Netflix signed a frightening deal with Warner Bros, delaying new release WB DVDs from going out to customers until 28 days of purgatory pass. Netflix minimized the decision, but what if every studio jumps on board? Here's an example:
TechCrunch dug through Netflix's top January rentals, and they yanked any title that's within 28 days of release. Over half (13 of 24) would be missing.
(Yes if available, no if not)
1) Julie & Julia: December 8 — No
2) District 9: December 22 —- No
3) 500 Days of Summer: December 22 —- No
4) Angels and Demons: November 24 -– Yes
5) The Proposal: October 13 —-Yes
6) The Hangover: December 15 —- No
7) Star Trek: November 17 -Yes
8) Up: November 10 —-Yes
9) The Taking Of Pelham 123: November 3 -– Yes
10) Night At The Museum 2: December 1 -– Yes
11) The Ugly Truth: November 10 —- Yes
12) Public Enemies: December 8 -– No
13) The Hurt Locker: January 12 —- No
14) Inglourious Basterds: December 15 —- No
15) Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: January 5 — No
16) Funny People: November 24 — Yes
17) G.I. Joe: November 3 — Yes
18) Harry Potter 6: December 8 —- No
19) Terminator 4: December 1 - Yes
20) Gamer: January 19 — No
21) A Perfect Getaway: December 29 — No
22) Extract: December 22 — No
23) 9: December 29 —– No
24) Transformers 2: October 20 — Yes
25) Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past: September 22 — Yes
Netflix has positioned themselves well, especially as the service has evolved to the greatest streaming media portal (in the living room) in existence. But even scrolling through my digital media library, I can spot a decent number of titles, sure, but there's not all that much that I actually want to watch (Starz offers some of their most notable content, and even that's in jeopardy).
Netflix has developed an amazing rental infrastructure. But they need to become as media savvy as Apple if they want to make it worth a damn. [TechCrunch][Photo by Rob Lee]