized sources. All these extra restrictions just frustrate and give justification to people to use the “alternative methods”.
Re: New Sign....
My dilemma: “Hmm, no netflix streaming of this movie…but look here, demonoid has it on Blu-Ray…”
I mean, i guess its not much of a dilemma.
If WB thinks that removing convenience is the way to make more money, let them try it, but they’ve lost my (already slim) business
Blame BB
Is Blockbuster partly responsible for that lack of availability in Redbox and Netflix?
The poster seems to be saying to me “We bought the monopoly on these rentals, so suck it!”
Re: Blame BB
Wait a sec. All video store get WB titles. Only reason Redbox and NF do not get it, because they are making it imposible for all video store (including independents) to survive. REDBOX employement rate is very low compared to others in that same industry. So people, you are saying forget the jobs in US, not important as long as I get a cheap rental or free download. People like the P2P and Box renters one of the reason we are in a recession. Screw the company that employees people, pay industry for mass products (DVD producers, DVD Clam shell makers, DVD Replicants, Copyright companies, etc.) so you can watch a movie free from P2P. Shame on any american that acts like a fucking 3rd world pirate with no respect to you ecomony that in the tank.
Re: Re: Blame BB
Only reason Redbox and NF do not get it, because they are making it imposible for all video store (including independents) to survive. REDBOX employement rate is very low compared to others in that same industry.
You know, when AT&T first created an automated switched telephone network, it put a lot of operators out of work. Was that bad?
I mean, it only created the telecom revolution that also resulted in the internet. But according to your logic, we should have left everything with human operators because that created more jobs?
Innovation means making old systems more efficient. The vast majority of US jobs used to be in agriculture, but innovation decreased that massively. Did that hurt the US economy? No, it grew.
Making things more efficient, like Redbox and Netflix have done are a GOOD THING for the economy, because they open up more opportunities elsewhere.
IMHO
In the past I was an avid Torrent user. When a Redbox popped up across the street from my local Blockbuster, I actually started renting DVD’s. I have a feeling if new movies are not available via Redbox, I will go back to Torrents.
It isn’t just Blockbuster, I saw a Hastings billboard that said:
“Sherlock Holmes
Redbox? Nope.
Netflix? Nope.
Us? Oh Yeah!”
Re: Re:
In my town
Blockbuster – out of business
Hastings – Closed down last November
Hollywood Video – selling off inventory to close store
Redbox – added two new kiosks this month
Netflix – Still kicking
Mocking?
But the Blockbuster deal seemed confusing — because most consumers wouldn’t be following these silly deals and wouldn’t understand why a movie had been “released” but wasn’t available via their favorite rental service.
It would seem to me that the consumer’s confusion or ignorance around the deal that WB and BB struck would actually work in their favor. All the average consumer knows is that if they want to see Sherlock Holmes now (from one of the three top sources for rentals), they have to get it from BB. It may not be fair and it may not be in WB’s best long term interest, but how could it be anything but good for BB?
Apparently, Blockbuster’s answer to all this is to mock Netflix and Redbox for not carrying new releases.
So, where exactly is this mocking? I’ve actually seen those ads before and when I read his post, I thought to myself, “Well, Mike couldn’t be talking about those because those aren’t mocking in the least, so BB must have come out with some other sneaky or mean-spirited ads.”
Re: Mocking?
…but how could it be anything but good for BB?
Think millions of people are going to rush out to BB simply to rent a few movies just because they can’t through their services?
Hardly. Most people keep a significant queue and will not sweat this as they watch a few more movies in between.
At $5 per rental, people aren’t going to waste cash this way anymore. That’s why they switched to begin with.
This is both Warner Bros. and BB grabbing at straws and when they’re pulled from the bale, they’ll have no choice but to fall.
And good riddance to BB, honestly. Their price hiking of new releases was enough to make me stop going years and years ago. Eventually, the damn DVD will be cheaper to [b]buy[/b] than it will be to rent.
Re: Mocking?
Until this post came up, I didn’t know Sherlock Holmes was on DVD. If it were a movie I was looking to rent, I probably wouldn’t have noticed/cared until Netflix recommended it to me. Since it’s a movie I liked in Theaters and plan on buying anyways, I’m just going to look/wait for a deal on Amazon or Target.
So… Blockbuster paid WB for the priviledge of having movies to rent before anyone cares? Good for them.
just download it and watch it while it’s still in the theaters.
Actually, it’s not just brick and mortar rental chains doing this.
Local commercials for Comcast OnDemand are saying the exact same things. “Can’t get it in your mail or in the red box, so get it OnDemand” or something like that.
Re: Re:
Totally forgot about that, but you’re right, I did see that when I was at my parents’ a few weeks ago. If I paid for TV service at home, I probably would have see it there too…
28 days, 56 days, 84 days...
Makes no difference to me how long they delay it; I just stick it in my Netflix queue and wait. I have plenty other movies to watch in the interim. If I wanted to see a movie so bad I would rent it from BB without waiting for it to appear on Netflix, I would have seen it in the theaters.
Re: 28 days, 56 days, 84 days...
You are very rare
30 Days is soooo long to wait...
I have crap in my DVR way more than 30 days old that I haven’t even watched yet, why would I care that I have to wait 30 days to watch some Warner Bros. P.O.S. movie.
Deadheads have known for a long time that Warner Brothers sucks the pustulent boil on the buttocks of humanity.
Netflix rox…betcha can’t find “Dead Snow” at any Blockbuster…
Re: 30 Days is soooo long to wait...
Dead Snow is available at my local Blockbuster store and online…
Re: 30 Days is soooo long to wait...
actually “Dead Snow” is a Blockbuster Exclusive.
I simply can’t remember how many _years_ I’ve already been a Netflix user. An extra 28 days means absolutely nothing in my likewise large que.
This petty bullshit though just insures that I will wait, instead of grabbing it on it on impulse at Blockbuster that is, ooops, closed anyway.
Automatic fail.
Just goes to show,
Redbox and Netflix should have just stuck to their guns. Blockbuster looks like a jerk, but the other two just look foolish. They ended up being outmanouvered by a faded chain, who paid for a pyhrric victory, and the independant stores, who know when to keep their heads down.
Re: Just goes to show,
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix and Redbox aren’t just laughing their asses off at Blockbuster’s futile attempt to stay alive a little longer. I know I am.
good riddance
I have 246 movies in my netflix queue anyway. Blockbuster can kiss my butt. I’ve always despised them anyway since the days back when they’d charge me a late fee for a movie I brought in ON TIME.
Re: good riddance
“I’ve always despised them anyway since the days back when they’d charge me a late fee for a movie I brought in ON TIME.”
I had the same problem, my returns were always late. S I rented a movie and went outside and drooped it in the return box. Sure enough it was late.
I remember when Netflix made a big deal out of having 1000 titles, and I’m still on that same 4 at a time plan at the same price. I just hope that a nice eatery goes in where BB used to be.
WB has competitors, so what? Are you saying movies are fungible?
Re: Re:
In a general sense, they are. That is to say, as units of entertainment, they’re as interchangeable as units of food or units of beverage. Now, mexican isn’t going to satisfy you if you’re in the mood for pizza, but even at that scale you can have Dominos’ pizza or Papa John’s pizza. WB may be the only ones who make, say, Sherlock Holmes, but they’re not the only ones who make action movies, or even period-based action movies.
Re: Re: Re:
I disagree — movie studios don’t have the same brand coherency as eateries. If I go to Dominos, I know what kind of quality to expect; if I know a movie was done by WB, I know nothing about the quality of the movie. So I’d say that movies are MORE interchangeable than food.
Dish Network has also released a set of commericials for the same exact movies stating “You won’t find it in your mailbox (showing a red mailer in a mailbox), and you won’t find it in a box (showing a vending like machine), You’ll only find it on Dish-on-Demand” while they didn’t specifically call out netflix and redbox it was obvious who they were talking about.
I think WB, netflix, and redbox will all get some bad press and people research why they cant get movies from who they want.
Funny, I primarily use Netflix, but on occasion I’ll pull a new release off of the PlayStation Network for rent. I’m pretty certain that I saw Sherlock on PSN last week for streaming… not sure if it was for rent or just sale, but I’d almost rather buy it from my free PlayStation account where it will be available to me FOREVER than drive to blockbuster.
Re: Re:
NO..you didn’t PSN is a netflix thing.
Time Warner Newspeak
We have Time Warner Cable. One of their perpetual advertising tag lines: “The Power of You”. Well, how are they empowering me by entering into exclusive business deals that would limit my options and force me to pay them monopoly rents?
Yet another example of companies claiming they are empowering consumer choice by actually limiting it. Orwell would be proud.
Would this qualify as anti-competitive behavior on the part of WB?
Hate This Crap
There used to be several Movie Galleries, one Blockbuster, one Hastings, and maybe two Video Warehouses. The Video Warehouse may still be around, there are only 2 Movie Galleries left, Blockbuster is closing, and Hastings is more a general entertainment store here, not just video rentals.
I currently use NetFlix for movies and Movie Gallery PowerPlay for video games and movies that I just really want to see now and don’t want to deal with the mail (mainly use NetFlix for streaming). Is there a difference in licensing that makes the studios make money differently from NetFlix and RedBox than from the BBs, MGs, Hastings, etc.? If not, I really don’t see this doing anything other than pissing people off.
RedBox, don't worry
RedBox, don’t worry. I won’t enter Blockbuster no matter what movie they have. I’d rather do without then walk into that store.
Exclusive deals?
While I think that its stupid and short sighted by WB, how is this any different to any other “exclusive” deals we have and currently see? How is this any different than the NFL Sunday ticket only being on Direct TV? Or the Iphone only being on AT and T? What Warner and BB did was strike an exclusive deal where the only place you can get a physical disk to rent is through BB.
Of course it’s stupid and of course it makes no sense and of course it limits customer choice but what else do we expect when these other “exclusive” deals are allowed to happen over and over again?
BB Rental
At the same time they did the deal with WB the BB rental price went up. All movies (even ones that have been out for years) are $5. I can rent PPV for that price, why drive to the store?
The problem is...
It might take me MORE THAN 28 DAYS to find an open Blockbuster…
Love BB Online, Can't Stand Netflix
I am suprised of all the people that love Netflix on this thread since my experience with them on two occasions has been horrific.
I subscribed to Netflix a few years ago and apart from the first month of service, it literally took months to get any new release. It was so bad that I would actually get to see all major releases sooner on HBO/SHO/STARZ before it got to me via Netflix. Now I don’t think I was abusing the system either: I would get the movie one day, watch that night and ship it back the next day.
After switching to Blockbuster Online, not only do I get all new releases at the most 1 week after street date but I also get to exchange for free the watched DVD for another one of my choice at the store.
A few months ago I tested Netflix again since they had a free trial period offer, and as before the first week or so all came in promptly but then all new releases got delayed indefinitely.
I have friends that love Netflix since they watch mostly independent or foreign movies and those get to them promptly, but it does work for major new releases. I realize some of you may say you can download movies right away from Netflix, but I prefer to watch a movie in all its Blu-Ray definition.
As far as the store experience is concerned, I have nothing bad to say abut BB. I was a client of theirs before the online rental services took off and they have always been nice and movies have been available no more or less than other chains. As far as I remember Hollywood Video was not as good.
Re: Love BB Online, Can't Stand Netflix
Wow – this is the first evidence I have ever seen that there are indeed people out there that actually like Blockbuster. I used to rent from them quite frequently, then one day I had a bogus late fee show up on my account. Arguing with the manager got me nowhere, so I promised the manager I would never rent from them again and I haven’t. There are a lot of people out there with similar stories. Even if the fee was justified (and it wasn’t), it would have been smart for them to notice that I had been renting movies and games frequently and reliably for several years and dropped the charge. Instead, they collected a late fee of a couple of bucks and lost my business for ever. I was very happy to see that location shut down recently. I feel like I finally won.
Anyway, I’ve never had a problem with Netflix. When a disc was lost in the mail, the customer service rep took care of the problem and it didn’t cost me a dime. Contrasting how Netflix treated me with how Blockbuster treated me probably makes me like Netflix more than what is really rational.
Re: New releases: Meh!
I have never encountered a rental establishment of any sort where new releases weren’t a problem. It doesn’t matter if it’s Hollywood Video, Blockbuster or Netflix. OTOH, Netflix has a wider selection of things other than just the new releases. If I want something other than what is being hyped for the crowd at that second, Netflix or a lesser B&M franchise is a remarkable improvement.
At least with Netflix, stuff comes to me and I don’t have to go beating the bushes for it.
Re: Love BB Online, Can't Stand Netflix
I’m a long-time fan of Netflix, though I’ll admit that there are delays getting new releases, because EVERYONE wants them. This generally doesn’t bother me because there are enough other movies that I want to see that i’m never left waiting for a movie. I have a queue a couple hundred DVDs long, so if the top one’s unavailable they just send me the next one down.
I remember early on that there would sometimes be a delay if I sent a movie back “too quickly,” but they’ve gotten a lot better about it and I haven’t noticed it happen in a long while.
I did try BB Online once, but I found their digital storefront as disorienting and cluttered as their brick-and-mortar ones, and I’d already invested a lot of ratings in Netflix’s algorithm, so I didn’t stay long. Maybe they fixed those problems, but I’ve no reason to go find out.
no shocker
I remember when netflicks came out defending their deal I told a good friend who works for them it was horrible dumb even if they get a cash break on movies.
You can not make a reasonable deal with somebody who hates you and wants to destroy you. It is of course only natural for Warner to try and screw the little guys and hand BB long time partner what they want in a tool to try and do it. They still, after all this time, consider netflicks some startup irritant and how dare they not be mostly owned by the IP guys at a gunpoint deal… and everybody who owns IP hates redbox, convenience and no DRM at a reasonable price AHHHH kill it before it spreads!
"Blockbuster Using Its Deal With Warner Bros. To Mock Redbox And Netflix"
Everyone knows blockbuster is a front for the mpaa mafia group. They’ve been in bed together for way too long. Who givez a crapz anywayz? Screw the mpaa/blockbuster deal. Torrentz have earlier releases than they ever will. No commercials, No previews, and NO F***ing DRM! };P .. Besides that.. Chinese produced movies are the only movies i’d consider paying money for. Screw hollywood’s bullsh**.
Re: "Blockbuster Using Its Deal With Warner Bros. To Mock Redbox And Netflix"
Your are scum of America doing P2P. you should movie to Iraq and start fighting american who are trying to perserve what is left of our economy from people that hate compaines that make profit and employee free will….. What the hell would you teach your kids, you piece of garbage theif. Don’t like this product at Walmart, so just steal it. Why dont you and your friends go rob next IPAD truck, get it before it comes out in the market like torrent movie. Why, cause you are scared like a little pussy that hides behind the DCMA and hates the MPAA that trying to perserve the movie studio’s copyrights. you are a true loser.
Common Sense
Wait a sec. All video store get WB titles. Only reason Redbox and NF do not get it, because they are making it imposible for all video store (including independents) to survive. REDBOX employement rate is very low compared to others in that same industry. So people, you are saying forget the jobs in US, not important as long as I get a cheap rental or free download. People like the P2P and Box renters one of the reason we are in a recession. Screw the company that employees people, pay industry for mass products (DVD producers, DVD Clam shell makers, DVD Replicants, Copyright companies, etc.) so you can watch a movie free from P2P. Shame on any american that acts like a fucking 3rd world pirate with no respect to our ecomony that in the tank. P2P people are like suicide bombers, no repect for themselves and the country they live in. Stealing everything all day, and blaming the studios for selling their product. Note: they spent money making it, and if why the hell would you steal it for free (p2p) and then blame them for not liking it. Go pay for it, and if it is garbage, then tell a friend, but atleast have self respect and buy/rent it, watch it, give your opinion. not steal, trash it, and blame the studio for making the movie….. hate american scum….
Stock price
I am using all of this bad press for blockbuster as an opportunity to buy the stock, which for a limited time only, is worth pennies. BBI.
Looks like I was thinking about advertisements when I wrote this.
Blockbuster is just pointing out the Fact that Netflix’s and Redbox’s Owners are clearly stupid. If I was a shareholder of either company I’d be pissed about how stupid they are being, and netflix made the same agreement with 20th century fox…
Re
Play movies instantly! Free 1-month trial when you subscribe to Redbox Instant, which gets you 4 DVD credits every month and a streaming library of hits! sign up for Redbox Free Trial at http://redboxfreetrial.com