Posted Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 11:00 AM PST by Dick Ward
When the studio launched UltraViolet, there seemed to be a bit of potential in the idea. Based on pricing though, it seems like Paramount doesn’t actually want to sell anything. Frost & Sullivan analyst Dan Rayburn says that Paramount’s way of doing things is completely wrong.
“What studio executive thinks consumers are going to pay $22.99 to stream a movie when we can buy the DVD for $7 or rent it for less than $2?” he writes. “The economics don't make sense.”
A fine example is the 2010 movie ‘The Fighter,’ which sells for $22.99 for an HD version and $16.99 for standard definition. For just a dollar more than the SD UltraViolet version costs, you can order the Blu-ray and enjoy special features and a better picture. For $7.99 you can watch ‘The Fighter’ on Netflix in HD and have an entire month worth of other movies.
“At some point, the studios are going to get burned just like the music industry did,” says Rayburn. “They need to wake up and realize that consumers are demanding digital content for a fair price.”
Source: Home Media Magazine
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.