Does Anyone Want to Own DVDs Anymore?

Lately, I've found myself staring irritatingly at the hundreds of CDs and DVDs that occupy numerous shelves in my living room. How can we get rid of all this clutter without investing in an uber-expensive media server? Sure, there are Media Center PCs that can store all this content, but that would mean having to sit down and rip one DVD after another, repeatedly, for hours on end. Even then, what happens if the system crashes? Sure, there's always back-up, and even a back-up for the back-up. But I wonder: are people really interested in owning all of this content, namely movies, or do we just want to enjoy it, then chuck it?

Case in point: popular U.S. video rental company Netflix has just announced that it will get out of the previously-viewed DVD sale market and focus on rentals and streaming video. Despite how much consumers might be upset at the change, it makes perfect sense. Why do I need to own a physical DVD movie? There are very few titles that are worth watching more than once, and often times when I have watched a movie for a second or third time, it's because it happened to have been broadcast on cable TV. If there's a particular movie that I want to watch at home on-the-fly, I'll grab it on-demand.

As I write this, I hear my former self yelling "hypocrit" at the top of her lungs. I used to be the one that argued passionately in favour of previously-viewed DVDs. Why would I pay $5 to rent a movie when I can just own it for a few bucks more? I would say to people. And there certainly are people who appreciate the full DVD experience, including the extra features and interviews, and love to admire the beautifully-created cover artwork. But now, looking at the hundreds of colourful cases unnecessarily taking up so much space at home, I don't quite feel the same way.

But before you're quick to call me out on predicting the end to a profitable after-theatre movie industry, that's not what I'm implying at all. Rather, the money will funnel itself through new channels. This could mean a cut of pay-per-view profits or specialty TV channels subscriptions, and probably the most lucrative option going forward: involvement in the streaming movie business. And hey, perhaps Blu-ray will take over as the only viable physical DVD format worthy of investing in and "collecting" because of its premium video and audio quality.

This, of course, is great news for cable/satellite TV providers and online distribution companies; not so good for DVD makers and distributors. But who knows: maybe in future, everyone will have a stab at the TV airwaves, and you'll be able to tap into services not from just one cable or satellite provider, but from a host of them, operating somewhat independently of one another. Sure, the idea might seem far-fetched to some; not to mention potentially confusing (and expensive!) for the customer. But if it means I can watch what I want, when I want, in high-definition quality, and take back a big portion of space in my living room that's now otherwise occupied, then I'm game.

TV DVDs Taking Over Movies?

I've visited a few retailers over the past little while and noticed something strange: DVD box sets for TV shows are placed front and centre of the store, with new release movies few and far in between. Why?

Are TV shows on DVD becoming more popular? Is this a way to make them more popular in the wake of things like on-demand movies that could be cutting into DVD sales? Or perhaps it's just a sales tactic since the holiday season is slowly creeping up on us? After all, DVD box sets are fairly popular among the gift-giving crowd.

Maybe it's also the result of a lot of successful TV shows coming out of the woodwork, like my favourite Dexter and other popular shows like Mad Men, The Office, and The Sopranos. Many of these are also broadcast on subscription-based networks, so it's likely that a lot of people wait until a series is released on DVD and then watch it that way instead of subscribing to the extra channels for a monthly fee. In fact, a friend of mine the other day told me of plans for a Lost party: he purchased the first two seasons on DVD, and a group of people were going to get together and watch it. It makes sense: you can watch an entire season in an 8-hour or so timeframe, and not have to even bother skipping through commercials because there are none!

Could TV on DVD be becoming yet another new way that people consume entertainment? After all, why wait a week to watch what's going to happen to the guy that Tony supposedly got whacked, or to find out what happens with Mike and Susan on Desperate Housewives? The one drawback to this, of course, is that you can't watch a season until it comes out on DVD, which is often long after the episodes have actually aired. If it's a really popular show, it would be tough to ignore all the media reports and water-cooler conversations that reveal what happens. But if you're able to wait it out, why not?

But back to my original observation. Maybe it's that there haven't been enough Blockbuster movies to warrant a huge new release section. While there have been a handful of popular movie titles as of late (Dark Knight immediately comes to mind), there have also been a lot of box office flops.

Either way, while I have never purchased a DVD box set of any kind for myself (I watch enough live TV as it is!) the rearrangement in store certainly engaged me, so I guess it's working to some degree. I found a few shows that I know won Emmys and considered picking them up to give them a try. Now all we need is Blu-ray TV show box sets, and we're in business!

HD DVD is Gone, But Has This Really Helped Blu-ray?

It has been more than two months since Toshiba officially announced the end of the high-definition DVD format war by halting production of HD DVD players. The Blu-ray camp sighed a big sigh of relief, and poised itself for an increase in sales. But has Blu-ray really benefitted from winning the format war?

According to a recent study by The NPD Group, it hasn't; or at least not yet. Sales of Blu-ray players actually dropped 40% from January to February in the U.S. From February to March, during the time when the "war" had officially been declared over, there was only a 2% increase in sales.

"That standalone Blu-ray players haven't picked up significantly from HD DVD's loss shows that few consumers were dissuaded primarily by the 'format war'," declared Ross Rubin, Director of Industry Analysis, NPD. "When we surveyed consumers late last year, on overwhelming number of them said they weren't investing in a next-generation player because their old DVD player worked well and next-generation players were too expensive. It's clear from retail sales that those consumer sentiments are still holding true."

I've long said that, rather than focusing on becoming the winning format, both camps should have been more focused on convincing the customer that he needs to upgrade to an HD source, period. Either way, price will remain a factor with budget-conscious customer; not just of the Blu-ray hardware devices, but also software, which are often times almost double the price of a "regular" DVD movie. In fact, I think if the price of software were to drop down to become in line with standard DVDs, more people might be willing to fork over the extra dough for the player.

Interestingly, NPD notes that many consumers who are interested in a better viewing experience are quite content with upconverting DVD players. Sales of these such devices grew 5% during the first quarter of 2008 compared to 2007. Meanwhile, regular DVD player sales dropped a whopping 39%.

Nevertheless, it's only a matter of time before consumers finally pick up on high-definition DVD. Many are already enjoying HDTVs and high-definition TV viewing, so high-def DVD is naturally the next step in the equation. It's also important to note that this study only looked at standalone Blu-ray players: devices like the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console, which includes a built-in Blu-ray player, has been selling like hotcakes!