Posted Thu Jan 7, 2010 at 01:35 PM PST by Mike Attebery
In an announcement that will no doubt go over badly with Netflix customers, the popular movie rental site announced an agreement with Warner Brothers that will get them a discount on discs, but will force customers to wait 28 days, or go to stores to buy a copy if they can't wait.
Both companies are being pretty candid regarding the reasoning behind the announcements, with Ron Sanders, of Warner Home Entertainment stating, "The 28-day window allows us to continue making our most popular films available to Netflix subscribers while supporting our sell-through product." As for Netflix's viewpoint, Ted Sarandos, a chief content officer, had this to say, "We've been discussing new approaches with Warner Bros. for some time now and believe we've come up with a creative solution that is a 'win-win' all around."
It will be interesting to see if Netflix subscribers agree.
If Blockbuster's executives are worth their salt, this editor believes they'd be wise to turn this agreement to their advantage.
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