Since January, we've had to wait at least a month to get new movies from Warner Bros on Netflix. (And more recently, Fox and Universal.) Well, Warner says it's going so well, they're thinking about making the wait longer.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said the other day, "So far the 28-day window has clearly been a success versus no delay." So of course, "the question of whether we ought to go longer is very much under scrutiny. It may well be a good idea." Because it's not like Netflix customers would wanna watch The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray as soon as it's out.
The worst part is that if Warner's thinking this way, so is every other studio.
Update: Peter Kafka points out that Fox is thinking the same way:
What about further delaying movies to Netflix, Redbox beyond 28-day window (Warner talked about this today)?
Carey: We're okay right now, but we're looking at it. But as VOD grows, windows will change and evolve. But right now "we feel what windowing we've done has been good for us."
[BW via Hacking Netflix via Dave Zatz, Image: CC-licensed from Ross Catrow/Flickr]
DISCUSSION
Is there something about Netflix that particularly troubles these
studios that they pull this nonsense? What possible upside is there
to delaying releases on Netflix further than the already
frustrating waiting time? I've since moved on to Amazon VOD on my
Roku for more recent pictures. It can be more expensive, but the
quick availability is worth it.
All I see are people more willing to just eat their bandwidth with
torrents. I know that it's come to the point where that drum has
been beaten way too often, but that doesn't make it any less true.