This Is What Happens, Netflix.

Nels — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:05:41 +0000

So, apparently, Warner is letting Netflix know what happens when you, well, you see the pictures. It would seem that giving in to Warner’s demands that they not send out movies within the first 28 days of their release bought Netflix a ramrod straight from behind. It’s as though Warner said, “Oh, did you think we were going to screw over all rental companies with that deal? Nope, if they sell DVDs, then it’s totally fine.”

As TechCrunch has repeatedly pointed out in their coverage of this charade, the internet-streaming-movie cat is out of the bag. Trying to shove it back in at this point is only going to get you some wicked claw marks (and by claw marks, I mean pirated movies).

Or, to put it yet another way (because I love analogies), Warner Bros. is Walter, mistakenly bashing the hell out of a car because he thinks it will get him what he wants. Walter knows that Netflix has got some of his money, but he’s smashing up the wrong car.

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The Warner Brothers Need Glasses

Nels — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:48:54 +0000

Cause they’re near-sighted!

Get it? Get it?

Anyway, if you hadn’t heard (I first spotted it at my non-blood relative with the same last name’s blog), Warner Brothers and Netflix have reached a deal whereby Netflix won’t let people get new release DVDs (or Blu-Ray discs) from them until 28 days after the release of the DVD/BRD.

Netflix gets some sort of discount on the physical discs and also will supposedly get to stream some additional movies that they might not have gotten otherwise.

Conclusion: Netflix smart. WB stupid.

That said, the terms of the deal don’t actually affect me. I mean, the last “new release” that I got from Netflix was Wolverine, and that was about 6 months after it came out (so, definitely outside any sort of 28 day waiting period).

If WB was the smart one here, they would have done the opposite of what they actually did and told Netflix, release our DVDs whenever the hell you want, but give us a bigger slice of the old (or new, I guess) streaming pie. I mean, do the execs at WB not think that streaming video is the future of the business? Or are they so pompous as to think that they’ll just renegotiate another sweet deal once streaming video becomes mainstream (pun intended)?

Initially it made me want to boycott Netflix for kowtowing to the studio, and to somehow try to demonstrate that I disapproved of the deal, but then I realized that as long as Netflix can continue to increase their power in the streaming space, then it’s a good deal. That, and my wife and still have 2 seasons of How I Met Your Mother to marathon, and the third and fourth seasons are more expensive to buy outright than the first two.

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