Is this the end of the High Street DVD rental shops?

[wellpip]

Could this be the final nail in the coffin for the high street DVD rental store or Virgin/Sky movies come to that?







Internet-enabled Tvs for film buffs - Telegraph

[CaptainWaggett]

name='wellpip']Could this be the final nail in the coffin for the high street DVD rental store or Virgin/Sky movies come to that?







Internet-enabled Tvs for film buffs - Telegraph

Coincidentally - Blockbuster warns it faces bankruptcy

[CaptainWaggett]

name='CaptainWaggett' timestamp='1268991117' post='403678']

Coincidentally - Blockbuster warns it faces bankruptcy

Blockbuster files for bankruptcy

[julian_craster]

I blame UK public libraries for offering horror and sex DVDs to rent.....

[will.15]

Blockbuster deserved to go bankrupt. They suck.



Libraries have nothing in the U.S to do with the disappearance of large video rental chains. Netflix and video vending machines in markets offering videos cheaper killed them and their inability to adapting to the changing marketplace by diversifying their selection to appeal to niche audiendes as some DVD rental stores are doing.



Despite what the report says, i think they are on the road to liquidation, not just chapter 11. In the last six months all the Blockbuster stores around me have gone out of business. If you can't compete in Southern California you're a goner. Circuit City did the same routine, First reorganiztion then total liquidation. And they still had plenty of stores still open before the total fade. Bye, bye, Blockbuster.I won't miss you.

[GoggleboxUK]

It's the greed of the studios that have killed the rental market. Charging £55 + VAT per disc for a title that is available the same day in the supermarkets for as lttle as £7.99. Blockbuster took a stand against them at it's inception and refused to stock Warner Bros titles. Unfortunately they caved in after realising they wouldn't have Ocean's Eleven to rent out and negotiated a deal where they bought 3 times the amount at a third of the price. This made Blockbuster and Warner Bros happy but the move killed off the indepenents very quickly and the lesser chains like Ritz and Global were soon falling victim to the might of Blockbuster.



I hope the greed of the studios continues and their Internet TV PPV sites fail miserably leaving them nowhere to go. Internet TV is in it's infancy and, as I've stated on this forum many times, I foresaw this years ago. Just wait until BitTorrent is adopted as the recognised file sharing system for Internet TV and watch all the studios crash and burn.



Nobody will pay for what is widely available for free already, even if it's not strictly legal. First MP3, then DivX, soon BitTorrent. Piracy may be frowned upon but it is certainly making a lot of money for Apple and other MP3 player manufacturers, DVD player manufacturers and next Internet TV manufacturers.



As the advert says "You wouldn't steal a car...." No, I wouldn't, but if I could download one......

[jaycad]

i haven't used a rental shop since the VHS days as you have to walk to the shop or,nowadays walk to the postbox to return the dvd!

[stevedr]

name='jaycad' timestamp='1285323774' post='476892']

i haven't used a rental shop since the VHS days as you have to walk to the shop or,nowadays walk to the postbox to return the dvd!

Neither have I and i wont miss Blockbuster thats for sure, but i do in a way miss the old days when when VHS first appeared. My old newsagent would always have a few oddities for hire, not many but there would always be something interesting in there..and I remember a shop selling parts for hoovers had a little shelf in the corner of 'nasties'for hire,curious places and small time just trying to make a couple of bob.

[jaycad]

name='stevedr' timestamp='1285379131' post='477177']

Neither have I and i wont miss Blockbuster thats for sure, but i do in a way miss the old days when when VHS first appeared. My old newsagent would always have a few oddities for hire, not many but there would always be something interesting in there..and I remember a shop selling parts for hoovers had a little shelf in the corner of 'nasties'for hire,curious places and small time just trying to

make a couple of bob.

i preferred it when the 'video man' used to knock on our door with a suitcase full of videos and more in his car boot-i got to watch many a decent film (and even more bad ones) that i would never have chosen had i gone to a video rental shop!

[stevedr]

name='jaycad' timestamp='1285408354' post='477229']

i preferred it when the 'video man' used to knock on our door with a suitcase full of videos and more in his car boot-i got to watch many a decent film (and even more bad ones) that i would never have chosen had i gone to a video rental shop!

Absolutley. I may as well come clean and say that I did to on occasion, bring back the odd title I might not have shared with my girlfriend,but i think the point is there was a real fluency of available titles for a while, not great films by any means,but decent choice. Especially prior to the law change on certification, where shops or (salesmen)could sell a real variety of tapes unlike the monopoly outlets of later times,such as Blockbuster.

[Kitty Whiskers]

I live a street away from a Blockbuster but haven't been inside it for years.



The reasons are:



1. Their selection sucks - mainstream Hollywood pap, no arthouse, foreign or indie



2. If you do find something, it plays like someone has been eating their dinner off the disc,



3. They killed off all the smaller, more interesting video stores in my area - once there were a dozen and they've all long gone



4. I'd rather buy a DVD these days - it'll play for sure and it has resale value if I tire of it





I'm actually surprised all the video hire places have hung on as long as they have. I thought as soon as the download became available, it'd be all over for them.

[GoggleboxUK]

name='Kitty Whiskers' timestamp='1285424989' post='477284']





I'm actually surprised all the video hire places have hung on as long as they have. I thought as soon as the download became available, it'd be all over for them.

Blockbuster have managed to hang on as long as they have because they diversified. Once they'd killed the opposition it had the knock on effect that, mainly for the reasons you've stated plus the fact they employed staff with no knowledge or interest in film, the general public lost interest in renting films. No competition equalled no choice, rising prices and less diversity so Blockbusters began incresing their Sell-through range, added their tade-in sections, considerably lowered the price of their ex-rantal stock and even started to sell alcohol.



Unfortunately for them the studios started clamping down on reselling and even tried to bring in a law that effectively stopeed stores from selling on old stock, something that gaming manufacturers had started by adding codes that could only be used once in installing PC games and rendering the second hand market obselete. The movie studios bid to emulate this failed but their tightening up of the rental to resale windows seems to have been the final nail in the coffin for Blockbuster.



I'm sure the big studios have something new up their sleeves and, IMO, one of the reasons they have brought out Blu-Ray and HD is to massively increase the file size of a film in an effort to halt the illegal filesharers. It's a blinkered view and, as always, the pirateeers have come up with a new system, H.264, which does for Blu-Ray what DivX did for DVD.



The studios will try and combat the downloaders over the next few years and I predict masses of new streaming sites popping up with the latest movies available on PPV. Of course, the pirateers just need to develop the technology yo allow you to download and store these streams on your all new singing and dancing internet-enabled TV. Either that or they'll have their own sites which, unlike the studios, will be free access for all.



The movie industry is currently doing very well but, as I've been predicting for years, sooner or later the high spec technology will merge seamlessly with the internet and there'll no longer be enough profit in film making for the big names to continue.



What goes around comes around.

[jimw1]

name='Kitty Whiskers' timestamp='1285424989' post='477284']

1. Their selection sucks - mainstream Hollywood pap, no arthouse, foreign or indie

Exactly the reason I havent been in the Place for Years'



I used to visit now and then as there was sometimes something worth buying in the Shelves of the sell off stuff' but that was very rare..................I am also amazed they lasted so long' i suppose the Gaming buyers kept it afloat for a while...

[Kitty Whiskers]

name='GoggleboxUK' timestamp='1285428311' post='477299']

I'm sure the big studios have something new up their sleeves and, IMO, one of the reasons they have brought out Blu-Ray and HD is to massively increase the file size of a film in an effort to halt the illegal filesharers. It's a blinkered view and, as always, the pirateeers have come up with a new system, H.264, which does for Blu-Ray what DivX did for DVD.



The studios will try and combat the downloaders over the next few years and I predict masses of new streaming sites popping up with the latest movies available on PPV. Of course, the pirateers just need to develop the technology yo allow you to download and store these streams on your all new singing and dancing internet-enabled TV. Either that or they'll have their own sites which, unlike the studios, will be free access for all.



The movie industry is currently doing very well but, as I've been predicting for years, sooner or later the high spec technology will merge seamlessly with the internet and there'll no longer be enough profit in film making for the big names to continue.



What goes around comes around.

I totally agree.



I don't think the studios will ever control piracy. The geeks are 10 steps ahead and always will be. They can get a first release movie online in nano-seconds. I don't think it'll kill off the movie studios because people will always buy films for the HD / BlueRay/ Three-D and extras, but the Blockbusters of this world are doomed because of it. But I can't say I feel that sorry for them - their service and product has always been poor, IMO.

[JamesM]

name='GoggleboxUK' timestamp='1285283707' post='476811']

It's the greed of the studios that have killed the rental market. Charging £55 + VAT per disc for a title that is available the same day in the supermarkets for as lttle as £7.99. Blockbuster took a stand against them at it's inception and refused to stock Warner Bros titles. Unfortunately they caved in after realising they wouldn't have Ocean's Eleven to rent out and negotiated a deal where they bought 3 times the amount at a third of the price. This made Blockbuster and Warner Bros happy but the move killed off the indepenents very quickly and the lesser chains like Ritz and Global were soon falling victim to the might of Blockbuster.

Blockbuster have filed for bankruptcy in the US where no such payments have to be made. The law in the US allows anyone to buy something and do what they want with. Anyone is at liberty to hire out anything they own, even their DVD collection; that is what I have been lead to believe.

[Onedin]

name='JamesM' timestamp='1285500395' post='477575']

Blockbuster have filed for bankruptcy in the US where no such payments have to be made. The law in the US allows anyone to buy something and do what they want with. Anyone is at liberty to hire out anything they own, even their DVD collection; that is what I have been lead to believe.

Well if that is indeed the case (and it does sound plausible), modern technology caught up with it, big time, didn't it.....................all I had to do was read Rick's post #12 in this thread to realise that.......



More and more Video/DVD rental shops are disappearing over here in Holland as well........I haven't visited one in years...........

[Bernardo]

name='wellpip' timestamp='1268990782' post='403672']

Could this be the final nail in the coffin for the high street DVD rental store or Virgin/Sky movies come to that?







Internet-enabled Tvs for film buffs - Telegraph

Sky will buy Love Films - Sony or anyone else who stands in News Corp's way.

[alan french]

Hi,

Some years ago, I had to give a talk on something to my film and video club. There was some enquiries I had to make for this. Two shops who did not have what I wanted had both old and young assistants who put themselves out for me. The third had a young assistant who did not know what he was talking about. Did not look up any reference. That was Blockbuster.



Alan French.

[JamesM]

It is an irony that , having bought a Blu Ray Disc player, I was thinking of joining Blockbuster for the first time in years.

[MikeB]

Blockbuster has gone in the Sates (and will probably go in the UK) for the simple reason that :

1) They sucked. Big Time.

2) The cost of a DVD has massively fallen. If you can get a DVD new for £3.99, why would you rent it for almost the same amount? Amazon and the supermarkets have killed Blockbusters pricing structure, and since they sucked (see 1), its always possible you get a greater choice at your local Tesco's, and for almost the same money. Libraries are small fry, and have no real effect on the market.

3) Lovefilm and the other internet providers mean you don't have to go to a bad rental store to find something worth watching - it comes to you. And since basically all new TV's have DNLA, if you have a Lovefilm/Netflix subscription and broadband, you can download directly. And dont forget Iplayer - Mad Men is cinema like in quality, just on TV.

4) TV has 40 channels (free). Have a look at the number of films that are on each day, which thanks to your HDD you can now record. Why rent when you can just watch? And as for Sky...

5) If a free DVD falls out of your paper, are you really going to spend the time and money going to a bad rental shop to spend extra cash?

6)Downloading a film has never been easier thanks to broadband. Free, easy and from the comfort of your own home.



7) HD TV (now on Freeview)- 1080i quality in your home. Why go out to get a DVD?



8) They sucked (you cannot repeat this too often)



Cheap DVD, cheaper Blu-ray, on demand and HD TV, and downloading. All helping to kill off the rental market. Of course being truely rubbish, with bad service and bad stock should be a death sentence for any company. Do it well, have a niche, or be so big you cannot fall over - thats how to survive. They tried the last, but it failed.

Goodbye Blockbuster - we really are not going to miss you.